Degrowth is a planned economic contraction in wealthy countries that reduces production and consumption-and, by extension, greenhouse gas emissions and stresses on global ecosystems-to sustainable levels within ecological limits. This book explores the idea of degrowth as an economic alternative to offer a more sustainable and just future. A growing number of scientists and scholars now recognize that a system that continues to prioritize economic growth will prevent us from effectively addressing the dual environmental crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. To establish the case for degrowth, the text opens by posing critical questions about our current system and identifying its limitations, as well as discussing the ineffectiveness of "false solutions" that seem to offer something new but would actually preserve the status quo. The concept of degrowth is then fully introduced along with a discussion of core principles and goals as well as major critiques and questions. The book explores what living in a degrowth society would entail and the policies needed to support degrowth. Finally, the work concludes by examining the opportunities and challenges for degrowth and a successful transition to a sustainable steady-state economy. This book provides an advanced introduction to the environmental issues around degrowth for students, scholars and activists interested in economic alternatives, sustainability and the environment.

Degrowth is a planned economic contraction in wealthy countries that reduces production and consumption-and, by extension, greenhouse gas emissions and stresses on global ecosystems-to sustainable levels within ecological limits. This book explores the idea of degrowth as an economic alternative to offer a more sustainable and just future. A growing number of scientists and scholars now recognize that a system that continues to prioritize economic growth will prevent us from effectively addressing the dual environmental crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. To establish the case for degrowth, the text opens by posing critical questions about our current system and identifying its limitations, as well as discussing the ineffectiveness of "false solutions" that seem to offer something new but would actually preserve the status quo. The concept of degrowth is then fully introduced along with a discussion of core principles and goals as well as major critiques and questions. The book explores what living in a degrowth society would entail and the policies needed to support degrowth. Finally, the work concludes by examining the opportunities and challenges for degrowth and a successful transition to a sustainable steady-state economy. This book provides an advanced introduction to the environmental issues around degrowth for students, scholars and activists interested in economic alternatives, sustainability and the environment.

Advertising man Paul Dane felt the year of 1967 promised to be rather different as he drove south across the river with Susie, high as a kite. And so the year proved to be. The Rolling Stones drug bust set the tone.. The first worldwide broadcast of a pop song with 'All You Need Is Love' brought hope. The Monterey Festival in California was a triumph. The women had never been so willing, the countryside never more beautiful, as 'the summer of love' exploded in all its glorious profusion. As you embark on your roller coaster ride, you may well wonder where you are going to end up. But then so did the rest of the country and the world as 1967 brought reminders of a distant Merrie England that everyone had thought long buried. Yet here it was bursting back into life. Could it get any weirder or wilder? Along comes the Pink Floyd with eerie presentiments of the Space Age. Hold onto your seats and make sure you are firmly strapped in. The journey has begun, The piper is at the gates of dawn. But there would inevitably be casualties along the way. Here is a novel to make you taste, feel, see and experience how it was in the heady days of 1967. There is a lot of sex. It is '50 shades of grey' but now in glorious psychedelic color. And there is a lot of rock'n'roll. It is the soundtrack to the year in a way that permeated every crevice, music was everywhere, and it was influential in a way that was all embracing, there was no getting away from the revolution being fermented. In the background rumble the sounds of war, of the draft, of ugly realities that could be denied but not necessarily escaped. The book takes you through each kaleidoscopic month of the year, encountering a host of dazzling characters, especially the women who regularly cross Paul Dane's path, and who invariably give as good as they get. There are the athletic but curious girls from Chicago who are swept away by the raunchy music of the Stones recreating the blues of the Mississippi Delta with a fresh sensuality that carries all before them. And it is Jagger's music which persuades Janet, shortly to be married, to spend the night together with Paul Dane so he can instruct her in the ways of the bedroom. Tineka, a Dutch girl, working as an au pair right next to where John Lennon resides, is invited to a London party where she leaves her virginity behind and discovers a whole new lifestyle. By the time the golden summer of 1967 arrives the scene has switched to the holiday island of Jersey. Estelle, an art student, finds herself singing about a girl leaving home, it is from the new Beatles record, Sergeant Pepper, as she walks along the coast road with Paul. Is it also a song about her? She seeks love and understanding, but that she discovers is hard to find with police torchlights playing over her naked form. Back in London, we meet more American girls checking out the fast moving London scene. A new supergroup, the Pink Floyd, is arising. For Julia from Florida it is a chance to dip her toe in the waters of a London scene that flows so fast it is difficult to even know what precisely she is experiencing in the shadowed recesses of The Roundhouse and the house where there has been a suicide in the last week. The imminent tragedy of Brian Jones' destruction figures in the closing months of the year. You encounter him appearing before a vengeful judiciary, winning a reprieve but then completing his own rapid disintegration. The enigmatic figure of Prince Stanislaus Klossowski de Rola, friend of the Stones, of Paul McCartney, of Syd Barrett from the Pink Floyd, makes several appearances through the book. He hints at other realities, of other truths, the mystical East beckons, sadly he leaves the shattered Syd Barrett to his demons after realizing Syd is beyond even his wizardry. Besides, he has his hands full trying to save Brian Jones, original founder of the Stones. The year of 1967 ends as mysteriously as it had begun.

