Ian Gough Libros

This exceptional book considers how far catastrophic global warming can be averted in an economic system that is greedy for growth, without worsening deprivation and inequality. The satisfaction of human needs - as opposed to wants - is the only viable measure for negotiating trade-offs between climate change, capitalism and human wellbeing, now and in the future.The author critically examines the political economy of capitalism and offers a long-term, interdisciplinary analysis of the prospects for keeping the rise in global temperatures below two degrees, while also improving equity and social justice. A three-stage transition is proposed with useful practical policies. First, 'green growth': cut carbon emissions from production across the world. Second, 'recompose' patterns of consumption in the rich world, cutting high-energy luxuries in favour of low-energy routes to meeting basic needs. Third, because the first two are perilously insufficient, move towards an economy that flourishes without growth. Heat, Greed and Human Need is vital for researchers and students of the environment, public and social policy, economics, political theory and development studies. For those advocating political, social and environmental reform this book presents excellent practical eco-social policies to achieve both sustainable consumption and social justice.

Rejecting relativist approaches, this book argues that physical health and individual autonomy are the necessary preconditions for participation in any society. The authors not only argue that optimal satisfaction of these basic human needs is a fundamental right of all our planet's citizens, but also that not meeting these needs can, and will, lead to moral and political disablement.Integrating theory and practice, the book presents a system for cross-cultural needs measurement, as well as a set of requirements for ameliorating human impoverishment. It then describes an innovative 'dual strategy' which recognizes the economic importance of both market forces and central planning, and the political importance of both state intervention and a flourishing democracy.