Age of Capitalism, Consumer Culture, and the Collapse of Nature in the Anthropocene - (Environment and Society) by Jack Thornburg (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book examines how modern society arrived at such a destructive environmental and social stage, suggesting that three great crises have converged: climate change, capitalism as a logic system, and questions of consumer society and social identity.

Book Synopsis

The Age of Capitalism, Consumer Culture, and the Collapse of Nature in the Anthropocene argues that the stability of post-industrial, postmodern society is threatened by the convergence of three distinct, yet interrelated, crises: environmental degradation, capitalist economic development, and the primacy of consumption and self-absorption as the basis for economic development at the expense of community and social relationships. Jack Thornburg contrasts advanced modern society with indigenous cultures in terms of nature and conceptions of the communal self. The complex nature of capitalist-oriented society has influenced how individuals conceptualize themselves. The outcome, the author contends, is a competitive society in which individuals are alienated living in uncertain times. One consequence of these crises (all of which derive from the Enlightenment and the concomitant appearance and evolution of capitalism) has been the destruction of a worldview balancing and connecting well-being with prosperity of the natural world. Money and materialism cannot buy happiness as capitalist narrative asserts. Thornburg claims that the happiness sought by individuals seeking meaning through consumption can only be realized by reintegrating nature with the human spirit.

Review Quotes

In his expansive examination of capitalism, consumerism, and attitudes towards nature, Jack Thornburg capably stitches together disparate anecdotes from societies ranging from the Kayopo of the Amazon to the Khoikhoi of the Cape of Good Hope and describes relationships with nature that differ fundamentally from those of Euro-American society. After a lifetime as an anthropologist, his voluminous knowledge of human societies is sharply displayed. This perceptive exploration of the links between human culture and our environmental crises elucidates some of the most pressing questions of our times.

This book is a timely gift of understanding and promise. Thornburg provides a meticulously researched and comprehensive examination of how we have reached the precipice of environmental collapse. With conviction and clarity, he assesses how the empty promises of capitalism and consumerism create a vicious cycle of deepening alienation and resource exploitation. This deep structural understanding illuminates a way forward. Thornburg rallies readers to break this cycle by imagining new ways of relating to the natural world and one another, ways that offer the connection, fulfillment, and meaning we so desperately need.

Thornburg's synthesis challenges our capacity to recognize capitalism's rapacious resource exploitation, society's relentless consumerism, and human alienation from nature as keys to the environmental crisis that threatens our global future.

About the Author

Jack Thornburg is professor emeritus and received his PhD in development studies and anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.