Juliet Schor on the politics of consumption

Juliet Schor's E. F. Schumacher Lecture from New Economics Institute on Vimeo.


Juliet Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. The video above is a lecture she delivered at the Thirty-First Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, New York City, November 5th, 2011.

Here is a summary of one of her ideas:

"2. Quality of life rather than quantity of stuff. Twenty-five years ago quality-of-life indicators began moving in an opposite direction from our measures of income, or Gross Domestic Product, a striking divergence from historic trends. Moreover, the accumulating evidence on well-being, at least its subjective measures (and to some extent objective measures, such as health), suggests that above the poverty line, income is relatively unimportant in affecting well-being. This may be because what people care about is relative, not absolute income. Or it may be because increases in output undermine precisely those factors which do yield welfare. Here I have in mind the growing worktime requirements of the market economy, and the concomitant decline in family, leisure, and community time; the adverse impacts of growth on the natural environment; and the potential link between growth and social capital".

More here.

Bill Rees on the disconnect between economics and ecology

In my first year as an undergraduate student, I took a course called Environmental Science 101. It was a fascinating and comprehensive overview of both the arts and science dimensions of the discipline (e.g. environmental toxicology, energy systems, air pollution, environmental law, politics, planning, public policy and economics, to name a few).

In the first few weeks of class, our wonderful professor exposed us to the ecological footprint analysis, a concept that was co-created by William Rees, a professor in my grad program at UBC. I studied his ecological footprint analysis in my undergrad and explained it (or attempted to) numerous times to my friends in other areas of the academy.

5 years later, I am now taking a class with Prof. Rees on ecological economics. Bill is passionate and his ecological footprint analysis has been widely used, discussed and studied all over the world. The video above is a just a taste of a professor who has done so much in arguing for the importance of ecology in our society and why planning and economic systems must account for ecological dimensions first, before we can begin to even think about sustainbility.

Bill is retiring this year from UBC and I feel quite privileged and honoured to have taken a course with him.

Josh Farley on the Ecological Economy

Joshua Farley is Professor of Community Development & Applied Economics and Public Administration at the University of Vermont. He is a famous ecological economist who has contributed immensely to the field and has provided several strong arguments for its purpose as a discipline. The video above captures it all -- a introduction to ecological economics, its main goals, some of his ideas -- and lasts for about 40 minutes or so.

It's a really useful video that essentially discusses how we can adapt our economic systems to the ecological and physical constraints of our planet.

An introduction to ecological economics

I am taking a course this term with Professor Bill Rees. Bill Rees is renowned for co-creating the Ecological Footprint concept back in the mid-1990s. Bill is also a distinguished professor in my graduate program (SCARP).

The course I am taking with Bill is all about about ecological economics. In short, ecological economics is about treating the economy as a subsystem of the ecosystem and has an emphasis upon preserving natural capital.

Here is short and informative introduction to the discipline.