The No-Growth Imperative

This is one of the most radical books to come out of the new economics. It is about creating sustainable communities under ecological limits to growth and faces our situation in an uncompromising manner. Growth is so endemic in our political and economic discourse that it is almost unthinkable to propose a steady state economy. The overall human impact on the planet has been exponential in terms of numbers and consumption, and the author argues that eco-efficiency and smart growth are also unsustainable; the book also draws on the model of local communities as a driver of transformation. The object is to bring the human enterprise back into balance with the ecological capabilities of the planet's ecosystems. This means thinking more in terms of cycles than linear progression. At the end, as a counterpoint to much ecological writing, the author proposes 10 difficult personal actions needed to save the world, including ecologically responsible childbearing, shifting from private to public transport, eating much lower on the food chain and becoming (a new word for me) a locavore. This will not make popular reading, but it is a bracing reminder of the need for a radical approach.