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The Enemies of Progressby Austin WilliamsMay 2008, Societas, Vol.34 Available at reduced (subscription)
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Inside the Book at Amazon.com
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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 and tutor at the Royal College of Art and Bartlett School of Architecture and the Built Environment.