Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Extended threats
An outline
PART ONE - WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
1. The Greenhouse Effect and Extreme Weather
Climate changes for real
Reaching tipping points and beyond
Extreme weather consequences
2. Nature Depletion and the 6th Extinction
The nature status report
Reversing the trends
Nature compassion
3. Environmental Toxins and New Entities
Severely overlooked problems
The outstanding position of plastics
4. Energy and Feedstock “Stickiness”
Energy in the anthropocene
Green and not so green energy
Stickiness in time
Stickiness in space
5. Technology and Energy Gaps
Greenhouse gas removal strategies
Energy sunset issues
Direct climate cooling initiatives
The total environmental burden
6. The Promise of Artificial Intelligence
A thing called AI
The man-machine idea
AI for green optimism
AI for skeptics
7. AI Singularity and Agency
From AI to AGI and singularity
For good or bad
The power of knowledge
A time for reflection
PART TWO - WHY ISN'T IT SOLVED?
8. From Denials to Sense of Urgency
Latent crisis versus manifest damage
A history of denial
Psychological obstacles
Practical Business obstacles
9. From Progress to Resentment
Historical anger and resentment
Disintegration and societal collapse
Immiseration and elite overproduction
Disintegration and totalitarianism
10. From lock-in to Possibilism
Lock-in or open space
More challenges
Political economy and the political order
Political order breakaway and possibilism
11. From BAU Growth to Genuine Progress
Growth measurement
Growth content and localization
Alternative paths to decoupling
The stickiness of economic growth
12. From Inequality to Redistribution
Asymmetries behind inertia
Distribution in time
Distribution in space
Adding inequality from monopolization
Cuts at the top
Boost at the bottom
13. From AI Conundrum to Economic Security
A work rundown
AI-technological unemployment
Below sustainability
Imagine
PART THREE - IS THERE HOPE?
14. The War-economy Metaphor and Commands From Above
War-time economics
Broad approaches
The Green New Deal and the Multi-sectoral approach
From multi-sector to megaprojects
Megaprojects for dystopia
War-economy mobilization
15. The World Music Metaphor and Engagement from Below
Classifying and naming
A bottom-up metaphor
Exegeses
A turn to goodness
The paradox of power
Mobilization from the bottom
16. The “dugnad” Metaphor and the Promise of Hope
The principle of reciprocity
The commoning and the Buen Vivir of the commons
Hope
Hope from the past
A final reflection
References
Index
Biography
Harald Knudsen is professor emeritus of international management at the University of Agder, Norway. He is also a public speaker, outdoorsman and jazz trumpet-player. He is known for his live “leadership jazz” sessions, including nearly 15 years as an Oxford University fellow at the Egrove Park executive education venue.
