Humankind Society And The Environment

In this eloquent and sympathetic book, Evernden evaluates the international environmental movement and the underlying assumptions that could doom it to failure. Beginning with a simple definition of environmentalists as "those who confess a concern for the non-human," he reviews what is inherent in industrial societies to make them so resistant to the concerns of environmentalists. His analysis draws on citing such diverse sources as Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, and TIME, and examines how we tend to think about the world and how we might think about it. The book does not offer solutions to environmental questions, but it does offer the hope that there can be new ways of thinking and flexibility in human/environmental relations. Although humans seem alienated from our the natural world, we can develop a new understanding of `self in the world.' The second edition has a new preface and an epilogue in which Evernden analyses the latest environmental catch-phrase: sustainable development.

This book is a concise history of man's interaction with the environment from Ancient to Modern times. It is an introduction to environmental history which assumes little environmental or historical knowledge.

An Environmental History of the World is a concise history, from Ancient to Modern times, of the interaction between human societies and the other forms of life that inhabit our planet. This original work follows a chronological path through the history of mankind, in relationship to ecosystems around the world. Each chapter concentrates on a general period in human history which has been characterised by large scale changes in the relationship of human societies to the biosphere, and gives three case-studies that illustrate the significant patterns occurring at that time. Little environmental or historical knowledge is assumed from the reader in this introduction to environmental history.

The book is written for the reader who wishes to address the issues of sustainability with consideration of the environmental, social, and economic issues.It addresses a broad array of matters and provide a framework that could lead to a sustainable world.

As climate change continues to batter the coastlines of North America and elsewhere, and as extreme weather events provide abundant proof of its reality, religious leaders can no longer ignore the fact that the human has become a geologic force, a force that must be re-educated and re-formed in order to guarantee safe passage into a sustainable future. Hopefully, Jesuits and their lay partners can continue to provide leadership in regard to this issue, correctly identified by Fr Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, as a top priority. In this particular context, the role of religions and their valuable contributions must be evaluated. Religion’s role is not simply one of morality; rather, it seeks, especially in Christianity, to show the face of God. It is out of this relation that believers then seek to live towards the “good,” especially in relation to their neighbours, creation and God. Religious believers may have failed severely in communicating this relationship in the twenty-first century. This publication gathers together a roster of Western and Asian experts’ contributions from various fields of knowledge related to ecology, anthropology, religions and ethics, economics, technology, and to environmental and health protection studies. This collection of essays embracing a wide scope of current topics, theme and questions will renew awareness of the ecological dilemma and stimulate reflection on its spiritual and social dimensions.

A World in Transition, Humankind and Nature is appropriately entitled after its aim for an intrinsic property of reality: change. Of major concern, in this era of transformation, is the extensive and profound interaction of humankind with nature. The global-scale social and technological project of humankind definitely involves a myriad of changes of the ecosphere. This book develops, from the call for an interdisciplinary synthesis and respect of plurality, acknowledging the evolving scientific truth, to the need for an integrated but inevitably provisional worldview. Contributors from different parts of the world focus on four modes of change: (i) Social change and the individual condition, (ii) Complex evolution and fundamental emergent transformations, (iii) Ecological transformation and responsibility inquiries, (iv) The economic-ecological and socio-technical equilibria. Primarily concerned with the deep transformations of humankind and of the relationship between humans and nature, it is addressed to a broad and thinking public that wants to be kept informed.