The Sustainability Class: How to Take Back Our Future from Lifestyle Environmentalists

Price: $27.99 - $11.49
(as of Oct 05, 2026 00:24:37 UTC – Details)


An original argument that environmental sustainability has been co-opted by the urban elite, along with examples from around the world of ways we can save our planet

“Caring for the environment means reclaiming ecology for everyone.” —from the introduction

A sustainability apartheid is emerging. More than ever, urban residents want to be green, yet to cater to their interests, a green-tech service economy has sprung up, co-opting well-intentioned concerns over sustainability to sell a resource-heavy and exclusive “lifestyle environmentalism.” This has made cities more unsustainable and inaccessible to the working class.

The Sustainability Class is about those wealthy “progressive” urbanites convinced that we can save the planet through individual action, smart urbanism, green finance, and technological innovation. Authors Vijay Kolinjivadi and Aaron Vansintjan challenge many of the popular ideas about environmentalism, showing that it is actually the sustainability class itself that is unsustainable. The solutions they propose work to safeguard an elite minority, exclude billions of people, and ultimately hasten ecological breakdown, not reverse it. 

From Venice Beach, Los Angeles, to Neom in Saudi Arabia and beyond, the authors explore with biting humor how investors around the world are rushing to capitalize on going green. By contrast, real-world examples of movements for housing and food production, transport, and waste management demonstrate how ordinary people around the world are building a more ecological future by working together, against all odds. In doing so, they show us how sustainability can be reclaimed for everyone. Sustainability isn’t about vibes and superficial green facades. It’s about building people power to reimagine the world. 

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B6GM7VPL
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The New Press
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 10, 2024
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4.9 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 401 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1620978085
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #2,382,987 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #333 in Environmental Economics (Kindle Store) #464 in Sustainable Development Economics #735 in Sustainable Business Development
Customer Reviews: 3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars (8) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });