National Network for Equitable Library Service

Earth is in overshoot. The cumulative impact of 8 billion humans combined with the relentless pursuit of economic growth has stressed the planet beyond carrying capacity. This richly illustrated book describes our current predicament and identifies alternative economic pathways toward a post-growth future.

Ecological Footprint accounting, first introduced in the 1990s and continuously developed, continues to be the only metric that compares overall human demand on nature with what our planet can renew--its biocapacity--and distils this into one number: how many Earths we use. Our economy is running a Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi scheme with the planet. We use future resources to run the present, using more than Earth can replenish. Like any such scheme, this works for a limited time, followed by a crash.

From the thousands of children who work on plantations to the smallholders who harvest the beans, Chocolate Nations reveals the hard economic realities of our favourite sweet. This vivid and gripping exploration of the reasons behind farmer poverty includes the human stories of the producers and traders at the heart of the West African industry. Provocative and eye-opening, Chocolate Nations exposes the true story of how the treat we love makes it onto our supermarket shelves.

As people reach for social justice and better lives, they create public goods-- free education, public health, open parks, clean water, and many others-- that must be kept out of the market. When private interests take over, they strip public goods of their power to lift people up, creating instead a tool to diminish democracy, further inequality, and separate us from each other. Cohen and Mikaelian chronicle the efforts to turn our public goods into private profit centers.

A shot of encouragement, a kick in the ass, and a loving push for young people who have no idea what they want or how to get it Career Rookie is a book for every grad, student, and 20-something who feels lost, overwhelmed, and anxious. It tackles the emotional and logistical WTF-ness of starting your career, answering questions like, What if I don't have any experience? What if I went to school for something I hated? What if I have NO IDEA what I actually want? Should I just suck it up and settle? Because, honestly, this career thing is starting to give me an ulcer.

But how do you get your mojo back when youre in a passionless relationship with your job? In Careergasm, Sarah Vermunt leads the way. This playful, empowering book for wannabe career changers is a rally cry, a shot of courage, and a road map charting the course to meaningful work. Filled with real stories about brave people making great stuff happen, this how-to book will help you step out of your career rut and into action. It is written with love and punctuated with laughter. The snorting kind. And the occasional F-bomb.

The Social's finance expert connects money and happiness in this fresh, feel-good guide to financial well-being Everything tells us that what will make us happy can be bought, whether it's the latest gadgets, renovated kitchens, or luxury goods. But research has shown that having more money in the bank and more stuff around the house doesn't necessarily correlate with being a happier person. With Happy Go Money, financial expert Melissa Leong cuts through the noise to show you how to get the most delight for your dollar.

From intimate relationships to global politics, Sarah Schulman observes a continuum: that inflated accusations of harm are used to avoid accountability. Illuminating the difference between Conflict and Abuse, Schulman directly addresses our contemporary culture of scapegoating. This deep, brave, and bold work reveals how punishment replaces personal and collective self-criticism, and shows why difference is so often used to justify cruelty and shunning.

Every international development project looks good on paper until someone asks, "Who are you and why are you here?" In this case, it's a man from northern Burkina Faso. His question reveals everything wrong with international development work today. Jacques Claessens questions the real effects of development programs and agencies, NGOs, and multinational corporations on the economy and welfare of the global south--from a Kafkaesque well-drilling project in Udathen to the Chernobyl-like environmental devastation wrought by the Canadian-owned Essakane mine.

Seventy years ago, thousands of North American workers took a stand for a better life. And they won. In 1946, in the United States, over a million workers in the steel, meatpacking, and electrical industries put down their tools and walked out; and striking Canadian workers tied up provincial rubber and logging industries, the Southam newspaper chain, central Canadian ports, and the national steel industry.