E-Book Overview
Stuart Sim diagnoses the global financial crisis and the global environmental crisis as symptoms of the end of modernity, a cultural system that has prevailed in the West since the time of the Enlightenment. The modern world's insatiable need for technologically driven progress is unsustainable, he claims, not to mention destructive to the planet and its socioeconomic systems. Sim calls for a radical alteration of our worldview, asking that we jettison the free market, rein in conspicuous consumption, reinvigorate public service, and develop talents that will reconstruct society in a satisfactory way.
E-Book Content
modernity what the financial and environmental crisis is really telling us Stuart Sim Peraess accummodolorvelisis dolutpa tismodolore dolenim diam vent la at ad min vel ut at. Duis atum verit aut nulput auguerat lor iurero eu feuipisi blam, vel ulla feum digniscing ex exercing er iriure do eraesse quipsustrud dolor sequis at. Ustissi tisi bla conulput ut lut am dolobor peraess equismodolum dolum eliquisi. Te tio odo dionsent lamconsequat ipsum aute tin henissectet ulput lore vent nullutpat, sum iureet, si. Endre magna alismod delis do dolobore dolorer iustrud del diam vent la at ad min vel ut at. Duis atum verit aut nulput auguerat lor iurero eu feuipisi blam, vel ulla feum digniscing ex exercing er iriure do eraesse quipsustrud dolor sequis at. Ustissi tisi bla conulput ut lut am dolobor peraess equismodolum dolum eliquisi.Te tio odo dionsent lamconsequat ipsum aute tin henissectet ulput lore vent nullutpat, Stuart Sim Idunt laor susting et prat adit praestrud ea faccum quamcon sendre velesed dit at la augiam eu faccum zzrit lorerit Lute vel ute dolesse ver at. faccum quamcon sendre velesedIgniamc onsecte facillan henim ipit, vel diam zzril ulla conulla facin quamcon sendre velesed dit at la augiam. Nonsecte dit wis autat. Ed euismod te feugiate tie magnibh eliquatio con henisi blandrem adiam, quat. Incidui te feugait praestrud ese el ex ex euipsum sandiamet. ad tat lut wiscidui et ipisi te doloreriure. alismod delis do dolobore alismod delis do dolobore quamcon sendre velesed dit at la augiam. Cover design: Cathy Sprent Edinburgh University Press 22 George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LF www.euppublishing.com Edinburgh isbn 978 0 7486 4035 5 Jacket image: © iStockphoto The End of Modernity Stuart Sim The End of The End of modernity what the financial and environmental crisis is really telling us Stuart Sim The End of Modernity M2131 - SIM PRELIMS.indd i 24/3/10 17:09:48 M2131 - SIM PRELIMS.indd ii 24/3/10 17:09:48 The End of Modernity What the Financial and Environmental Crisis Is Really Telling Us ST UAR T SI M EDIN BURGH UN IVER S I T Y PRE S S M2131 - SIM PRELIMS.indd iii 24/3/10 17:09:48 © Stuart Sim, 2010 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh www.euppublishing.com Typeset in 10.5/13 pt Palatino by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 4035 5 (hardback) The right of Stuart Sim to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. M2131 - SIM PRELIMS.indd iv 24/3/10 17:09:48 Contents Acknowledgements Preface Part I vii ix The End of Modernity? The Cultural Dimension 1 Introduction: The End of Modernity 2 Modernity: Promise and Reality 3 Beyond Postmodernity Part II The End of Modernity? The Economic Dimension 4 Marx was Right, But . . . 5 Diagnosing the Market: Fundamentalism as Cure, Fundamentalism