For my book review assignment I have chosen 'The New Consumers: The Influence of Affluence on the Environment' by Norman Myers & Jennifer Kent.
The New Consumers are essentially middle class consumers from developing countries, who have reached a level of wealth whereby they are able to purchase/consume more and more. The book claims to be the only publication to examine the implications of these 'consumers', who are said to total 1.1 billion people. These issues interest me as people must be educated with regard to the transition required of 'western' consumers. This mentality, the authors claim, is what these new consumers desire and target, in terms of status etc.
The book is packed full of facts and figures, with a references section spanning 40 pages! Although this may alienate some as it could halt the flow whilst reading, I myself prefer it since it adds to the credibility and thus readbility.
If anyone is interested in having a look, the first chapter is available on Google Books:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=B5ega7k-uJAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=new+consumers#v=onepage&q=&f=false
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Good choice, Chris, and I'll be keen to hear what you make of it. In particular, and something we'll cover later in the module, is the impact of rising incomes on the dietary choices of developing countries... milk and meat in particular. Can the world sustain more meat-eating at western-world levels?
ReplyDeleteThe two main focus areas of this book are cars and meat, so hopefully I will be able to gain more of an informed opinion as time goes on.
ReplyDeleteBut, in short, the world won't be able to sustain more meat-eating at western-world levels (or indeed that of most resources) - from my reading to date, it seems that this is the central message of the whole book and argues for change.