Sustainability: A History

From one of the world's leading experts on the subject, a thoroughly updated introduction to the sustainability movement from the 1600s to today. The word is nearly ubiquitous: At the grocery store, we buy "sustainable foods" that have been produced using "sustainable agriculture"; groups ranging from small advocacy organizations to city and state governments to the United Nations tout "sustainable development" as a strategy for local and global stability; and woe betide the city dweller who doesn't aim for a "sustainable lifestyle." Seemingly emerging out of nowhere to dominate the discussion—from permaculture to renewable energy to the local food movement—the ideas that underlie and define sustainability go back centuries. In this illuminating and fascinating primer, newly revised and updated, Jeremy L. Caradonna does just that, approaching sustainability from a historical perspective and revealing the conditions that gave it shape. Tracing the movement's foundations to the 1660s, Caradonna considers the origins of sustainability in many areas of Europe and North America. Taking us from the emergence of ideas guiding sustainable-yield forestry in the late 17th and 18th centuries, through the challenges of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of the environmental movement, and the emergence of a concrete effort to promote a balanced approach to development in the second half of the 20th century, he shows that while sustainability draws on ideas of social justice, ecological economics, and environmental preservation, it is more than the sum of its parts and blends these ideas into a dynamic philosophy. Caradonna's book expands our understanding of what "sustainability" means, revealing how it has grown from a relatively marginal concept to an ideal that shapes everything from individual lifestyles, government and corporate strategies, and even national and international politics. For anyone looking to understand the story of those striving to make the world a better place, here's a place to start.