Award winning poet, David Stuart Ryan, explores the impact of a return to home after a round the world trip which has lasted some years. The impact of half forgotten places and people comes across in new and revealing ways as he explores what they still mean. But the lure of travel calls again. There is a whole section of the poetry which looks at America as he journeys there for a visit that takes in a long trip along the ocean highway of the eastern seaboard. The range of his travels from Toronto to South Carolina enables him to capture the very essence of the American scene he travels through and records in poem and picture. After this contact with the American experience the poet returns to London England to continue his exploration of roots, heritage, memory and how all this has formed the present. The benefits of looking both inside and outside the culture produce insights, discoveries, a greater degree of understanding of the truth of our lives. Once again David Stuart Ryan relies as much on his illustrations as on his poetry in order to penetrate through to the very core of an experience. For this is how we perceive our lives, we take in all available sources of information and then combine them in our brains in order to produce a picture, an approximation of reality. What precisely is this reality? The poems search back in time, to childhood, to history, to remembered fragments, snippets and glimpses from both the past and present. Only by patiently reconstructing these early traces of our lives can we hope to establish the meaning, the direction and purpose of them As we reach the conclusion of this journey of discovery, the family history looms large in the poems. Old Victorian progenitors sit proudly on the page, they traveled further and faster than even our own civilization. 'Home - and a journey to the USA' concludes with a paean to the breaking dawn down the home street as the rain fructifies and multiplies the life in the patient sturdy trees. The poems in this volume are all accompanied by David Stuart Ryan's original illustrations in full color, helping to create a whole experience where words and pictures reinforce and round out each other. The poetic experience you receive is unforgettable in its deep seated images that call and lure with their hints of another world alongside the everyday. This is poetry at its finest reinforced by unforgettable original images in full glorious color. It is an art lover's book just as much as a poetry lover's book. Book collectors and art collectors will immediately recognize the unique character of this poetry volume, it is a work of art in itself which has been some 40 years in the making.

Poet David Stuart Ryan describes his round the world journey in poems and pictures. More than 100 original color pictures bring the journey unforgettably alive as you join the poet on an epic adventure that takes in more than a dozen countries, and the searing encounters on the way. The sheer vividness of the East comes across in these scintillating picture and word poetic insights into its different ethos, traditions, landscape, culture, religion and philosophy. Above all, the haunting beauty of the Earth in all its variety: deserts, mountains, seas and jungles, comes across in picture after picture as you join the poet on his quest. From the Himalayan mountains to the jungles of Malaysia, the deserts of Iran and the beauties of Croatia's and Goa's sea coasts, you begin to explore a world rich in variety, experience and romantic possibility. You are about to ship out on a voyage of discovery that will remind you of all the world has to offer. The journey begins at Dover, England and finishes in Hong Kong ready for the next stage which leads on to the new world of Australia that awaits you in volume 4 of this multi-volume poetry collection by an international award-winning poet, travel writer, artist and film-maker. The pictures and words capture a moment in time, but this moment contains a lasting haunting grip on the imagination.

