Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability: The Spirit of Sustainability

by Jenkins

Overview

The Spirit of Sustainability, Volume 1 of the ten-volume Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, helps readers navigate the moral worlds and ethical concepts, and social and religious practices related to sustainability. The volume explores a wide range of topics and perspectives, from the promise and problems of approaching sustainability through global and indigenous religions, to major theories in philosophy and environmental ethics, and professional practices and social movements. This volume presents the various goals of sustainability - ecological integrity, economic health, human dignity, fairness to the future, and social justice - and provides a framework for reasoning through many interrelated environmental challenges for both current and future generations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933782157
Publisher:	Berkshire Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2009
Series:	Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 1.40(d)

Editorial Reviews

Linking ecology to civilization and ecological sustainability, 114 experts present nearly 150 articles exploring the global community's "religious, philosophical, and ethical dimensions of environmental challenges." International contributors include a variety of scholars and ecology professionals, as well as the Forum on Religion and Ecology (Yale Univ., www.religionandecology.org). This first volume in a projected ten-volume set on sustainability provides broad overviews of society's varied values, morals, and belief systems, with articles ranging from "Confucianism," "Christianity," and "Indigenous Traditions" to "Stewardship," "Millennium Development Goals," and "Law." Organized alphabetically, each signed, two- to five-page article includes a resource bibliography. Jenkins (Ecologies of Grace) is an assistant professor at Yale Divinity School, and Bauman (Theology, Creation and Environmental Ethics) teaches at Florida International University. BOTTOM LINE A great complement to the Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (Berkshire, 2003), Environmental Philosophy: Critical Concepts in the Environment (Routledge, 2004), and Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy (Gale, 2009), this title is too advanced for uninitiated public and high school students but very useful as an interdisciplinary resource on ecology issues and potential solutions for scholars and informed adults. [Other volumes in the series will concentrate on various aspects of sustainability from specific continents to business, politics, and more.—Ed.]—Laurie Selwyn, Sherman, TX

Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—The stated goal of this series is to provide a resource in which information seekers can find everything they need to know about environmental sustainability. Students expecting only scientific concepts may be puzzled to find that the encyclopedia's first volume (the nine others will be published individually through April 2011) focuses on moral issues. Nonetheless, the introduction offers convincing justification for presenting the ethical, religious, and philosophical aspects of sustainability, noting that, for many, a discussion of Earth's environment is incomplete without addressing the spiritual. The 147 alphabetically arranged articles cover world religions, concepts ("Sin and Evil," "Racism," "Nonviolence"), and ecological movements. With the charge to inform and to represent multiple perspectives, the writers of this thoughtfully produced volume stay on topic and handily present the relationship between their subject and the overall concept of sustainability. Further-reading lists conclude each entry. The remaining volumes will cover the economics, law, and science of sustainability as well as assessments of geographical locations. An e-version of the set will be available after all of the volumes are in print—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal