All pages, by date

The Godfather of Green - having launched The Ecologist 37 years ago, Teddy Goldsmith has been instrumental in everything from the setting up of the world's first political green party to being the first to expose many of the problems associated with global development, such as giant dams and nuclear power. Now 79, he is as vociferous as ever, but finally the rest of the world is beginning to catch up. By Paul Kingsnorth, former deputy editor of The Ecologist. Published in The Ecologist Volume 37 Issue 2, March 2007.

Books by Edward Goldsmith - we aim to present here a comprehensive list of all Edward Goldsmith's published books, whether as author, editor, co-author or co-editor, in all main editions, languages and countries.

CV - Edward Goldsmith's curriculum vitae.

Eco Hero - Edward Goldsmith - Annabel Freyberg interviews Edward Goldsmith for the Telegraph Magazine, 16 December 2006.

The Doomsday Funbook - Introduction. The Doomsday Funbookis Edward Goldsmith's most recent book, a collection of editorials from The Ecologist illustrated by the incomparable Richard Willson. Published by Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006. Order the book from this page and get free P&P.

The Doomsday Funbook - cover - This is the cover of the book The Doomsday Funbook, edited by Edward Goldsmith, a compendium of articles from The Ecologist by Goldsmith and other authors, with cartoons by the incomparable Richard Willson. It was published byJon Carpenter Publishing in February 2006.

A tribute to Robert Waller, poet, literary critic, T. S. Eliot protegé, former editor of the Soil Association journal Mother Earth, and freelance writer for The Ecologist, who sadly died in the autumn of 2005.

Participating in democracy - preface to The urban village: a charter for democracy and sustainable development in the city, by Alberto Magnaghi. To be published by Zed Books in September 2005.

Does development create or mitigate poverty? - Clare Short MP and Teddy Goldsmith discuss. Published in The Ecologist, April 2005.

Our climate - the key question - introductory address to the 'San Rossore - A New Global Vision' Climate Congress. This event was organised by Claudio Martini, President of the Tuscan Region, and took place at San Rossore, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, 15-16 July 2004.

Spanner in the works - Edward Goldsmith interviews Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian farmer who risked everything to challenge GM giant Monsanto.

Green revolutionary - interview of Edward Goldsmith by Bittu Sahgal, published in Sanctuary Asia magazine, at the 2004 World Social Forum, Mumbai.

Are small food producers responsible for the food poisoning epidemic? - this talk was broadcast at various dates during December 2003 on the World Business Report programme of the BBC World Service, as part of a series of six talks by Edward Goldsmith.

Rewriting economics - this talk was broadcast at various dates during December 2003 on the World Business Report programme of the BBC World Service, as part of a series of six talks by Edward Goldsmith.

What can we do about global warming? - this talk was broadcast at various dates during December 2003 on the World Business Report programme of the BBC World Service, as part of a series of six talks by Edward Goldsmith.

Are farmers going to run out of water? - this talk was broadcast at various dates during December 2003 on the World Business Report programme of the BBC World Service, as part of a series of six talks by Edward Goldsmith.

Can we cope with the growing oil shortage? - this talk was broadcast at various dates during December 2003 on the World Business Report programme of the BBC World Service, as part of a series of six talks by Edward Goldsmith.

Do we need small farms? - this talk was broadcast at various dates during December 2003 on the World Business Report programme of the BBC World Service, as part of a series of six talks by Edward Goldsmith.

How to feed people under a regime of climate change - Modern agriculture is not only highly vulnerable to climate change, it is also a major cause of climate change due to its emissions of greenhouse gases and its damaging effects on soil and freshwater resources. A combination of traditional agricultural knowledge and techniques, combined with newly emerging sustainable technologies, may hold the answers we need. Published in World Affairs Journal, winter 2003. Reprinted in Surviving the Century - facing climate chaos and other global challenges, edited by Herbert Girardet (Earthscan, May 2007).

In Towards an ecological world view, written to introduce his book The Way, EG denounces 'modernism' - the view that "all benefits are man-made, the product of scientific, technological and industrial progress, and made available via the market system". In its place, he argues, we must create a new world view rooted in ancestral traditions and based on an understanding of mankind's place in the cosmos.

My answer to a number of vitriolic attacks upon me and my philosophy, in particular those of Fabel van der Illegaal.

Welcome to the Home page of the edwardgoldsmith.com website. Please take your time to read, browse and cogitate.

Rewriting economics - "Let us see why modern economics produces such a distorted view of our relationship with the real world in which we live. The main reason is that modern economics has been developed in total isolation from the disciplines that seek to understand the living world ... ". A short lecture delivered to the LSE's Environmental Initiatives Network, subsequently printed in their Journal, February 2003.

Towards a biospheric ethic - Modern moral philosophers have based their ethical principles on a grossly distorted view of nature and human society. The result has been a 'technospheric' ethic that seeks to equate progress and the moral good with economic expansion and the dominance of man over nature. A new 'biospheric' ethic is required. Written for the Institute of Science and Society, January 2003.

Towards a biospheric ethic - as published on the Instutute of Science and Society website - slightly different to the version we have on this site.

For the oil industry, human survival is just not economic - an article by Edward Goldsmith and Simon Retallack for the Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006); written in March 1997, and updated on 22 November 2002. "International attempts to control climate change have been a primary target for corporate lobbyists. Their aim throughout has been to delay, damage and, if at all possible, destroy the rather feeble measures that have been proposed. Perhaps the most damaging response has come from oil industry chiefs like Lee Raymond, President of Exxon-Mobil ... "

A tribute to Professor Eugene Odum, the world's most respected ecologist, who passed away on August 10 2002.

Ecology - a bridge - review of Ecology: A Bridge Between Science and Society, by Eugene Odum. Third Edition published by Sennar Associates, Sunderland, Mass, USA, 1997.

The gene for unemployment - There is an growing tendency to blame human ills - physical and psychological - on 'defective' genes. But is it our genes that are defective? Or is it rather the pathological environment in which we live? Deprived of community, eating nutritionally impoverished foods, surrounded by industrial pollution ... the raw conditions of life for billions of people make a healthy and happy existence impossible. How convenient for industry to blame all this on our defective genes - and then to sell us 'solutions' in the form of biotechnology. Editorial for the Doomsday Funbook (February 2006).

Rethinking basic assumptions - an article for the Parliamentary Monitor. The 'New Labour' government led by Tony Blair is not just a disappointment from an ecological perspective, it is the worst government that Britain has ever had: assiduous in its efforts to please multinational corporations, ever seeking to promote dangerous and untested new technologies, utterly subservient to power, and despite its superficial green rhetoric, always happy sacrifice the environment in pursuit of its political, economic and military objectives.

What to do? - chapter from La terre vue du ciel (the Earth seen from the Sky) by photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Paris, 3 September 2002). "Ultimately the answer ... is to change the industrial system itself and return to a largely rural, community-based society in which economic activities are conducted on a very much smaller scale and that cater as much as possible for the local economy."

Reflection on the 2002 Johannesburg Summit - the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September, the tenth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. This critique, written in advance of the Summit, shows that even in the unlikely event of 'success', the exploitation and destruction of peoples and ecosystems would continue unimpeded. Published in The Ecologist, 22 July 2002.

Whatever happened to ecology? - a critique of the reductionist, mechanistic science of ecology which has turned against the living world. Written in 2002, this is a greatly extended and updated version of an article first published in The Ecologist Vol. 15 No. 3, 1985.

How can we survive? - 30 years ago in 1972, as the first Envrionment Summit took place in Stockholm, The Ecologist published A Blueprint for Survival. So why, on the eve of the Johannesburg Summit and in the face of mounting environmental crises, has nothing changed? Published in The Ecologist Vol. 32 No. 7, September 2002.

In this Letter to the Guardian, April 2002, Edward Goldsmith responds to charges made against him in the Guardian by commentator George Monbiot.

Art and ethics - Edward Goldsmith explores the themes of knowledge, intuition, aesthetics and the Sacred. Published in The Structurist magazine Nos. 41-42, 2001-2002: "Art and Altruism".

An ecological world view - Judith Elliston interviews Edward Goldsmith for Pataphysics magazine. "We have got everything back to front - the whole direction in which our society is moving in today is suicidal ... The truth of the matter is that economic development, rather than providing a solution to our problems is in fact the main cause of these problems."

Rediscovering economics - talk given to the London School of Economics, 30 January 2002. " ... where once the whole economy was based on social relationships, as economic growth proceeds, these social relationships are replaced by economic relationships and as each one of these functions is usurped by corporations the community just disintegrates, it loses its raison d'etre. Eventually you end up with an atomised mass society such as we have today ... ".

The cosmic in art, architecture and ecology at the Millennium - from "A Sacred Trust: ecology and spritual vision", edited by David Cadman and John Carey, Tenemos Academy Papers No. 17, 2002. In this essay, Edward Goldsmith argues that the original purpose of art is to express mankind's relationship with the cosmos.

A question of survival - why the fight against climate change should take precedence over all other priorities. Published in The Ecologist Special Report on climate change, November 2001.

Why development creates poverty - "Development ... is above all the gradual disembedding from their social context of all such functions that were previously provided for free, their monetization and takeover by the state and the corporations... ". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 32 No. 6, July / August 2001, under the title "Poverty, the child of progress".

Unhygienic? Or just small scale? - an article for The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006), written in June 2001. "Throughout the world today governments, in accordance with WTO legislation, are imposing costly installations on small food producers on the premise that their activities are not hygienic, which few can afford and which thereby pushes many of them out of business", yet "it is the big intensive food producers, not the small ones, that are responsible for the epidemic of food poisoning and, probably, for the growing incidence of other diseases as well."

Unhygienic - or just small-scale? (short version) - this essay explores the way in which food hygiene regulations are pushing small, safe, traditional high quality food producers out of business by imposing inappropriate and wildly expensive requirements - while industrial food producers reap the benefits.

Killing off small farms in Brazil - Jose Lutzenberger tells Teddy Goldsmith about the regulatory obstacles he faces on his organic farm in Rio Grande do Sul. Published in The Ecologist Report, June 2001.

