Thiele - Sustainability

1. Barbara Adam, Time
2. Alan Aldridge, Consumption
3. Alan Aldridge, The Market
4. Jakob Arnoldi, Risk
5. Will Atkinson, Class
6. Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer, Disability
7. Darin Barney, The Network Society
8. Mildred Blaxter, Health 2nd edition
9. Harriet Bradley, Gender 2nd edition
10. Harry Brighouse, Justice
11. Mnica Brito Vieira and David Runciman, Representation
12. Steve Bruce, Fundamentalism 2nd edition
13. Joan Busfield, Mental Illness
14. Margaret Canovan, The People
15. Andrew Jason Cohen, Toleration
16. Alejandro Cols, Empire
17. Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge, Intersectionality
18. Mary Daly, Welfare
19. Anthony Elliott, Concepts of the Self 3rd edition
20. Steve Fenton, Ethnicity 2nd edition
21. Katrin Flikschuh, Freedom
22. Michael Freeman, Human Rights 2nd edition
23. Russell Hardin, Trust
24. Geoffrey Ingham, Capitalism
25. Fred Inglis, Culture
26. Robert H. Jackson, Sovereignty
27. Jennifer Jackson Preece, Minority Rights
28. Gill Jones, Youth
29. Paul Kelly, Liberalism
30. Anne Mette Kjr, Governance
31. Ruth Lister, Poverty
32. Jon Mandle, Global Justice
33. Cillian McBride, Recognition
34. Anthony Payne and Nicola Phillips, Development
35. Judith Phillips, Care
36. Chris Phillipson, Ageing
37. Robert Reiner, Crime
38. Michael Saward, Democracy
39. John Scott, Power
40. Timothy J. Sinclair, Global Governance
41. Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism 2nd edition
42. Deborah Stevenson, The City
43. Steven Peter Vallas, Work
44. Stuart White, Equality
45. Michael Wyness, Childhood

Copyright Leslie Paul Thiele 2016

The right of Leslie Paul Thiele to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First edition published in 2013 by Polity Press

This edition published in 2016 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

350 Main Street

Malden, MA 02148, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1106-8

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1107-5(pb)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Thiele, Leslie Paul, author.

Title: Sustainability / Leslie Paul Thiele.

Description: Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA : Polity Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016009865 (print) | LCCN 2016015961 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509511068 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509511075 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781509511099 (Mobi) | ISBN 9781509511105 (Epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development. | Sustainable developmentSocial aspects.

Classification: LCC HC79.E5 T4759 2016 (print) | LCC HC79.E5 (ebook) | DDC 338.9/27dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016009865

Typeset in 10.5 on 12 pt Sabon

by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited

Printed in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon

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Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

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The first edition of this book was completed on July 1, 2012 in Nelson, British Columbia. July 1 is Canada Day, and the festivities were about to start: music, singing, dancing, games, speeches, food, and, at nightfall, fireworks. It is always a fine celebration that brings this small mountain community together. That year was no different, except

Except the grounds of the city park had turned into a mud bog. It has been raining most of the day, and the just completed month of June was the wettest ever, doubling the previous record. The month of March had also set a record for precipitation.

Predictably, fewer people participated in the sodden event. And the fireworks had to be cancelled. The playing fields where people gather to watch the dazzling pyrotechnics when the music and dancing ends were flooded, merging with the waters of Kootenay Lake, which had breached its shore a few days back.

At the time, I hoped these record-setting weather events were just that: weather. More likely, I knew, we were seeing climate change at work. Now, as I write the preface to this second edition, scientists have just announced that the preceding year was the hottest the planet has known since records starting being kept in the 1800s. The urgency of our situation is palpable.

The world is quickly changing, and fortunately much of this change is for the good. Across the globe people are becoming informed, creatively solving problems, and collectively taking action. The second edition of Sustainability has been fully revised and updated to account for these trends. It integrates an expanded global breadth with increased attention to the importance of local relationships, responsibilities, and opportunities. New Inquire and Explore sections are provided at the end of each chapter to help readers probe and deepen central debates and topics. The thought- and discussion-provoking questions and issues presented here are directly linked to graphics, data, readings, podcasts, videos, and resource-rich websites at conservationandcreativity.net

There is still reason to worry that future generations living through the calamity of a much-altered climate a calamity including extreme weather, rising and increasingly acidic oceans, countless species extinctions, food scarcity, coastal flooding, and the displacement of millions of people will ask why their ancestors did so little to avert it. But I take heart that individuals and communities on our beautiful planet are learning how to live sustainably, and that there will be much to celebrate together in the future.

It is rightly said that sustainability is not a spectator sport. My hope is that the discussions, relationships, and actions fostered by this book, and the Inquire and Explore resources, will contribute to making that statement substantially truer.

This book was written with students in mind, specifically those enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies and the Minor in Sustainability Studies at the University of Florida. These students are refreshingly diverse in their backgrounds, interests, and perspectives. I am grateful for their diversity as well as their abundant curiosity, energy, and dedication. I appreciate the astute editing of the manuscript provided by Mauro Caraccioli, Jonathan Davis, Maria Martinez, and Robyn Ostroff. Special thanks are due to Seaton Tarrant and Hugo Chaves for their additional work on the second edition.