Society today faces a difficult contradiction: we know exactly
how the physical limits of our planet are being reached and exactly
why we cannot go on as we have before and yet, collectively, we
seem unable to reach crucial decisions for our future in a timely
way. This book argues that our definition of prosperity, which we
have long assimilated with the idea of material wealth, may be
preventing us from imagining a future that meets essential human
aspirations without straining our planet to the breaking point. In
other words, redefining prosperity is a necessary and urgent
task.
This book is the fruit of a long debate among fifteen scholars
from diverse who worked together to bring the depth and nuance of
their respective fields to questions that affect us all. The result
is a rich, transdisciplinary work that illuminates the
philosophical and historical origins of our current definition of
prosperity; identifies the complex processes that gave rise to the
problems we face today; elucidates the ways in which our
contemporary environmental, social, nutritional, economic,
political and cultural crises are interconnected; and explores why
a half-century of economic growth has neither increased life
satisfaction in the West nor vanquished world poverty. Approaching
these broad-ranging questions from the specific standpoints of
their disciplines, each of the authors offers thoughts for the
future, considering possible escape routes and proposing changes to
the way we live, behave, and organize society and public action
changes that actually respond, in an equitable way, to our deepest
aspirations.
Ultimately, in laying the groundwork for a public debate on this
subject, this book poses a question to its readers: what is your
definition of prosperity, and what can be done to promote it?"
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