the end of over-consumption: towards a lifestyle of moderation and self-restraint by marius de geus,...

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assessing the management of NTFPs may be an interest-ing resource for the reader who is engaged with the cer-tification process (they are included in Appendices I–III).

This book provides invaluable practical and policyinformation from certification schemes that have been in place for the last 15 years. Its wide variety of casestudies from the field offer a rich repertoire of certifica-tion assessments and experiences. These studies covermany policy areas that may be of interest to EuropeanEnvironment readers, including natural resource manage-ment systems, intellectual property rights, internationalregulatory frameworks, fair trade, eco-labelling and thechallenges faced by small producers or producers frommiddle to low income countries. Perhaps the biggestachievement of the book is that it effectively employs amultidisciplinary approach with contributions fromnatural and social scientists alike. Environmental policymakers may recognize that this type of integrated per-spective is key to the development and implementationof successful sustainable management systems.

Anna KarpFreelance Policy Advisor for Natural ResourceManagement Projects in Developing Countries

albero12@yahoo.com

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/eet.334

THE END OF OVER-CONSUMPTION: TOWARDS ALIFESTYLE OF MODERATION AND SELF-RESTRAINTby Marius de Geus, 2003. International Books, £13.95(sbk). ISBN 90 5727 046 3

The issue of ‘over-consumption’ has become a recent pre-occupation for green political theory and ecological eco-nomics. Arguably the key statement here, at least in termsof its academic impact, has been Our Ecological Footprintby Mathis Wackernagel and Bill Rees (1996, New Society),which puts forward a vivid metaphor for gauging theenvironmental impact of Western consumption patterns.To some extent, this literature has rehabilitated the notionof ‘environmental limits’ as a critical response to thedefence of economic growth in formulations of sustain-able development. Even if, as the latter notion anticipates,economic development is eco-efficient ands fairer in itsdistributive outcomes, these benefits threaten to be wiped out by the growing material and energy demandsof mass consumption. Marius de Geus, a political theo-rist at the University of Leiden, tackles head on the cultural hold of Western consumerism and its ecologicalnon-sustainability. His overall aim in The End of Over-Consumption is ‘to examine how we can oppose today’sexcessive consumerism and realise “the end of over-

Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Eur. Env. 14, 50–53 (2004)

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consumption” by focusing on the benefits of a lifestyle of moderation and self-restraint’ (p. 16).

De Geus’ book is divided into three parts. Part Iunpacks the idea of sustainability, exploring the chal-lenges to our liberal democratic self-understanding andpolitical structures posed by our ecologically dysfunc-tional development paths. In contrast to radical greenclaims, de Geus argues that there is a stream of liberalismopen to reinterpretation in line with sustainability goals.However, this requires a tighter ‘delimiting’ of sustain-ability norms in policy discussions and the mobilizationof political leadership to reform state institutions accord-ingly. Part II salvages ecological utopianism from its crit-ical dismissal by a cynical postmodernism. Drawing onhis established scholarship in this area, de Geus arguespersuasively for the value of imaginary perspectives ininspiring new ways of seeing and acting. Chapters onideal landscapes in the Western utopian tradition andeducation for sustainability demonstrate how future-oriented visioning can serve ecological and social learn-ing. In the final part of the book, de Geus maintains thatenvironmental regulation can no longer avoid addressingthe entrenched, ecologically destructive cultural attitudesand behaviours promoted by Western consumerism; andthat, contrary to the protestations of neoliberals, moder-ation and restraint in our material desires can assist us indiscovering a richer, public-oriented domain of lifequality. The obstacles to such a sea change in our culturalpredispositions are not underestimated, but the authoridentifies alternative lifestyle concepts that reinventrather than repudiate existing aspirational goals – e.g.ecological hedonism (pp. 181–182), fair Earthshares (pp.183–184) and the cultivation of ecological virtues (pp.186–187).

The End of Over-Consumption is a commendably acces-sible study, ranging widely and intelligently in its cover-age. Its questioning of our self-identity as consumers is,above all, philosophical – an invitation to reflect on howwe should live in relation to others and our ecologicalconditions of existence. This leads to a stress on culturalchange that might leave some readers wanting to knowmore about the political economy of needs creation. Forexample, while advertising is mentioned at several points (pp. 170, 175, 191) and acknowledged as pivotal toreproducing consumptive practices, there is little sense of how corporate marketing and advertising is anchoredin wider structures of economic power and commodityproduction. To be fair, relevant social developments such as economic globalization are flagged up, and theemphasis of the book is on individual attitudinal andbehavioural change. Accepting this academic division oflabour, the ecological deconstruction of consumerismhere is compelling. Like the ancient myth of Erisychthon,the consumerist lifestyle feeds on itself through a spi-ralling desire for material gratification that can never be

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and ecological sustainability. We would do well torespond wisely to his highly perceptive analysis.

Michael MasonDepartment of Geography and Environment,

London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/eet.339

Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Eur. Env. 14, 50–53 (2004)

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sated.1 Marius de Geus has pinpointed the deep-seatedcultural roots of this modern hedonism and sets out clearmarkers on an alternative lifestyle ethic attuned to social

1 In this legend, Erisychthon, King of Thessaly, on cutting downevery tree in a sacred grove for material gain, is cursed by Ceres,the goddess of agriculture, to insatiable hunger. Maddened byan appetite that increases the more he consumes, Erisychthonultimately devours himself. See Ted Hughes’ Tales From Ovid(1997, Faber and Faber), pp. 85–94.