ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book contributes to the convergence thesis, which stipulates the consolidation of different positions in the debate around scarcity of natural resources. What should be very apparent at this point is that the availability of resources is a topic that attracts the attention of a wide range of professionals, scholars and activists. In the resulting discourse, global resource scarcity is often regarded as a catalyst for conflict. Scarcity enters the conceptualisation of resource exploitation as a confounding factor. Implicit in the dominant treatment of scarcity is the expectation that increasing demand for resources will outpace supply and generate tensions around access to, and availability of, resources. The interventions of the contributors suggest, however, that the collaboration can perform a broader and at the same time deeper role of realigning society's apparent infatuation with scarcity.
