Human ecology, human economy
Mark Diesendorf and Clive Hamilton (eds)
Allen & Unwin, 1997. 378 pp., $35
Review by Allen Myers
This book is primarily intended as "a text for undergraduate and graduate students in environmental studies, human and social ecology, ecological economics, futures studies, and science and technology studies", but also seeks an audience among "interested members of the public" and "policy-makers working on environmental issues". It consists of 12 chapters, half on "basic concepts" and half on "case studies and policy directions".
There is considerable useful information here, and reasonably clear outlines of some fundamental problems. But in the end, it is all a bit too bland. The topics and their manner of presentation rather imply that the basic question — whether we, as a species, are going to show more collective wisdom than lemmings — will be decided by things like the "pricing" of road usage.
I am not suggesting that any of the particular issues discussed in this volume are unimportant, but rather that human ecology/economy is more than the sum of these bits and pieces. As the slogan for one recent World Environment Day put it, It happens to be an emergency. What is missing here is not merely an overall strategy, but even the acknowledgment that such a strategy might be needed.
This lack of vision appears to be a consequence of a clear but unspoken assumption common to the contributions in the volume — that the only form of "human economy" is capitalism, pretty much as it is at present.
For example, in the final chapter, titled "Some pathways to ecological sustainability", Janis Birkeland and the editors write, "... transitional paths [to sustainability] need to begin from the reality of a world in which global corporate forces wield enormous power, a world in which central governments have the ability (if rarely the will) to introduce far-reaching reforms, but also a world in which activities by citizens acting together can be powerful catalysts for radical change".
Of course it's necessary to begin from reality. But it's also necessary to do more than begin.
In particular, it's necessary to go beyond present reality, in which powerful corporations and the governments which serve them block ecological sustainability because it's profitable to do so. Mobilising a willingness to go beyond this reality is the only way that people acting together can be powerful catalysts for radical change. But the possibility of changing reality in a fundamental way isn't canvassed in this volume.
So, by all means read Human ecology, human economy for its informative detail. But don't expect much of a contribution to the big picture.