No comments about Partnerships, Governance and Sustainable Development: Reflections on Theory and Practice.

2 comments about Unsustainable: A Primer for Global Environmental and Social Justice.

1. Professor Hossay's book helped me to understand, in very clear terms, that the great challenge of the 21st Century is the expanding gap between the rich and poor, which when coupled with corporate globalization, reaches an unprecedented level of overconsumption that is ecologically unsustainable. Therefore, the income gap, which on its own merit, can be argued as an unethical and immoral policy outcome, is also inescapably detrimental to the rich as much a the poor, since the planet itself will no longer be able to sustain such cultural excesses.
   As a high school teacher of International Relations and Economics, I have found this "primer for environmental and social justice" a highly useful tool. It's a refreshing supplement to the dry, outdated, and dare I say irrelevant text books that my district has provided me as "global studies curriculum."
   Since most of my students were born and raised in relatively affluent NJ suburbs, they tend to "feel sorry for" countries in the Global South, but see no real connection between their own lifestyle and its consequences in the global economy. Further, many of my students are well-meaning in their determination to try and "save the planet," but from an economic and political perspective, the larger picture seems to be "lost" on them. In other words, they have never been confronted with the possibility that it will take more than a recycle drive or beach clean-up to deal with the havoc we've already brought to the earth, and that perhaps some fundamental changes and cultural sacrifice will have to be made in order to make any kind of progress.
   In effect, I've appreciated Dr. Hossay's book so much because it forces my students and me to face reality at a time when we are so needing a wake-up call. Also, the scientific data, including numerous graphs, have served as important visuals throughout my courses, and provided me with the legitimacy to stand up to any of my colleagues who have tried to accuse me of politicking.
   By confronting the "clash of civilizations theory" so directly, I am now able to discuss with my students that the violence they are witnessing in accross the Middle East is not the "birth pangs" of democracy, but rather a larger symptom of a global competiion for limited resources that will ultimately destroy the planet unless young people like themselves are willing to transcend national and tribal loyalties in order to work for a greater good.
   I owe so much thanks to Patrick Hossay, an exceptional scholar, who has helped me deliver a complex message in terms that I and my students can actually grasp.



2. I found Patrick Hossay's treatment of his topic compassionate and refreshing. The work is well researched with citations provided for all facts--even those that the reader might prefer to dismiss.
   And while the matter-of-fact style of writing allows for maximum comprehension, there are also annotations that will help the more ambitious reader tackle the evidence at its source. If only the governments, special interest groups, and elite-business-concerns discussed in this book had that kind of transparency.

No comments about Sustainable Livelihoods: Building on the Wealth of the Poor.

No comments about Technology Transfer for Renewable Energy: Overcoming Barriers in Developing Countries.

No comments about Managing a Company in an Activist World: The Leadership Challenge of Corporate Citizenship.

No comments about Sustainable Asset Management: Linking Assets, People, and Processes for Results.

No comments about Moving Millions: Transport Strategies for Sustainable Development in Megacities (Alliance for Global Sustainability Bookseries).

No comments about Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency: The Progressive Conservation Movement, 1890-1920 (Harvard Historical Monographs).

No comments about Handbook on the Economics of Discrimination (Elgar Original Reference).

No comments about The Handbook of Environmental Economics (Blackwell Handbooks in Economics).