Sustainability Beyond Technology

Sustainability Beyond Technology

Author: Pasi Heikkurinen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0198864922

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Current debates on sustainability are largely building on a problematic assumption that increasing technology use and advancement are a desired phenomenon, creating positive change in human organizations. This kind of techno-optimism prevails particularly in the discourses of ecological modernization and green growth, as well as in the attempts to design sustainable modes of production and consumption within growth-driven capitalism. This transdisciplinary book investigates the philosophical underpinnings of technology, presents a culturally sensitive critique of technology, and outlines feasible alternatives for sustainability beyond technology. By examining the conflicts and contradictions between technology and sustainability in human organizations, the book develops a novel way to conceptualize, confront and change technology in modern society. The book draws on a variety of scholarly disciplines, including humanities (philosophy and environmental history), social sciences (ecological economics, political economy, and ecology) and natural sciences (geology and thermodynamics) to contribute to sustainability theory and policy"--Publisher's description.


Sustainability Beyond Technology

Sustainability Beyond Technology

Author: Pasi Heikkurinen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-03-29

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0192634070

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Current debates on sustainability are largely building on a problematic assumption that increasing technology use and advancement are a desired phenomenon, creating positive change in human organizations. This kind of techno-optimism prevails particularly in the discourses of ecological modernization and green growth, as well as in the attempts to design sustainable modes of production and consumption within growth-driven capitalism. This transdisciplinary book investigates the philosophical underpinnings of technology, presents a culturally sensitive critique to technology, and outlines feasible alternatives for sustainability beyond technology. It draws on a variety of scholarly disciplines, including the humanities (philosophy and environmental history), social sciences (ecological economics, political economy, and ecology) and natural sciences (geology and thermodynamics) to contribute to sustainability theory and policy. By examining the conflicts and contradictions between technology and sustainability in human organization, the book develops a novel way to conceptualize, confront, and change technology in modern society.


Technology and the Contested Meanings of Sustainability

Technology and the Contested Meanings of Sustainability

Author: Aidan Davison

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2001-04-19

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 0791490599

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This transdisciplinary inquiry presents a new way of thinking about sustainability and technology that takes us beyond the familiar preoccupation with ecoefficiency, and toward the contested moral question of what most nourishes our ability to care for our world. In contrast to the technocratic aim of controlling a perilous future, the author proposes that we develop the practical craft of sustenance. Beginning with debates in environmental policy, he draws upon recent philosophical interest in ecology, technology, and moral experience to argue that the challenge of sustainability is that of undermining those traditions that present technology as somehow external to our inherent moral ambiguity. This discussion responds to the work of Langdon Winner, Albert Borgmann, Charles Taylor, Martin Heidegger, David Abram, and others.


Social Practices, Intervention and Sustainability

Social Practices, Intervention and Sustainability

Author: Yolande Strengers

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-11-13

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1317810791

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In an era of dramatic environmental change, social change is desperately needed to curb burgeoning consumption. Many calls to action have focused on individual behaviour or technological innovation, with relative silence from the social sciences on other modes and methods of intervening in social life. This book shows how we can go beyond behaviour change in the pursuit of sustainability. Inspired by the ‘practice turn’ in consumption studies, this interdisciplinary book looks through the lens of social practice theory to explore important and timely questions about how to intervene in social life. It discusses a range of applied sustainability topics including energy consumption, housing provision, water demand, transport, climate change, curbside recycling and smart grids, seeking to redefine what intervention is, how it happens, and who or what can intervene to address the growing list of environmental calamities facing contemporary societies. These issues are explored through a range of specific case studies from Australia, the UK and the US, providing theoretical insights that are of international relevance. The book will be of interest to researchers and students in the fields of sociology, consumption studies, environmental studies, geography, and science and technology studies, as well as policy makers and practitioners seeking to intervene in social life for sustainability.


Emerging Technologies for Sustainability

Emerging Technologies for Sustainability

Author: P.C Thomas

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2020-08-15

Total Pages: 882

ISBN-13: 1000258882

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The theme of conference is Emerging Technologies for Sustainability. Sustainability tends to be problem driven and oriented towards guiding decision making. The goal is to raise the global standard of living without increasing the use of resources beyond global sustainable levels. The conference is intended to act as a platform for researchers to share and gain knowledge, showcase their research findings and propose new solutions in policy formulation, design, processing and application of green materials, material selection, analysis, green manufacturing, testing and synthesis, thereby contributing to the creation of a more sustainable world.


