In this chapter, Dr Wayne Visser, CEO of CSR International and Visiting Professor of Social Responsibility at Manheim University, Germany, comments on the new list comparing the emerging themes from 2010 with the earlier Top 50 listing.
Wayne Visser's chapter includes a focus on the book that has perhaps generated the most debate amongst business leaders on CPSL’s executive education programmes – Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s The Spirit Level, which notes the persistence and devastating impact of the inequalities that first emerged on such an extraordinary scale during the Industrial Revolution. It also explores Tim Jackson's Prosperity Without Growth, and Harmony, the book and film adaptation by HRH The Prince of Wales, Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly.
Download 'The Sustainability Bookshelf: Our Pick of the Best' by Dr Wayne Visser.
The Top 50 Sustainability Books
This unique title draws together in one volume some of the best thinking to date on the pressing social, environmental and ethical challenges we face as a society. These are the Top 50 Sustainability Books as voted for by the Cambridge Sustainability Network of over 3,000 senior leaders from around the world. In addition to profiles of all 50 titles, many of the authors share their most recent reflections on the state of the world and the ongoing attempts by business, government and civil society to create a more sustainable future.
About the Book
Many of these authors have become household names in the environmental, social and economic justice movements, from Rachel Carson, Ralph Nader and E.F. Schumacher to Vandana Shiva, Muhammad Yunus and Al Gore. Others are relatively undiscovered gems, whose work should be more widely known, like Aldo Leopold, Thomas Berry and Manfred Max-Neef.
The books tackle our most vexing global challenges, including globalisation (e.g. Globalization and its Discontents, No Logo), climate change (e.g. Heat, The Economics of Climate Change) poverty (e.g. The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Development as Freedom) and China’s environmental legacy (The Rivers Run Black).
Many of these featured thought-leaders are highly critical of the status quo (e.g. David Korten, Eric Schlosser and Joel Bakan), while others suggest evolutionary ways forward (e.g. Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken, and Jonathon Porritt).
Some place their faith in design solutions (e.g. Janine Benyus, Ernst von Weizsäcker), while others are upbeat about the potential of business to be a force for good (e.g. John Elkington, Ricardo Semler, and William McDonough and Michael Braungart).
By featuring these and other seminal thinkers, The Top 50 Sustainability Books distils a remarkable collective intelligence – one that gives devastating evidence of the problems we face as a global society, yet also inspiring examples of innovative solutions; one that explores our deepest fears and our highest hopes for the future. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to tap into the wisdom of our age.
The Top 50 Sustainability Books was written by Wayne Visser on behalf CPSL. Published by Greenleaf (December 2009).
Downloads
Download the chapter "When Corporations Rule the World" by David C. Korten (1995).
Download the list of the Top 50 Sustainability Books.
Reviews
Read a review from Actual Earth.
Read a review from Article 13.
Order
Order The Top 50 Sustainability Books from CPSL at a discount.