Can the environment survive the global economy? - "To increase trade is justified because it is seen to be the most effective way of increasing economic development, which we equate with progress, and which in terms of the world-view of modernism, is made out to provide a means of creating a material and technological paradise on Earth ... ". Too bad about the planet. First published as Chapter 7 of The Case Against the Global Economy, June 2001. This extended version appeared in The Ecologist Vol. 27 No. 6, November / December 1997.

Unhygienic - or just small-scale? (long version) - first published in The Ecologist Special Report June 2001. Republished in Rivista di Biologia (Biology Forum) Vol. 94 No. 3, September / December 2001 pp. 511-533. This essay explores the way in which food hygiene regulations are pushing small, safe, traditional high quality food producers out of business by imposing inappropriate and wildly expensive requirements - while industrial food producers reap the benefits.

Can humanity adapt to the world that science is creating? - human beings evolved as small bands of hunter-gatherers, and our fundamental, instinctive nature remains adapted to that role. Small wonder then that we are so maladjusted to the world which we have created. As we pursue the path of 'progress', fully expecting that science, technology and economic growth will lead us into a future of happiness and prosperity, we are only drawing further away from our origins, and from our true natures. Unpublished, 25 January 2001.

The new imperialism - the era of colonialism may be over, but it has been replaced by a new era of economic and intellectual imperialism, enforced by the Bretton Woods and allied institutions, for the benefit of trans-national corporations. Preface to a book by Shri Faizi Shahul.

The case against the global economy - cover - the cover of the book, The Case Against the Global Economy - and for a turn towards localization, edited by Edward Goldsmith and Jerry Mander. Published by Earthscan, London, 2001.

The last word: a personal commentary - "the development of the global economy ... will, we were assured, usher in an era of unprecedented prosperity for all. However ... it can only lead for most of humanity to an unprecedented increase in general insecurity, unemployment, poverty, disease, malnutrition and environmental disruption ... ". This essay was written as Chapter 26 of The Case Against the the Global Economy: and for a turn towards localisation edited by Edward Goldsmith and Jerry Mander, 2001.

Hell on Earth: mankind and the environment - Humanity has transformed the planet almost unrecognisably, now we talk of re-engineering ourselves to fit ... how we can miss the point so dramatically? Published in The Ecologist Vol. 30 No. 7, October 2000.

The Prague summit - In September 2000, Prague was the venue for the joint annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF. This article describes how the "Maoist" economic prescriptions of these twin institutions create poverty and dependence among their client nations. Editorial for The Ecologist Special Report, September 2000.

Cooking up rightwing connections - In this letter published in the Guardian on Tuesday 18 July 2000, Edward Goldsmith responds to "Age of Rage" by Fred Pearce.

The fight must go on - Goldsmith looks back to the Blueprint for Survival, published in 1972, and finds that the core messages have only become more relevant and pressing with the passing of time. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 30 No. 5, July / August 2000.

Intelligence is universal in life - a synthesis of chapters 31, 32 and 33 of The Way: an ecological world view. Published in Rivista di Biologia / Biology Forum Vol. 93 No. 3, 2000. Goldsmith argues that intelligence is no exclusive preserve of humankind.

Is science neutral? - a debate between Edward Goldsmith and Professor Lewis Wolpert. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 30 No. 3, May 2000.

Religion at the Millennium (long version) - "Whether we like it or not, the religio-culture of tribal peoples tells them the truth about their relationship with the cosmos. It does so, of course, in their special way - the way that would be best understood and believed in - not just intellectually, but with their heart and soul. It tells them the truth in the way that is most likely to be acted upon." This is an extended version of the introduction to The Ecologist's special issue on Cosmic Religion, November 1999.

Globalisation will destroy India! - The Rediff Business Interview, March 2000. Pritish Nandy interviews Edward Goldsmith.

Introduction to Le Piège se Referme (Plon, May 2002), successor to Le Piège (Editions Fixot, March 1994) by James Goldsmith.

Archaic societies and cosmic order - a summary - an edited version of Chapter 61 of The Way: towards an ecological world view. This version published in The Ecologist Vol. 30 No. 1, January / February 2000. "Across the world, from the beginnings of prehistory, the belief that society must follow a certain path - or 'Way' - in order to maintain itself, and the wholeness of the world around it, has been a common theme running through many societies and cultures... ."

The Way - an ecological world view - an article for Resurgence magazine which introduces Edward Goldsmith's great work The Way. In it he denounces the world view of 'modernism' and argues for a new ecologically-based ethic to take its place.

The next thirty years - writing at the turn of the Millennium, Edward Goldsmith predicts that hard times are ahead, failing drastic action to curb the social and environmental evils that beset us.

The European project - an exposition of the problems inherent in the structure and institutions of the European Union.

Traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka - EG interviews Mudyanse Tennekoon. "Farmer Tennekoon is a prophet, a prophet of traditional rural life in Sri Lanka. He is also a farmer and lives in a small village in the Kurenegala district of the island. In recent years he has become quite well known among those people who recognise the destructiveness and counter-productiveness of the modern system of intensive agriculture which the international institutions - FAO and the Word Bank in particular - are imposing on Sri Lanka."

On Seattle - some comments on the humiliation of the World Trade Organization.

