Economist and bestselling author Juliet Schor lays out a positive vision for rethinking our relationship to consumer goods in this accessible and timely analysis of the devastating ecological, social, and personal costs of mass consumerism.
Ranging from cutting-edge developments in economic theory, social analysis, and ecological design to real-world examples of these ideas being put into practice around the world, Schor makes a compelling case that preserving dwindling natural resources and enhancing economic security should have less to do with managing scarcity and learning to sacrifice than with envisioning new forms of plentitude. The result is a bold and practical vision for replacing the old dead-end, debt-financed, work-and-spend cycle with a new paradigm of sustainability fueled by the abundant and infinitely renewable resources of time, creativity, and community.