Fatal Consumption: Rethinking Sustainable Development

Why do we claim to value sustainability while acting in an unsustainable fashion? How can we reduce our consumption drastically and move toward a sustainable social system when our society is specifically based on consumption? These two linked questions are at the heart of this important book, the result of a four-year interdisciplinary study of British Columbia’s Lower Fraser Basin.

Taking the slogan "think globally, act locally" to heart, the contributors to Fatal Consumption are theoretical as well as practical. Though specific in focus, the analysis in Fatal Consumption can be generalized to most North American urban areas. It offers both an understanding of the present and hope for a sustainable future, counterbalancing a discussion of the opportunities for change with a frank examination of the barriers to such change.