Environment, Scarcity, and Violence Face

Environment, Scarcity, and Violence Face (Paperback)

Thomas F. Homer-Dixon (Author)

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Environment, Scarcity, and Violence Face

Environment, Scarcity, and Violence Face

£38.00 £12.00
Environment, Scarcity, and Violence Face

Environment, Scarcity, and Violence Face

£38.00 £12.00
Synopsis

 The Earth's human population is expected to pass eight billion by the year 2025, while rapid growth in the global economy will spur ever increasing demands for natural resources. The world will consequently face growing scarcities of such vital renewable resources as cropland, fresh water, and forests. Thomas Homer-Dixon argues in this sobering book that these environmental scarcities will have profound social consequences--contributing to insurrections, ethnic clashes, urban unrest, and other forms of civil violence, especially in the developing world. Homer-Dixon synthesizes work from a wide range of international research projects to develop a detailed model of the sources of environmental scarcity. He refers to water shortages in China, population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, and land distribution in Mexico, for example, to show that scarcities stem from the degradation and depletion of renewable resources, the increased demand for these resources, and/or their unequal distribution. He shows that these scarcities can lead to deepened poverty, large-scale migrations, sharpened social cleavages, and weakened institutions.

And he describes the kinds of violence that can result from these social effects, arguing that conflicts in Chiapas, Mexico and ongoing turmoil in many African and Asian countries, for instance, are already partly a consequence of scarcity. Homer-Dixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental scarcity are indirect and act in combination with other social, political, and economic stresses. He also acknowledges that human ingenuity can reduce the likelihood of conflict, particularly in countries with efficient markets, capable states, and an educated populace. But he argues that the violent consequences of scarcity should not be underestimated--especially when about half the world's population depends directly on local renewables for their day-to-day well-being. In the next decades, he writes, growing scarcities will affect billions of people with unprecedented severity and at an unparalleled scale and pace. Clearly written and forcefully argued, this book will become the standard work on the complex relationship between environmental scarcities and human violence.

  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • ISBN: 9780691089799
  • Pages: 272
  • Weight: 0.397
About the Author
I am a Canadian professor and author. I grew up on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, studied at MIT, and taught international relations for 30 years at Ontario universities. I'm currently director of the Cascade Institute in British Columbia. I use complexity science to examine threats to global security -- especially economic instability, environmental stress, ideological polarization, and mass violence -- and how people, organizations, and societies can respond to these threats. In my trade books, I write about critical global challenges, particularly those (like climate change) concerning the relationship between our societies and the natural environment. I also write about the causes of mass violence inside and between countries, the failures of economic systems, and the impacts of technologies and increasing complexity on our lives. I'm most interested in how we can adjust our values and worldviews to address our world’s huge problems, which is why my latest book is about hope, an emotion that I think is key to everything else.

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