5.9. Fischer-Kowalski
Keynote Presentations from the 3rd ALTER-Net Summer School, Peyresq 2 - 14 September 2008
Speaker: Marina Fischer-Kowalski
Marina.Fischer-Kowalski -at- uni-klu.ac.at
Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, A - 1070 Vienna, Austria
Title of the talk: Sociometabolic transitions in human history and present, and their impact upon biodiversity (pdf: 3MB)
Summary of the talk by Jonna Timonen: Students´ summary (pdf)
Abstract
Socioemetabolic transitions in human history and present, and their impact upon biodiversityMost commonly, a transition towards more sustainable patterns of production and consumption is equated with the problem of abolishing a highly wasteful industrial lifestyle. Globally speaking, this is an inadequate representation of the problem. At the time being, two thirds of the world’s population are at various stages of achieving a transition towards acquiring exactly this wasteful industrial lifestyle, a transition that has very much in common with the historical great transformation from an agrarian to an industrial socioecological regime that Europe, North America and Japan went through in the past 100-250 years. Except that this transition now occurs under very different framework conditions than in the past: neither are there vast areas of land to be conquered, nor vast amounts of cheap fossil energy reserves, nor is there a seemingly unlimited absorption capacity for human wastes and emissions any more. In a schematic way, I shall sketch the impact of different socio-ecological regimes upon biodiversity. Finally, I will try to make a convincing case out of my own conclusion that the key challenge for international sustainability science consists in inventing a new industrial socio-ecological regime viable for the globe.
Recommended background literature on this presentation:
- Crosby AW (2007) Ecological Imperialism. The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge University Press 2nd Edition Cambridge 390pp.
- Fischer-Kowalski M, Haberl H, Krausmann F (2007) Conclusions: Likely and unlikely pasts, possible and impossible futures. In: Fischer-Kowalski M, Haberl H (eds) Socioecological transitions and global change. Trajectories of social metabolism and land use. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham 223-255.
- Sieferle RP (2003) Nachhaltigkeit in universalhistorischer Perspektive. (pdf: 3MB) In: Siemann W (2003) Umweltgeschichte. Themen und Perspektiven. Beck, München 39-60.
