The Enemies of Progress 

    by Austin Williams

    96 pp., £8.95/$17.90, 9781845400989 (pbk.)
    May 2008, Societas, Vol.34

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      This polemical book examines the concept of sustainability and presents a critical exploration of its all-pervasive influence on society, arguing that sustainability, manifested in several guises, represents a pernicious and corrosive doctrine that has survived primarily because there seems to be no alternative to its canon: in effect, its bi-partisan appeal has depressed critical engagement and neutered politics.
      It is a malign philosophy of misanthropy, low aspirations and restraint. This book argues for a destruction of the mantra of sustainability, removing its unthinking status as orthodoxy, and for the reinstatement of the notions of development, progress, experimentation and ambition in its place.

      Al Gore insists that the ‘debate is over’. while musician K.T. Tunstall, spokesperson for ‘Global Cool’, a campaign to get stars to minimize their carbon footprint, says ‘so many people are getting involved that it is becoming really quite uncool not to be involved’. This book will say that it might not be cool, but it is imperative to argue against the moralizing of politics so that we can start to unpick the contemporary world of restrictive, sustainable practices.

      The author is the director of the Future Cities Project, author and illustrator at NBS. An architect and project manager by profession, he was previously technical editor of the Architects' Journal and now writes for a wide range of publications on urban and transport issues. He was co-ordiantor of the "Future of" series of festivals and is a founder member of ManTowNHuman.

      'A well argued humanist alternative to the present conformist consensus - a very persuasive contribution by a thoughtful subversive.'
      Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at University of Kent, and author of ‘Politics of Fear’ and ‘Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone’

      ‘A much needed diagnosis of the bleak anti-human pathology sometimes described as environmentalism’
      Dominic Lawson, columnist for The Independent

      'Austin Williams has a gift for lobbing well-directed grenades.'
      Philippe Legrain, author 'Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them'