Sustainability and Well-Being (PDF)

Asoka Bandarage is author of Colonialism in Sri Lanka: The Political Economy of the Kandyan Highlands, 1833-1886; Women, Population and Global Crisis: A Political-Economic Analysis; The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, Ethnicity, Political Economy and many other publications. She has taught at Brandeis, Mount Holyoke, Georgetown and other universities across the US.

'In this meticulously researched scholarly work, Bandarage brilliantly demonstrates that environmental sustainability and social justice are inseparable problems requiring a fundamental social and psychological transformation. Sustainability and Well-Being synthesizes a vast amount of data and research from a broad range of fields from global political economy to religion and philosophy. Yet, this work is highly accessible to a wide readership. It is lucidly written and provides a balanced and compassionate perspective that is much-needed in the world at this time. It is a must read for professionals and students of Environmental Studies; Global Studies, Women's Studies and the Social Sciences in General. This book is highly recommended and represents another scholarly triumph for Asoka Bandarage. ' - Filomina Chioma Steady, Wellesley College, USA

'The message of Sustainability and Well-Being is simple, yet profound. Asoka Bandarage argues that in order to make a transition to a path of sustainability and well-being, we must transcend the prevalent tendencies of dualism, extremism and reductionism that are causing environmental destruction and threats to planetary survival. She points out that we must embrace, instead, a holistic orientation fusing a balanced and ethical path of social and psychological development. Admirably combining rigorous scholarship and a readable style, Asoka Bandarage's book is an urgent call for both personal and social transformation, rooted in the timeless wisdom of the Buddhist Middle Path, while building on the contemporary conditions which offer unprecedented possibilities and opportunities to bring about such a revolutionary transformation. An important book for our time!' - Sajed Kamal, Brandeis University, USA

'In the contemporary world, economic development has become a goal in its own right divorced from the intricate web of relationships in which any economic system national or global is inevitably situated.