You are now entering the second of 'The Seven Worlds' in David Stuart Ryan's poetry series. 'The Conjunction of the Sun and Moon' explores the relationship of man and woman in startling images, poems and themes. As with his previous book, 'The Sphere of the Moon Goddess', picture and text are intimately related and create a satisfying whole describing the poetic experience. You cannot help but be taken out of the everyday into the mysterious realms that these poems inhabit. It is as much a work of art as a poetry collection. The vivid intense colours of the original illustrations take on a life of their own, by turns other worldly, erotic, elusive, beautiful and intriguing. You will appreciate this book for the ultra realistic depictions of love in all its many phases, from soaring hope to plunging despair. But be warned, this is a 'no holds barred' encounter you are about to enter. You suddenly confront life face to face, and that can be disturbing as well as inspiring. Poet David Stuart Ryan, a US award winning writer in the 'All Nations Poetry Competition' takes you out and beyond your previous boundaries. Some journeys change you forever.

- the land of Australia and islands of Fiji Award-winning poet David Stuart Ryan takes you into the very heart of the Australian land and its presences in a vivid journey that includes over 100 original illustrations. Drawing on his Australian roots - his mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all Australian - the poet produces some new insights into the very nature of the land and its history. Illustrations of the native animals as well as its peoples bring this poetic journey alive and challenging in its depictions of the continent. The vast empty spaces, the pure colours, the ever present sun, are all here in surprising combinations hinting at a land altogether different from the common perception. Ghosts and vestiges haunt the landscape from forgotten times. They then find their way into some of the poems in this volume. Here is a land at once very old, peopled by equally ancient peoples, yet also a place where newcomers have poured in, virtually unaware of its history and presence. While they mostly cling to the coastal fringes, there is wonder but also fear to be found in the inner regions of a vast and lucky country that has yet to be fully explored. Join David Stuart Ryan on his own exploration of the southern land, Terra Australis, Australia.

It has been a long time in the making but now the illustrated poems of David Stuart Ryan are being made available, just as they were created on a year long overland journey to India and then return to London. The poems and original illustrations in vivid entrancing colours reveal the full magic and mystery of the East as you join the poet on his travels to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Kashmir, Varanasi, Bihar, Mumbai and Goa in India. The 120 pictures in the book bring the poems unforgettably alive as you visit the strange and mysterious places the poet selects to set down in the book which accompanies him, and which is faithfully reproduced now using the latest computer technologies. 'The Sphere of the Moon Goddess' is your introduction to 'The Seven Worlds' that this US prize-winning poet reveals in the course of his travels. 'The Sphere of the Moon Goddess' begins a journey that will take you into the mysteries of life, not least from the influences of India which permeate this first book in 'The Seven Worlds'. Extraordinary discoveries await you.

An exploration of ancient taboos Taboo is a novel that explores those areas of life generally considered off limits. It is a mystery, a romance, a probe behind convention to look for reality. The bringing to light of what has been previously hidden from ourselves....this is the process at work in Taboo. Horrors, fears, irrational drives come bubbling up to the surface from an ancient past. Taboo contains a dilemma capable of many possible outcomes, what actually transpires will both surprise and enlighten you. This is the third novel by David Stuart Ryan, in many ways it is his most ambitious and mysterious as he plays with both time and place to produce a non linear picture of our lives. The story begins in modern day Amsterdam but quickly reverts to the invading Russian armies killing and raping the civilian German population as the war comes to its apocalyptic conclusion. This becomes a metaphor for the continuing war between man and woman when communications break down and misunderstandings multiply. The novel takes you back through the preceding weeks to see how the fatal confrontation described in the early chapters took place. The heady initial romance is all the more poignant because we already know the outcome. Or do we? The second part of the novel reverts to linear time and we are able to follow the succeeding involvements and realise how these are affected by what has happened in the past. One image of a woman begins to merge into that of another, especially as these romances are conducted in the same Amstersam hotel room. The original protagonists and lovers now meet up again in Germany, but too much has flowed uder the bridge for the meeting to be anything other than climatic. And what of the other lovers on the way, was one of these the true romance of a lifetime? Only you can judge. Taboo sets out the characters and the circumstances, for you to put the jagged broken pieces back together again and form your own picture.

What were the demons that drove the most influential artist of the late 20th century? David Stuart Ryan has used his access to the files of Time magazine, plus interviews with many of the leading Beatles players, to build an unforgettable portrayal of the previously hidden sides of John Lennon. You feel like are reliving every day in the life...and what a life it was 'A whole lot of fun' 'Great photos too.' Mail on Sunday book review This new edition reveals many previously unknown sides to the amazing never to be repeated rise to fame and fortune of the Beatles, the most influential music group the world has ever known. A group whose reach and fame continues to grow with the years. It is time to explore just what happened to them in their early years to create such a phenomenon. A phenomenon that will never be known again as their first commentator, Bob Wooler, DJ at the Cavern club, so presciently predicted. Here is your chance to find out the origins of the songs that continue to fascinate and haunt in equal measure, to understand the times that formed and moulded them, to explore their undying message that only love can save the world. And it is a chance to marvel and wonder at just how four ordinary lads from Liverpool rose to become worldwide idols and icons for a new age. An age we are only now really entering.

