Human Survivability in the 21st Century?: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in November 1998 Under the Auspices of the Royal Society of Canada

by Woods, John; Hayne, David M.; Hayne, David M.; Royal Society of Canada

• ISBN13: 9780802083432
• ISBN10: 0802083439
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

This volume continues the inquiry launched by the Royal Society of Canada's 1997 publication, "Can Canada Survive? Under What Terms and Conditions?," and pursued in the 1998 volume, "The Well-Being of Canada" (both published by the University of Toronto Press). The present collection examines the prospects for human survival and progress in the next century.

Six papers, given by experts in their respective fields, discuss the earth's ecosystems, the threat of environmental scarcity, the tension between local ecological knowledge and governmental management practices, the need for restoration of social capital and cohesion, the possibility of human extinction, and the use of the Copernican Principle as a framework to view human survivability.

This volume underlines the dramatic changes taking place in our time and stresses the urgent need for new thinking and new educational techniques if humanity is to adapt and survive in the coming century.

Author Biography

David M. Hayne is Emeritus Professor of French, University of Toronto

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(2)
John Woods
The Centrality of Ecosystem Health in Achieving Sustainability in the 21st Century: Concepts and New Approaches to Environmental Management	3	(38)
David J. Rapport
Environmental Scarcity and the Ingenuity Gap: Can We Be Smart Enough for the 21st Century?	41	(24)
Thomas Homer-Dixon
Sustainability of Communities of Fish and Fishers on the East Coast of Canada	65	(20)
Rosemary E. Ommer
Governance and Social Cohesion: Survivability in the 21st Century	85	(32)
Gilles Paquet
Risking Human Extinction	117	(14)
John Leslie
The Copernican Principle and Human Survivability	131	(18)
J. Richard Gott
Education and New Systems for a Positive 21st Century: Reflections from a Session Chairperson	149	(4)
W.S. Fyfe
Notes on Contributors/Notices biographiques des collaborateurs	153