ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. It has identified and interrogated some of the assumptions that underpin managerial approaches. The book argues that managerial approaches typical of official sustainable development policy are questionable. The analysis in this book suggests that humanity is under threat in at least three senses. The ideas offered are intended to allow we wise apes to demonstrate people wisdom sufficiently, in saving one self and other complex life forms from irrational undemocratic blind industrialism, whether capitalist or communist. It also suggests the utilitarianism, or even hedonism of conventional economics and consumerism, that is the principal driver of their increasingly unsustainable societies. The book offers a trans-Atlantean, trans-modern start to earthsystemology, at least until a more elegant name can be found for research that integrates social science and humanities thought with Earth System science.
