We live in times of uncertainty and insecurity, at a personal, national and global level. Writers such as Samuel P. Huntington and Robert D. Kaplan, respectively, have spoken of an emerging 'clash of civilizations' and of 'coming anarchy'. This book is also concerned with the future of civilization, in particular with the conflict between economic growth and the sustainability of the biophysical lifesupport systems of the planet, arguing that the flawed system of orthodox neo-classical economics has justified the modernist belief in the necessity of unending economic growth and the ceaseless exploitation of nature.

JOSEPH WAYNE SMITH is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Geography at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He is the author of Healing a Wounded World (with G. Sauer-Thompson and G. Lyons), Is the End Nigh? (with E. Moore and G. Lyons), Beyond Economics: Postmodernity, Globalization and National Sustainability (with G. Sauer-Thompson), and Immigration and the Social Contract (with J. Tanton and D. McCormack eds). GRAHAM LYONS is a prominent Australian businessman and agriculturalist. He is the Director of Glen Bold Cattle Ranch in Echunga and a number of other properties. He has studied applied genetics at the Wait Agricultural Research Institute in Adelaide, South Australia. He is co-author of Is the End Nigh? (with E. Moore and J.W. Smith) and Healing a Wounded World (with G. Sauer-Thompson and J.W. Smith). GARY SAUERTHOMPSON was trained as an economist in New Zealand and worked in the New Zealand public service for a number of years. He returned to university after migrating to Australia where he studied philosophy. He is presently a Lecturer in Philosophy at Flinders University of South Australia. He is coauthor of Healing a Wounded World (with J.W. Smith and G. Lyons) and Beyond Economics: Postmodernity, Globalization and National Sustainability (with J.W. Smith).