Progress or Collapse - Softcover

De Vogli, Roberto

Softcover

ISBN 10: 041551018X ISBN 13: 9780415510189

Publisher: Routledge, 2012

Synopsis

Economic progress is heading toward collapse. There are converging ecological crises looming on the horizon of modern civilization: climate change, peak oil, overpopulation, unsustainable consumption of water, fish and food. The world is on a collision course against the limits of the ecosystem. Modern societies are consuming, polluting and expanding as if there is no tomorrow. Indeed, there may not be one.
In Progress or Collapse, Roberto De Vogli guides us on an irreverent journey throughout the crises of progress, the so-called "externalities" of the current socioeconomic system. The book explores the interconnections between the environmental degradation and the psychological, social, cultural, political and economic changes affecting modern societies. It is no coincidence, the author argues, that multiple ecological crises are occurring in tandem with other symptoms of social breakdown: rising mental disorders, mindless consumerism, materialistic conformism, status competition, civic disengagement, startling economic inequalities, global financial instability and widespread political inertia.
Progress or Collapse is not an original study. It is a work of synthesis. It is a conceptual blending of seemingly distant facts and factors. It is an attempt to put a wide variety of disciplines under the same theoretical roof. The book invites the reader to look at society and the global economy from a critical, lateral perspective. Of course, there are the multiple underlying causes of the converging global crises of our time. This book does not cover all of them, but concentrates on the most profound one: the market greed doctrine.
In this hard-hitting analysis, the author argues that, in recent decades, the global economy has been dominated by a pathological ideology based on two articles of faith: the greed creed and the belief in the market God. The greed creed states that people are nothing but selfish profiteers in perpetual search for status and wealth. The belief in the market God is the conviction that all social and human affairs are best regulated as market exchanges.
Under command of the market greed doctrine, modern society is now spinning out of control. It is like a train, without a driver, approaching a precipice. What is to be done to stop it? How can we change its direction? How can we halt our progress toward collapse?
Given the current distribution of power and wealth, and the state of psychological and political inertia in which we are trapped, chances to redefine the economy around alternative values seem rather slim. Yet, the history of human emancipation has often been shaped by giant leaps forward and unthinkable civic advances. In the past, citizens organized in social movements have prevailed over almost insurmountable obstacles. Often, they have managed to overcome "the limits of the possible." We do not know whether this will happen again in the future. What we do know, however, is that there may be no future if this does not happen again.

About this title

About the Author:

Roberto De Vogli is an associate professor at University of Michigan and Senior Lecturer at University College London. He is a former member of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health - Globalization and Health Knowledge Network.

Review:

'Concerned for the future of humanity? Then read this book. Others cover just one aspect of the political, social, environmental and economic challenge facing humanity. But the transformation we so urgently need must start from an understanding of the interlocking system as a whole. With his breadth of vision, fearlessness and unerring eye for the truth, this is what De Vogli provides.' ― Richard Wilkinson, Author of 'The Spirit Level'

'If you think the world's current economic problems are just a blip, with normal service soon to be resumed, think again. As De Vogli brilliantly and succinctly reveals in this wide-ranging panorama of a book, the way we live now is simply not sustainable. In the absence of desperately urgent action that redefines our relationship with the planet, the future looks endlessly bleak; that is, of course, if we have any future at all.' ― Bill McGuire, Author of 'Seven Years To Save the Planet'

'De Vogli is one of the new ecological thinkers who show that climate change is the most dangerous product of Western corporate capitalism. In a masterful and highly accessible historical review of the development of corporate globalization, he shows that any struggle to save the planet requires a direct confrontation with the Wall Street elites and neo-liberal ideologues who created and now rule our unsustainable world economy. De Vogli shows that the world's prospects for survival depend now on repudiating the 'market greed' driving our elites and our own psyches, recanting the religion of growth, and crafting a new post-consumerist economy based on equality and our non-market needs for social fulfillment.' ― Charles Derber, Author of 'Greed to Green'

‘The story of our generation is the social destructiveness of markets ‘free’ to operate in the interests of the few rather than under the control of society as a whole. In Progress or Collapse that story is told and analyzed with insight, revealing the depth and breadth of what we have lost due to subservience to the ideology of consumerism and greed. Anyone who hopes for a reversal of the current descent into market barbarism should read this book.' ― John Weeks, Author of 'Capital, Exploitation and Economic Crises'

'Roberto De Vogli has written a brilliant book that unveils the destructive nature of the so-called 'free market' and neoliberal doctrines so widely admired in mainstream economic circles. Progress or Collapse is a scary, but also stimulating essay that invites reflections, critical thinking and, above all, civic outrage.' ― Thom Hartmann, Author of 'The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight'

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 041551018X
• ISBN 13: 9780415510189
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288