The Long Road to Sustainability
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Author Description
For The Last Few Thousand Years, Humanity Has Struggled To Achieve Sustainable Development. Gillespie Sees The Problem As Multi-faceted: A Three Legged Stool Of Economic, Social, And Environmental Conundrums Have Stalled The Quest For The Long Term Viability Of Both Our Species And The Ecosystems In Which We Reside. Gillespie Moves From The Low Life Expectancy, Excessive Deforestation, And Wetland Drainage Of The Medieval Period, Through The Species Loss, Coal Burning, Free Trade, And Poor Waste Management Of The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries, And To The More Recent Concerns Of Climate Change, Unsustainable Fisheries, And Chemical Pollutants. By Delivering A Comprehensive Examination Of Human Survival Over The Past Millennium, Gillespie Illustrates That The Challenges We Face Are Not New - That We Now Have The Means To Counter Them, Is.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This work investigates the historical trajectory of human development to determine why achieving long-term sustainability remains a persistent global challenge. Alexander Gillespie, a scholar of environmental law and policy, utilizes a millennium-long historical framework to analyze the intersection of economic, social, and environmental factors. He argues that current ecological crises are not unprecedented, but rather the culmination of recurring patterns of resource mismanagement that require modern, systemic intervention.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- A chronological analysis of environmental degradation from the medieval period to the present day.
- An examination of the 'three-legged stool' model of sustainability involving economic, social, and environmental pillars.
- Case studies ranging from medieval wetland drainage to modern climate change and chemical pollution.
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on the history of human impact rather than providing a technical manual for specific engineering solutions.
- It does not offer a predictive model for future policy outcomes but rather provides a historical context for current debates.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts recognize this text as a comprehensive historical survey that effectively contextualizes contemporary environmental issues within a broader timeline of human activity. Readers frequently note the academic rigor of the prose, which serves as a foundational resource for students and professionals interested in the historical roots of environmental policy.
Page Count:
279
Publication Date:
2018-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192551566
ISBN-13:
9780192551566
History
Human ecology
Sustainability
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