"The connection between geography and progress is fundamental," writes Robert Sack in the introduction to the present volume. Touching on both moral and material progress, six of the world's leading geographers and environmental historians explore differing aspects of this connection. Thomas Vale discusses whether progress is discernible in the natural realm; Kenneth Olwig examines fundamental changes that occurred to the notion of progress with the rise of modernity, while David Lowenthal...

In this new book, Bauman examines how we have moved away from a 'heavy' and 'solid', hardware-focused modernity to a 'light' and 'liquid', software-based modernity. This passage, he argues, has brought profound change to all aspects of the human condition. The new remoteness and un-reachability of global systemic structure coupled with the unstructured and under-defined, fluid state of the immediate setting of life-politics and human togetherness, call for the rethinking of the concepts an...

With the rise of science, we moderns believe, the world changed irrevocably, separating us forever from our primitive, premodern ancestors. But if we were to let go of this fond conviction, Bruno Latour asks, what would the world look like? His book, an anthropology of science, shows us how much of modernity is actually a matter of faith. What does it mean to be modern? What difference does the scientific method make? The difference, Latour explains, is in our careful distinctions between ...

A critique of socialism by the Nobel Prize–winning economist: "The energy and precision with which Mr. Hayek sweeps away his opposition is impressive." — The Wall Street JournalIn this work, F.A. Hayek—a pioneer in monetary theory and proponent of libertarian philosophy—gives the main arguments for the free-market case and presents his manifesto on the "errors of socialism." Hayek argues that socialism has, from its origins, been mistaken on factual, and ev...

This critical study "artfully explores the power of limits . . . A compelling—and fittingly concise—read for our times" (Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics).Western culture is infatuated with the dream of endless economic growth, even as it is haunted by the specters of drought, famine, and nuclear winter. How did we come to think of the planet and its limits as we do? This book reclaims, redefines, and makes an impassioned plea for limits—a notion...

What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? In the vein of Sapiens comes a grand history of our universal moral values at the moment of their greatest crisis.How did we learn to distinguish good from evil? Have we always been capable of doing so? And will we still be in the world to come?In this breathtaking book, ethics expert Hanno Sauer offers a great universal history of morality...

What does John Ralston Saul's influential philosophical trilogy Voltaire's Bastards, The Doubter's Companion and The Unconscious Civilization mean for the real lives of individuals? Is it possible to apply his groundbreaking theories to everyday life?On Equilibrium presents us with a virtual "how to" of the ways that ideas can translate into action. Saul explains how our different qualities give us the intelligence, self-confidence and ability to...

F"Fundamentals of Sociology is an introduction to the definition, methods and fundamental concepts of sociology. The book prepares the ground for the study of the origins and structures of society and social groups in correlation with other social sciences. In doing so the author looks into the most important facet of social structure—social institutions—which in their varied forms act as agents of socialization and social control. Dwelling upon key issues in sociology this book details: •...

The Green Halo is a highly readable introduction to the vast field of contemporary ecological thought. It is a basic education in environmental philosophy and a welcome propadeutic for understanding the most crucial problem facing humankind in the coming century: How can humans live on this earth so that they do not destroy the preconditions for their own existence?

"Zerzan's writing is sharp, uncompromising, and tenacious." — Derrick Jensen"John Zerzan's importance does not only consist in his brilliant intelligence, his absolute clearness of analysis and his unequalled dialectical synthesis that clarifies even the most complicated questions, but also in the humanity that fills his thoughts of resistance. Future Primitive Revisited is one more precious gift for us all."—Enrico Manicardi, author of Liberi dalla Civiltá (F...

With a new Introduction by the author'An elegant and sane little book. – The New StatesmanMyths, as Mary Midgley argues in this powerful book, are everywhere. In political thought they sit at the heart of theories of human nature and the social contract; in economics in the pursuit of self interest; and in science the idea of human beings as machines, which originates in the seventeenth century, is a today a potent force. Far from being the opposite of science, how...

'Community' is one of those words that feels good: it is good 'to have a community', 'to be in a community'. And 'community' feels good because of the meanings which the word conveys, all of them promising pleasures, and more often than not the kind of pleasures which we would like to experience but seem to miss.'Community' conveys the image of a warm and comfortable place, like a fireplace at which we warm our hands on a frosty day. Out there, in the street, all sorts of dangers l...