'The Affair is All' is about the affair of a lifetime, which creeps up uninvited and unintended - and shatters an old way of life forever. Whether this is good or bad only the novel itself can reveal. Set mainly in London, but also including scenes from Copenhagen, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne and New York, the novel weaves a spell of the theater world. Scintillating, excessive, dangerous characters trap you in their dreams and schemes. If you have ever wondered just what the creative atmosphere was like in swinging London then this is it. Theater creative people involve you in their schemes and dreams. Review by Printer's Pie ================= 'Damn impressive.'

The quest for a perfect romance. A couple set out to look for Shangri la and become immersed in the mysteries of the East. If you have ever wondered what it is like to hit the overland route to the East and what may await you on the way, then this is it. High romance in the mountains, mystery and enlightening encounters multiply as the story unfolds. 'A well-written thoroughly enjoyable book evoking the romance and adventure of this last frontier. The overland trek is particularly well handled as you would expect from a seasoned round the world traveler.' Printer's Pie review. In 'Looking for Kathmandu' you meet Peter Anscombe a Vietnam war veteran with a mighty chip upon his shoulder at what happened to him there. When, for reasons he finds hard to explain even to himself, he sets out on a great journey towards the East and India, he has no idea what will become of him, but he knows he seeks another, better world. In Istanbul he meets Birgit, a uni student who found herself signing up to join a coach heading East when she was in Amsterdam, crying uncontrollably as she felt her life dissolving. Fate seems to intervene to bring them together in Istanbul, but this is only the beginning of a journey which will take them across thousands of miles of deserts and mountains in the raw heart of Asia. Rainbows in profusion greet their eyes as they gaze out at the skies from their mountain viewpoint in Turkey. In old Persia, present day Iran, they find their own love nest in the heart of Teheran. By the shores of the Caspian Sea Birgit suddenly realizes that the fields they are standing beside waiting to hitch a lift towards the East are actually full of marijuana grass. She whoops with joy and harvests her crop, even though there is a death penalty in operation in the country for possession. In Afghanistan under the brilliant stars with the Milky Way visible in stunning clarity, the romance goes into overdrive. After a row, Birgit naked runs off into the desert night. Peter follows, alarmed at what might befall her. He catches up with her crouched at the bottom of a gully. He slowly descends the shifting sands of the gully in the night. 'Don't fight me, instead love me', he implores before she surrenders and they make passionate love. Now perfectly relaxed and at one with the world, Birgit finds a tortoise with a parasite bug clamped to its leg in the gully. With a long departed doctor for a father, she hands the tortoise to Peter to remove the parasite and cure the patient visitor from the natural world. Liberated, the tortoise proceeds on its way, the couple head into old Kabul, where they discover the great thriving city that existed before the wars began that were to tear out its heart. 'Looking for Kathmandu' immerses you in an East that is likely to disappear almost completely in the next few decades. It is a snapshot in time that reveals the magic and the mystery of cultures that were old even while the Western cultures were being born. You join the couple on their quest to enter this ancient civilization with its wonders, inexplicable coincidences and marvellously wise sages and holymen. Immersed in this world, the revelations and experiences that occur for both Birgit and Peter are destined to reveal them to themselves in a new stark light. Is it possible for them to survive the shocks and twists of fate that take them to a place from which there is no coming back?

Photographs by David Stuart Ryan and Lisa Norfolk Take a ride right around the USA in the company of poet David Stuart Ryan and see the world in a slightly different way from the one you have been used to. You are shown the offbeat, the unusual, the telling little details about people and places that mark them out as the unique and unforgettable roadstops that they are on your trip. The text and pictures are linked together to show you exactly what the author is describing, it all comes vividly alive and makes you feel you know the place just that little bit better. For armchair travel, or the real thing, there is no better guide than 'America - a guide to the experience.' Reviews of 'America' ============= "The book gives an up to date impression of America often with an emphasis on the slightly off-beat. All aspects of American life are covered, from cowboy country to the burial of the unknown soldier from Vietnam in Washington, from Dallas to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, Mexico Way and Mardi Gras have attention as do the surfing beaches and Daytona speedway. The reader will discover just how diverse the USA is and the book paints a vivid picture of the 'real' America unlike many other travel guides. David Stuart Ryan travelled over 10,000 miles researching this book during three extended tours of America. He is one of America's prize winning poets. The photographs in the book are truly impressive and each is an original that has never before been published. Altogether a most enjoyable book and one which it will be a pleasure to re-read.' A review from 'The Book Exchange" "The two page spreads are well composed, the lighting is good and the pictures interesting." Photographic Society of America Journal "I look forward to reading it." President Bill Clinton

The story of Marlene Dietrich's life is the story of the 20th century. Author David Stuart Ryan who wrote the bestselling biography 'John Lennon's Secret' explores the amazing and circuitous route that took her to Hollywood and riches. But to understand the essential Marlene it is necessary to go right back in time to the era of La Belle Epoque when a very feudal and settled order still existed in Europe. 'The Blue Angel' transports you to a glittering world that is all about to disappear in the maelstrom of world war. What emerges from the conflict is a feverish gaiety that seeks to put behind it all the suffering that has taken place. You are entering the Jazz Age and a Berlin that having suffered hyperinflation decides anything goes. The Berliner Luft - the Berlin air - is what the locals call it. This madcap atmosphere was to be recreated by a young journalist - Billy Wilder - when he made the journey to Hollywood. Indeed, the plot for his greatest film, 'Some Like It Hot', drew on his experiences in Berlin, and Billy Wilder was one of the respondents to the author when he came to write Marlene's story. Others included her musical collaborator for her stage shows, the legendary Burt Bacharach, and her rival for the part of the Blue Angel, Leni Riefenstahl. Her personal assistant Bernard Hall gave some invalubale insights into her later life. While her surprising contacts with Adolf Hitler during his rise to power are hinted at in the films of Billy Wilder who was very much part of the film world in pre-war Berlin. The author reveals just what these contacts were, and the effect they had upon her as she joined the Allied armies re-entering Germany. Marlene's big break came when she played a vampish nightclub singer of dubious morals, not a million miles away from her own background trying to survive in a world turned upside down. 'The Blue Angel' took her to America and a carefully constructed film star image which embodies all the dazzling wealth and influence of Hollywood at its most powerful and hypnotic. Yet the more you get into the life of Marlene Dietrich, the greater the mystery becomes. Who was she really? Only now can the expert analysis of David Stuart Ryan reveal the true Marlene Dietrich, the person behind the image, the human being behind the facade. Was she indeed the blue angel?

'India - a guide to the experience' reveals what it is like to actually travel in India, to give you a visceral feel for the very physical impact that the subcontinent has upon its visitors. Words and pictures combine to build up a vivid sense of the country. You are taken from one far end to the other, stopping along the way at some of the most beautiful and beguiling places the country has to offer. If you have ever wondered what it will be like to venture to India then this is it. A guide by a writer and film maker who has visited the subcontinent seven times and spent a total of two years there. Reviews ====== "The entire text is spread out in 28 short chapters, some of them buttressed with useful and relevant historical facts and figures (Ryan studied ancient history and philosophy at London University)..double page spreads in colour convey the ambience in the light at Pushkar, Goa and Benares..' The Hindustan Times, India's leading newspaper. 'A delightful book...takes readers on a journey from one end of the country to the other' Homes and Travel 'Breathtaking...a lovely book..the author knows the perils of traveling in India so well...he has scattered tips for would-be venturers throughout' Birmingham Evening Mail

Climate Change Solutions represents an application of critical theory to examine proposed solutions to climate change. Drawing from Marx's negative conception of ideology, the authors illustrate how ideology continues to conceal the capital-climate contradiction or the fundamental incompatibility between growth-dependent capitalism and effectively and justly mitigating climate change. Dominant solutions to climate change that offer minor changes to the current system fail to address this contradiction. However, alternatives like degrowth involve a shift in priorities and power relations and can offer new systemic arrangements that confront and move beyond the capital-climate contradiction. While there are clear barriers to a systemic transition that prioritizes social and ecological well-being, such a transition is possible and desirable.