Beyond Growth

Beyond Growth

Author: Herman E. Daly

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0807047066

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Daly is turning economics inside out by putting the earth and its diminishing natural resources at the center of the field . . . a kind of reverse Copernican revolution in economics." --Utne Reader "Considered by most to be the dean of ecological economics, Herman E. Daly elegantly topples many shibboleths in Beyond Growth. Daly challenges the conventional notion that growth is always good, and he bucks environmentalist orthodoxy, arguing that the current focus on 'sustainable development' is misguided and that the phrase itself has become meaningless." --Mother Jones "In Beyond Growth, . . . [Daly] derides the concept of 'sustainable growth' as an oxymoron. . . . Calling Mr. Daly 'an unsung hero,' Robert Goodland, the World Bank's top environmental adviser, says, 'He has been a voice crying in the wilderness.'" --G. Pascal Zachary, The Wall Street Journal "A new book by that most far-seeing and heretical of economists, Herman Daly. For 25 years now, Daly has been thinking through a new economics that accounts for the wealth of nature, the value of community and the necessity for morality." --Donella H. Meadows, Los Angeles Times "For clarity of vision and ecological wisdom Herman Daly has no peer among contemporary economists. . . . Beyond Growth is essential reading." --David W. Orr, Oberlin College "There is no more basic ethical question than the one Herman Daly is asking." --Hal Kahn, The San Jose Mercury News "Daly's critiques of economic orthodoxy . . . deliver a powerful and much-needed jolt to conventional thinking." --Karen Pennar, Business Week Named one of a hundred "visionaries who could change your life" by the Utne Reader,Herman Daly is the recipient of many awards, including a Grawemeyer Award, the Heineken Prize for environmental science, and the "Alternative Nobel Prize," the Right Livelihood Award. He is professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs, and coauthor with John Cobb, Jr., of For the Common Good.


Beyond Great

Beyond Great

Author: Arindam Bhattacharya

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2020-10-06

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1541757157

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Great is no longer good enough. Beyond Great delivers a powerful new playbook of 9 core strategies to thrive in a post-COVID world where all the rules of the game are being re-written. Beyond Great answers to two fundamental questions which face business leaders today in a world shaped by daunting and disruptive technological, economic, and social change. First, what is outstanding performance in this new volatile era? Second, how do we build competitive advantage in a world with new and often uncertain rules? Supported by years of research and hands-on consulting practice, this book presents a comprehensive framework for building a high performing, resilient, adaptive, and socially responsible global company. The book begins by taking an incisive look at these disruptive forces transforming globalization, including economic nationalism; the boom in data flows and digital commerce; the rise of China; heightened public concerns about capitalism and the environment; and the emergence of borderless communities of digitally connected consumers. Distilled from the study of hundreds of companies and interviews with dozens of business leaders, the authors have distilled nine core strategies – the new winning playbook of the 21st century. Beyond Great argues that business leaders today must lead with a new kind of openness, flexibility and light-footedness, constantly layering in new strategies and operational norms atop existing ones to allow for "always-on" transformation. Leaders must master a whole new set of rules about what it takes to be "global," becoming shapeshifters adept at handling contradiction, multiplicity, and nuance. This book will show them how.


The Upcycle

The Upcycle

Author: William McDonough

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2013-04-16

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0865477485

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the authors "Cradle to Cradle," the next step, in how society must change the way it uses resources. Drawing on the lessons gained from 10 years of using the cradle-to-cradle concept, McDonough and Braungart envision the next step in the solution to our ecological crisis.


Beyond Technology

Beyond Technology

Author: David Buckingham

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-04-17

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 0745655300

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Beyond Technology offers a challenging new analysis of learning, young people and digital media. Disputing both utopian fantasies about the transformation of education and exaggerated fears about the corruption of childhood innocence, it offers a level-headed analysis of the impact of these new media on learning, drawing on a wide range of critical research. Buckingham argues that there is now a growing divide between the media-rich world of childrens lives outside school and their experiences of technology in the classroom. Bridging this divide, he suggests, will require more than superficial attempts to import technology into schools, or to combine education with digital entertainment. While debunking such fantasies of technological change, Buckingham also provides a constructive alternative, arguing that young people need to be equipped with a new form of digital literacy that is both critical and creative. Beyond Technology will be essential reading for all students of the media or education, as well as for teachers and other education professionals.


Weak Versus Strong Sustainability

Weak Versus Strong Sustainability

Author: Eric Neumayer

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1849805431

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This third edition of an enduring and popular book has been fully updated and revised, exploring the two opposing paradigms of sustainability in an insightful and accessible way. Eric Neumayer contends that central to the debate on sustainable development is the question of whether natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital. Proponents of weak sustainability maintain that such substitutability is possible, whilst followers of strong sustainability regard natural capital as non-substitutable. The author examines the availability of natural resources for the production of consumption goods and the environmental consequences of economic growth. He identifies the critical forms of natural capital in need of preservation given risk, uncertainty and ignorance about the future and opportunity costs of preservation. He goes on to provide a critical discussion of measures of sustainability. Indicators of weak sustainability such as Genuine Savings and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare also known as the Genuine Progress Indicator are analysed, as are indicators of strong sustainability, including ecological footprints, material flows and sustainability gaps. This book will prove essential reading for students, scholars and policymakers with an interest in ecological and environmental economics and sustainable development.