The Environmental Politics of Sacrifice

An argument that the idea of sacrifice, with all its political baggage, opens new paths to environmental sustainability. The idea of sacrifice is the unspoken issue of environmental politics. Politicians, the media, and many environmentalists assume that well-off populations won't make sacrifices now for future environmental benefits and won't change their patterns and perceptions of consumption to make ecological room for the world's three billion or so poor eager to improve their standard of l