At the Edge: Sustainable Development in the 21st Century

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

Despite ongoing evidence of the destruction of planet Earth, Ann Dale
mounts an impressive case for sustainable development, one both possible
and necessary as ecological deterioration is accompanied by social and
economic decline.

In brief, humans must reconcile ecological, social, and economic
imperatives. This route would only be possible if humans take
responsibility for environmental degradation and recognize the
interconnectedness of human and natural systems.

In a valuable preface, Dale points to the inconsistencies that thrive
in modern societies: postmodernist theories and fundamentalism, wealth
and poverty, and the development of space technology while the internal
combustion engine continues to pollute the planet. She describes her
work as being “passionately informed” by her belief that we
carelessly accept false dualities and make “pathological
separations” in relationships and in our view of the world.

Ann Dale is a professor in the Science, Technology and Environment
Division of Royal Roads University in Victoria. She also holds senior
positions in several Canadian consortiums with a mandate to work for
sustainable development. At the Edge is a serious study, well supported
by contemporary research, of our dangerous plight, and of the actions
that would enable us to reduce current dangers.