Is free trade working for everyone? - letter published in Prospect Magazine No. 47, December 1999, written to Jagdish Bhagwati.

Religion at the Millennium (short version) - "The relevance of the religion of primal people is that they are totally reconcilable with the principle that the destruction of the environment is a sin, more so, it is their most fundamental teaching. Indeed primal religio-culture is concerned above all with the preservation of the order of the cosmos and hence with that of its constituent families, communities, and ecosystems ...".. Introduction to The Ecologist's special issue on Cosmic Religion, November 1999.

Exposing the myth of economic growth - Foreword to The Growth Illusion: how economic growth has enriched the few, impoverished the many and endangered the planet, by Richard Douthwaite. Green Books, 15 October 1999.

Damned over the dam - Letter published in the Guardian on Saturday 3 July 1999.

Profits of doom - Steven Ferry interviews Edward Goldsmith for Government Technology Magazine, May 1999. "Built into the global economy are the seeds of its own disintegration. But the biggest problem we face today, which dwarfs all others, is global warming ... The only thing which may save us is the complete collapse of the global economy, with all the problems that that will create. The choice is between two horrors."

The economic cost of climate change - "Industrialists who continue to lobby governments to prevent them from taking the necessary action to combat climate change try to persuade themselves that inaction is in the best interests of their businesses and the economy itself. Given the enormous financial costs climate change will inflict, such an attitude is short-sighted in the extreme ... ". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 29 No. 2, March / April 1999.

The Crash Programme: a solution-multiplier - "The crash programme required to restabilise global climate can be funded by mobilising funds that are either currently wasted or used in destructive ways. The real cost for humanity is negative since the programme has to be undertaken in any case to solve nearly all the other critical problems that confront us today ... " Published in The Ecologist Vol. 29 No. 2, March / April 1999.

Gaia and the global corporations (extended version) - "Development involves methodically destroying the real world or the world of living things in order to substitute in its stead a totally different world; the surrogate world or world of human artefacts ... ". This article, based on Edward Goldsmith's keynote address at the International Forum on Globalization in April 1998, was published in Caduceus magazine issues 42 and 43, winter 1998 and spring 1999.

Global warming will make traditional climatic knowledge irrelevant. Tribal peoples have an unparallelled understanding of their environment, which is key to the sustainable agriculture and lifestyles which they have pursued for generations. But with climate change, weather patterns and ecosystems face disruption. Could traditional tribal knowledge, of such huge potential value for sustainable living, be made obsolete by global warming?

Technology - a false religion - a review of Why things bite back by Edward Tenner. "Edward Tenner's book is truly blasphemous. Its thesis is that our technological efforts to manage the world of living things are not working out too well. At first they may seem magically successful, but then comes what Tenner calls their 'revenge effect', which at best transforms acute problems into chronic ones, at worst gives rise to all sorts of new problems, often more serious than whatever problem was targeted in the first place ... ". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 28 No. 5, September / October 1998.

My fears about GM food crops In this introduction to "The Monsanto Files", The Ecologist's special issue on Monsanto, Edward Goldsmith engages with the problems of corporate control of the food chain as well as the potential health issues associated with genetic modification. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 28 No. 5, September / October 1998.

Did God really do such a bad job? - a leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 28 No. 3, May / June 1998. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). "Underlying the world view of the secular Religion of Progress is the fundamental assumption that the world is badly designed. God did a bad job, and it is incumbent on man, armed as he is with all his science, technology, industry and free trade, to transform it in accordance with his vastly superior design ... "

Why not, we've got a licence? - A leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 28 No. 3, May 1998. Revised in January & February 2000, and republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006).

The lessons of traditional irrigation - "Modern irrigation schemes in tropical areas are, almost without exception, social, ecological and economic disasters. They necessarily lead to the flooding of vast areas of forest and agricultural land, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and the spreading of waterborne diseases like malaria and schistosomiasis ...". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 28 No. 3, May-June 1998.

Policing the environment - a talk presented to the Bellerive / Globe "Policing the Global Economy - why, how and for whom?" international conference, held in Geneva 23-25 March 1998, before Sadruddin Aga Khan. "My thesis is that there are no effective institutional methods for 'policing the global environment'. To the extent that the global environment will be 'policed' at all it is only likely to be by mass social movements ... "

Gaia and the global corporations (original version) - the keynote address delivered to the International Forum on Globalization in April 1998. It argues for "a network of loosely connected local economies ... rooted in a particular society to which they are accountable economically, socially, ecologically, and morally, and catering largely, though not entirely, for local and regional markets ... ".

The cosmic covenant - a talk to the Religion & Environment Education Programme (REEP) Conference for Bishops & Theologians on 2 February 1998, also published in Fourth World Review in the same year. "Man is naturally a religious being. It is not religion as Karl Marx insisted, but materialism that is the opiate of the people. What is more, religion is even today a powerful force and could be very much more so if it were seen by the public at large as providing the very basis of the world view with which we must all be imbued if we are to survive on this beleaguered planet ... "

The Way: a summary - this summary of The Way: An Ecological World View was written for Schumacher College in 1998. First published in 1992, The Way is Edward Goldsmith's magnum opus. The new edition of The Way, published by University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, in 1998, has been fully revised and incorporates a glossary, page references and index.

