Abstract
The chapter deals with the concept of environmental sustainability in relation to capitalist growth. This chapter considers the link between the development of the capitalist system and the issue of environmental sustainability. According to an early concept, capitalism is a force that modifies the natural environment. On a metaphorical level, capitalist society is characterized by an oedipal-acquisitive feature: the natural environment must be adapted to the needs of capitalism. A second concept of capitalist growth developed during the second half of the twentieth-century: environmental sustainability was linked to three concepts: limits to economic growth, the human and the ecosystem, all involving risk. In Western societies, between the 1980s and 1990s, problems linked to unemployment and the waste of human resources emerged. In this perspective, narcissism is a social condition that forms the basis of the logic of a consumer society. In conclusion, contemporary capitalism has redefined the idea of human life. On a metaphorical level, Pygmalion capitalism creates life and nature. The analysis of the environmental theme is, from this perspective, an analysis of capitalism and its evolution.
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Conti, U. (2020). Environmental Sustainability and the Evolution of Capitalism. In: Nocenzi, M., Sannella, A. (eds) Perspectives for a New Social Theory of Sustainability. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33173-3_3
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