ACADEMIC
Tipping Toward Sustainability: Emerging Pathways of Transformation
Frances Westley, Thomas Homer-Dixon, et al. | This article explores the links between agency, institutions, and innovation in navigating shifts and largescale transformations toward global sustainability. Our central question is whether social and technical innovations can reverse the trends that are challenging critical thresholds and creating tipping points in the earth system, and if not, what conditions are necessary to escape the current lock-in.
Complexity Science
Complexity science isn’t a fad. I will offer a brief survey of some core concepts and ideas, and I will make a strong case that . . . they can help us develop new strategies for generating solutions and prospering in this world.
The Newest Science: Replacing Physics, Ecology Will Be the Master Science of the 21st Century
Physics was the master science of the 20th century. Ecology will be the master science of the 21st century.
Review of Vaclav Smil, Global Catastrophes and Trends and Chris Patten, What Next?
These are bewildering times. One moment the global economy is booming and stock markets are soaring; the next, trillions of dollars of wealth have vanished, and we are on the cusp of a global depression. Oil prices rocket upwards as leading oilmen talk of worldwide shortages, then they plummet amid a worldwide glut.
Review of Helge Brunborg, Eq Tabeau and Henrik Urdal (Eds.), The Demography of Armed Conflict
Can rapid population growth help cause civil violence, such as insurgency or revolution? How does war affect the population structure of societies? Is the science of demography a useful forensic tool in determining mortality arising from war crimes? This edited volume addresses such questions.
Review of Colin Kahl, States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World
What is the relationship between environmental stress—especially shortages and degradation of cropland, forest stocks, and supplies of fresh water—and civil violence in developing countries, including insurgency, ethnic strife, and revolution?