The Way - cover - from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Richard Benedict Goldschmidt - a discussion of the life and works of the German biologist and evolutionist, author of "The Material Basis of Evolution".

Scientific superstitions, or "The cult of randomness and the taboo on teleology". This article is an extended version of a combination of three chapters, 5, 26, and 27, of The Way: an ecological world view. Also published in The Ecologist Vol. 27 No. 5, September / October 1997.

The real causes of cancer - "Cancer is now a disease that afflicts one woman out of three and one man out of two, and everybody knows in their hearts what the main causes are: exposure to carcinogenic chemicals in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe, and ionising radiation ... However the 'Cancer Establishment' ... will not admit it so the cancer epidemic is blamed on such things as faulty genes, viruses, eating fatty foods and drinking alcohol ... ". Unpublished, September 1997.

Development as colonialism - this important essay exposes modern-day 'development' as colonialism repackaged and ferociously applied through transnational corporations, compliant local elites and global institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF - and backed by the threat of military force. It was published in The Ecologist Vol. 27 No. 2, March / April 1997, and as Chapter 1 of The Case Against the Global Economy by Edward Goldsmith and Jerry Mander (Earthscan 2001).

The Way - a synthesis - This article by Edward Goldsmith represents the 'synthesized statement' of his great work The Way: an ecological world view. It was published in InterCulture Vol. XXX no. 1, Winter - Spring 1997, Issue no 132.

Review of The Way by Stan Rowe, published in Trumpeter 14:1, Winter 1997.

The Tory Record - Introduction - This is the introduction to The Tory Record - an assessment, published by Jon Carpenter Publishing in 1997 on behalf of The Commission for Assessing the Conservative Record. The booklet was inspired by Teddy Goldsmith, who also wrote the introduction, while cartoons were by the incomparable Richard Willson. It contains 18 additional chapters by respected campaigners in their fields.

Re-embedding religion in society, the natural world and the cosmos - written in 1997 following Edward Goldsmith's participation in a meeting on Patmos the previous year, to discuss religious aspects of the protection of the natural world. He argues that the Church must develop a "new theology ... based on what we are finding out about the original cosmic nature of the Judaeo-Christian tradition" and "have the courage to side with all those people who seek to reverse economic development and in particular the globalization of this fatal process".

Cancer: are the experts lying? - yes they are, in denying the role of carcinogenic pollution, both chemical and radioactive, while supporting implausible theories which pin the blame for cancer on cancer sufferers themselves.

Cynicism, food and power - a leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 26 No. 6, November / December 1996, by The Editors. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). "As the peasant movement Via Campesina has pointed out, 'Food Sovereignty can only be achieved through solidarity and the political will to implement alternatives.' Acting together to create such political will offers the best hope of ensuring that the 400 million people written off by the World Food Summit do not starve. "

The Great Takeover and its reversal - a personal commentary on the development of the global economy.

Open letter to Judy Maciejowska - this powerful letter, dated 8 March 1995, was written to Green Party activist Judy Maciejowska

Development, biospheric ethics and a new way forward - Contribution to The Future of Progress - Reflections on environment and development edited by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Peter Goering and Steven Gorelick on behalf of ISEC (the International Society for Ecology and Culture. This is a collection of essays that challenge the Western notions of progress that dominate the current debate on environment and development. Published by Green Books, revised edition 1995;

Work! Work! Work! - the history of industrialism is the story of producing more with fewer people. Teddy Goldsmith looks at the implications. Published in Real World No. 4, Autumn 1994.

Eggs, eugenics and economics a leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 24 No. 2, March / April 1994, by The Editors. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). "What makes the new reproductive technologies different is the way they fragment human tissue itself into factors of mass production and commodities - all being enclosed and transformed into scarce resources circulating in a highly centralised market system ... placing new forms of power in the hands of influential economic actors "

A strategy for ensuring the habitability of our planet - a lecture to the Royal Society of Arts, London, demonstrating that the interests of the economy, and those of society and the environment, are fundamentally incompatable.

Development and colonialism - in this important essay Edward Goldsmith explores why development, whether described as 'sustainable', 'ecological', 'appropriate' or otherwise, will only deepen the poverty and misery of poor tropical nations. Published in Ecoscript No. 35, June 1993.

In praise of the "seely spider" (long version) - a review of Nature's web: an exploration of ecological thinking, by Peter Marshall. This is the unpublished extended version.

In praise of the "seely spider" (short version) - a review of Nature's Web: an exploration of ecological thinking, by Peter Marshall. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 23 No. 3, May / June 1993.

Towards Hope - cover - the cover of the book, Towards Hope - an ecological approach to the future by Vandana Shiva, Jeremy Seabrook, Gunther Hilliges, Upendra Baxi, Edward Goldsmith and Paul Ekins, in December 1992, as part of the "Studies in ecology and sustainable development" series by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

Pointing the way - Real World magazine Interviews Teddy Goldsmith about A Blueprint for Survival, The Way, and the need to move towards a sustainable society. Published in Real World No. 6, summer 1992.

