How to Thrive in the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow's World Today

Thackara, John

ISBN 10: 0500518084 / ISBN 13: 9780500518083

Published by Thames & Hudson, 2015

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0500518084I4N00

Synopsis:

John Thackara has spent a lifetime roving the globe in search of design that serves human needs in a sustainable way. He believes that in our eagerness to find technological solutions to the big challenges faced by the human race, we have all too often ignored the astonishing creativity generated when people work together and in harmony with the world around them. Drawing on an inspiring range of examples, from a temple-led water management system in Bali that dates back hundreds of years to an innovative e-bike collective in Vienna, Thackara shows that below the radar of the mainstream media there are global communities creating a replacement economy from the ground up. Through a series of chapters each devoted to essential human concerns, he demonstrates that it is possible to live a rich and fulfilling life based on stewardship rather than exploitation of the natural environment. Ultimately optimistic, Thackara believes that through a huge variety of quiet, piecemeal changes of thought and action, we are coming to a tipping point: the end of one civilization – but the beginning of another.

From the Back Cover: Is there no escape from an economy that devours nature in the name of endless growth? John Thackara's answer is a rousing 'yes, there is!' Drawing on a lifetime of travel in search of real-world alternatives that work, he describes in this book how communities the world over are creating a replacement economy from the ground up. Each chapter is devoted to the creative ways people in diverse contexts tackle timeless needs: restoring the land, sharing water, making homes, journeying, growing food, designing clothes, caring for each other. From Bali to Brazil, as well as Delhi, London, and California, Thackara writes of soil restorers and river keepers, seed savers and de-pavers, cloud commuters and e-bike couriers, care farmers, food system curators, fibreshed stewards, money designers and more. Read together, these encounters add up to a joyful new story about what an economy is actually for. In place of an obsession with stuff, money and endless growth, this book describes social practices that cherish all-of-life, not just human life.Marvelling at the power of small actions to transform the bigger picture, Thackara believes that a great transition is under way. It's the end of one civilization - but the birth of another.

Bibliographic Details

Title: How to Thrive in the Next Economy: Designing...
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Publication Date: 2015
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket