SUSTAINABLE FUTURES: AN AGENDA FOR ACTION

Kaplinsky argues that the past several centuries have been punctuated by surges in economic growth which he terms techno-economic paradigms that reflect different ways of organizing production and society.3 He identifies four preceding paradigms: water power, steam power, iron/steel/steamships/telegraph, and mass production.4 Each of these flourished then passed into crisis, to be succeeded by a new paradigm. Yet, the period of liberal democracy from 1900-2000 inside the United States and Europe was one of endemic conflict, and culture wars, if one thinks of Jim Crow, the prevalence of segregation, discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities in both North America and Europe, and of course, the terror of the Cold War. The author does, however, helpfully focus on the importance of infrastructure, observing that energy, water and roads are essential elements which the government must provide to ensure production and distribution.8 To this extent, Kaplinsky's work is timely and in line with the "zeitgeist," revealing a passion for both infrastructure and efforts to slow climate change. The heart of the book's argument is that the current environmental crisis facing Planet Earth is an existential threat.15 He provides the lay reader with an overview of the biosphere, the last glacial period, and the rise of industrialization.