No, the real global threat is the relentless demand for growth - writing in the Sunday Times on 31 May 1992, Edward Goldsmith examines the forthcoming Earth Summit conference in Rio de Janeiro - reaching pessimistic conclusions which have been all too amply fulfilled.

The Way: Introduction - Edward Goldsmith introduces his great work The Way: An Ecological World View. First published 1992, a revised and enlarged edition was published by University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998. This essay is the introduction to The Way, with the addition of acknowledgements, etc.

In a vernacular society economic activity is homeotelic to Gaia - chapter 56 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

The need for a feedback mechanism linking behaviour to evolution - Appendix 4 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

The great reinterpretation requires a conversion to the world-view of ecology - chapter 66 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

To keep to the Way society must be able to correct any divergence from it - chapter 65 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Progress is anti-evolutionary and is the anti-Way - chapter 64 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

For vernacular man, to serve his gods is to follow the Way - chapter 63 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

For vernacular man, to increase his stock of "vital force" is to follow the Way - Chapter 62 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Vernacular man follows the Way - chapter 61 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

The vernacular community is the unit of homeotelic behaviour - chapter 60 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

The vernacular economy is localized and hence largely self-sufficient - chapter 59 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

In an ecological economy, money is homeotelic to Gaia - chapter 58 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

By increasing its diversity a system increases the range of environmental challenges with which it is capable of dealing - chapter 53 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Increased complexity leads to greater stability - chapter 52 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Gaia is the source of all benefits - chapter 34 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Living things seek to understand their relationship with their environment - chapter 31 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Gaia, seen as a total spatio-temporal process, is the unit of evolution - chapter 21 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Ecology is a faith - chapter 16 of The Way: An Ecological World View, originally published in 1992. This text is taken from the revised and enlarged edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 1998.

Free Trade and GATT - this talk was delivered at the India International Centre on 13 December 1991 as part of a series of lectures and meetings organised by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage in 1991-1992. It was then published by INTACH in Towards Hope - an ecological approach to the future by Vandana Shiva, Jeremy Seabrook, Gunther Hilliges, Upendra Baxi, Edward Goldsmith and Paul Ekins, in December 1992, as part of its "Studies in ecology and sustainable development" series. "When you allow the market to decide our fate, you are actually saying that economic considerations must decide our fate. Then there is nothing to stop us from destroying our planet. It is happening very, very quickly indeed. In my opinion, the only hope we have if we were going to keep this planet more or less habitable is to do precisely the opposite - to make sure our economic activities are ruthlessly and systematically subordinated to social, ecological and climatic considerations. I do not think we have any alternative to doing this."

FAO's plan to feed the world - Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard critique the FAO's main policy document, World Agriculture: Toward 2000, and the whole model of capital-intensive, industrialised, export-oriented agriculture which it promotes. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 21 No. 2, March-April 1991.

FAO's projections for livestock - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is envisaging huge increases in livestock numbers and meat production worldwide. But nowhere does it stop to ask, what the impacts will be on the environment, or on the rural poor. Written with Patrick McCully. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 21 No. 2, March / April 1991.

Uncle Teddy - This is a chapter about Teddy Goldsmith from Green Warriors by the prodigious environmental writer Fred Pearce. Green Warriors was published by The Bodley Head, London, 10 January 1991.

New Lamps for Old - Edward Goldsmith, Publisher of The Ecologist, talks with Satish Kumar, Director Of Schumacher College (video version, hosted by video.google). The interview was published by Schumacher College as a video in the Schumacher Series, produced by Phil Shepherd in 1991.We also have a New Lamps for Old transcript on the website.

New Lamps for Old - transcript. Edward Goldsmith, Publisher of The Ecologist, talks with Satish Kumar, Director Of Schumacher College. The interview was published by Schumacher College as a video in the Schumacher Series, produced by Phil Shepherd in 1991. A video version of New Lamps for Old is also available.

On receiving the 1991 Honorary Right Livelihood Award - In 1991 Edward Goldsmith received a Honorary Right Livelihood Award, "... For his uncompromising critique of industrialism and promotion of environmentally sustainable and socially just alternatives to it". This is the speech that he gave on receiving the Award.

Evolution, neo-Darwinism and the paradigm of science - "Neo-Darwinism does not provide a satisfactory explanation for evolution and however resilient it may prove to criticism, it must eventually give way to a more realistic theory ..." Published in The Ecologist Vol. 20 No. 2, March / April 1990.

Green Revolutionary - Part 2 - The Solution: people and planet - a TV documentary by Edward Goldsmith, first broadcast on Channel 4 (UK) in 1990 as part of the Fragile Earth series. "Teddy Goldsmith is the grandfather of the modern environmental movement. He argues that the planetary crisis facing us today cannot be solved by further economic progress and technological innovation. Planet Earth can only be saved from geocide through the co-operative efforts of ordinary people guided by their faith in traditional wisdom."

Green Revolutionary - Part 1 - The Problem: industrial society - a TV documentary by Edward Goldsmith, first broadcast on Channel 4 (UK) in 1990 as part of the Fragile Earth series. "Teddy Goldsmith is the grandfather of the modern environmental movement. He argues that the planetary crisis facing us today cannot be solved by further economic progress and technological innovation. Planet Earth can only be saved from geocide through the co-operative efforts of ordinary people guided by their faith in traditional wisdom."

The medical-industrial complex - a review of Health and the global environment by Ross Hume Hall, 1990.

Scotland's white revolution - a review of The Highland Clearances by John Prebble. Penguin, London 1969, reprinted 1989. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 19 No. 3, May / June 1989.

Gaia and evolution - "Is it not apparent that neo-Darwinists, still more so sociobiologists, have got it completely wrong; that they have failed to distinguish between pathology and physiology: between the growth of a malignant tumour and the development of differentiated tissue - between anti-evolution and evolution?". This key paper was presented in November 1988 at the Wadebridge Ecological Centre's Second Annual Symposium on "Gaia and her implications for evolutionary theory", and published in The Ecologist Vol. 19, No. 4, 1989.

The Way: an ecological world view - a major article setting out the key principles of ecological thinking that, four years later, developed into the book of the same name. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 18 No. 4/5 1988. "What I propose to do in this essay (if what follows can be thus termed) is to propose a very tentative world-view or cosmology in the form of a set of 67 laws or principles, which are seen as governing the Cosmos and the cosmological process ... ".

A currency for every community - "To reconstitute local economies is an imperative if we are to prevent misery and chaos when the global economy collapses. We need them in any case to reduce our environmental impact and to render possible local co-operation and solidarity ... ". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 28 No. 4, July / August 1998. Co-written with Perry Walker.

The need for an ecological world view - "The 'technospheric' world view of modernism needs to be replaced with a new 'ecological' world view - but to achieve this, green thinkers must concentrate on the great principles that unite them, not on the doctrinal minutiae that divide them. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 18 No. 4 / 5, 1988.

Aid - enlightened self-interest or gun-boat politics? - a quizzical look at the politics and economics of international aid. Editorial article published in The Ecologist Vol. 18 No. 2, 1988. "Those with a superficial knowledge of the development process often remain convinced that aid is designed to help the peoples of the Third World. Even many environmental institutions still appear to believe this and persist in campaigning for increased aid ... "

Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland - cover - This is the cover of the book Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard. It was published by Polity Press, February 1988.

Changing values (original version) - Part Five of the introduction to Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard (Polity Press, February 1988), concluding the introduction.

Delaying tactics - Part Four of the introduction to Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard (Polity Press, February 1988).

Secrecy - Part Three of the introduction to Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard (Polity Press, February 1988).

Rationalising inaction - Part Two of the introduction to Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard (Polity Press, February 1988).

The costs of modernization - Part One of the introduction to Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard (Polity Press, February 1988).

The Earth Report - Preface - the highly influential Earth Report, edited by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard, was published in 1988 by Mitchell Beazley, London. The US edition was published by Price Stern Loan, Los Angeles, California, also in 1988. Edward Goldsmith wrote the Preface which is reproduced here.

The Great U-Turn - cover - the cover of the book, The Great U-Turn - de-industrialising society by Edward Goldsmith and with cartoons by Richard Willson, published by Green Books in 1988.

Gaia: some implications for theoretical ecology - paper for the Wadebridge Ecological Centre's Conference: "Gaia: Theory, practice and implications", Camelford, Cornwall, October 1987. It was also published in The Ecologist Vol. 18 No. 2/3, 1988.

Tropical forests: a plan for action - "deforestation spells cultural death for the millions of tribal peoples who depend on the forests for their livelihood. It threatens to condemn to extinction 50 to 90 percent of the world's species of plants, animals and insects ... ". Editorial article published in The Ecologist Vol. 17 No. 4/5, 1987.

You can only be judged on your record - a second Open Letter to Barber Conable, President of the World Bank, calling on him to make good on his and his predecessors promises of progress on the social and environmental impacts of the Bank's lending. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 17 No. 2, 1987.

Survival and Modernity - a dialogue on our times - Edward Goldsmith and Krishna Chaitanya in conversation. "The central thesis of this dialogue shared by the two thinkers ... is that the industrial way of life is no longer sustainable. It must end, one way or another, within the foreseeable future ...". First published by India International Centre - Quarterly, spring 1987, reprinted in Vivekananda Kendra Patrika, February 1988.

Denis de Rougement - the famous Swiss thinker and writer and chairman of Ecoropa (Ecological Action for Europe), died on the 6th December 1985 at the age of 79. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 16 No. 2/3, 1986.

An open letter to Mr Clausen to Mr Alden Clausen, Retiring President of the World Bank, and Mr Barber Conable, President Elect, reflecting on the disastrous social and environmental record of the World Bank, and its consistent inability to advance beyond the mere rhetoric of reform. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 16 No. 2/3, 1986.

Changing values (edited version) - From the introduction to Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard (Polity Press, February 1988). Written in 1986, republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). "The loss of nature's benefits is not considered a cost. It does not appear to have occurred to economists that if our activities interfere too radically with the workings of nature, then nature might no longer be capable of providing the benefits we now take for granted and upon which our very survival depends ... "

Misleading the public - a leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 16, 1986, by Peter Bunyard and Edward Goldsmith. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). "Today, much of the information supplied by government and industry on key environmental issues is designed to rationalize current practices and policies. To that end, numerous public statements have been made which can only be described as downright lies ... "

The costs of modernisation - "There is a direct, historical link between the increasingly serious environmental problems we are experiencing today and the 'modernisation' of our economic activities ... ". Co-authored by Nicholas Hildyard, co-editor of The Ecologist this article is the Introduction to Green Britain or Industrial Wasteland (Polity Press, 1986).

The illusion of our time - review of In the Name of Progress: the underside of foreign aid, by Patricia Adams and Lawrence Solomon. Published in The Ecologist Vol 15 No 5/6 1985. "... aid programmes are not designed to help the people of the Third World, they are designed instead to help unrepresentative and usually tyrannical governments, in whose present interest it is to undertake vast agricultural and industrial projects... "

Obituary: Edouard Kressmann - the founder of Ecoropa, who "was not only well known in European ecological circles but also in Bordeaux where he lived and where, until the day of his death, he could often be seen bicycling furiously to meetings where he would systematically oppose any local development project which he regarded as destructive, dangerous or wasteful ... ". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 15 No. 5/6, 1985.

Worshipping at the altar of economic pragmatism - The World Bank has suspended, on environmental grounds, a loan of $256 million for the Polonoroeste Project in Brazilian Amazonia. But the Bank's President, Alden W. Clausen, continues to "worship at the altar of economic pragmatism". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 15 No. 4, 1985.

Understanding tropical ecosystems - a review of Ecology of Tropical Plants, by Margaret L. Vickery. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 15 No. 3, 1985.

Colonising the plant world - a review of Insects on Plants: Community Patterns and Mechanisms by D. R. Strong PhD, J. H. Lawton PhD, Sir Richard Southwood PhD, DSc, FRS. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 15 No. 3, 1985. "The authors, keen to accentuate the importance of the individual components of the plant community, as opposed to that of the community itself, are necessarily committed... to accentuate the importance of competition as a determinant of what community structure they accept, and to under-playing co-operation... ".

Ecological succession rehabilitated - the science of ecology has become reductionistic, mechanistic and quantified. To achieve this has meant seeking to discredit the basic principles of ecology including that of 'ecological succession'. The motive is for this has been ideological and political, in seeking to force ecology to conform to the world view of modernism. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 15 No. 3 1985.

A theoretical non-disciplinary approach to environmental education - "If environmental education is to succeed in preventing people from destroying their natural environment, then it must consist of very much more than communicating to our youth apparently value-free scientific knowledge of the importance of preserving what remains of it ... ". Unpublished, 1985.

Dam starvation - editorial article from The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 5/6, 1984 (co-written with Nicholas Hildyard). This article examines why politicians' promises that superdams will produce plenty for all turn, all to literally, to dust, poverty and hunger.

The myth of the benign superdam - "Are dams inevitably destructive? Some critics have argued that if stringent conditions are laid down before a dam is authorised, the devastation of the past decades could be avoided. A careful consideration of the suggested conditions, however, shows that few, if any, dams could pass the test...". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 5/6, 1984.

The politics of damming - shows how giant dam projects are invariably driven by powerful political motives that override all other concerns. "Dams are never built in a political vacuum. For politicians they mean votes and prestige. To criticise dam projects is thus to face an uphill battle against the power of the state-one that is nearly impossible to win...". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 5/6, 1984. Co-written with Nicholas Hildyard.

Enemies of society? - the Greens are the true conservatives, argues Goldsmith. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 5/6, 1984.

Agricultural development: changing directions - a review of Environmental Management in Tropical Agriculture, by Robert J. A. Goodland, Catherine Watson and George Ledec. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 5/6 1984. Major changes in agricultural practice "will be politically difficult and cannot be accomplished overnight. However, they appear inevitable if large-scale disaster is to be avoided."

A question of climate - a review of Climate and Development, edited by Asit K Biswas, Natural Resources and the Environment Series. An agronomical analysis of why tropical countries cannot follow the agro-industrial model of the developed North. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 5/6, 1984.

Industrial pollution: getting away with the crime - in the UK, there is little effective legal sanction against even the most egregiously criminal industrial polluters. But in the USA, aggressive prosecutors armed with effective environmental laws have achieved remarkable successes. This editorial article, co-written with Peter Bunyard, was published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 4 1984.

Misguided investment - a review of Developing Electric Power - thirty years of World Bank experience by Hugh Collier. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1984. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 3, 1984.

Damning dams - a review of Long-Distance Water Transfer - A Chinese Case Study and International Experiences, edited by Asit K. Biswas, Zuo Dakang, James E. Nickum and Liu Changming. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 14 No. 2, 1984. "The academic contributors to this book accentuate the terrible social and ecological disruption which is likely to be caused by China's proposed water transfer scheme. The bureaucrats, on the other hand, grossly exaggerate the benefits to be derived from the project and hardly mention the social and environmental consequences ..."

The Social and Environmental Effects of Large Dams - cover - This is the cover of the book The Social and Environmental Effects of Large Dams: Volume 1. Overview, published by the Wadebridge Ecological Centre, Worthyvale Manor Camelford, Cornwall PL32 9TT, UK, 1984. By Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard.