Cynthia Kaufman is the Director of the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action De Anza College and is the author of Challenging Power, The Sea Is Rising and So Are We, Getting Past Capitalism, and Ideas for Action.
Cynthia Kaufman captures the essence of the intertwining crises that embroil our world: excessive and wasteful consumption patterns that fuel growing inequalities, political conflict, subjective feelings of emptiness, and the climate catastrophe that threatens life itself. She maps out a range of viable and achievable solutions capable of challenging structures of domination and ameliorating our plight. This book is a must read for those seeking answers to a range of pressing contemporary conundrums, one that will have relevance for years to come. Ron Hayduk, Professor of Political Science, San Francisco State University In these dark times, Cynthia Kaufman's book, Consumerism, Sustainability, and Happiness, brilliantly illuminates a pathway to a better world. It is not an easy path; it goes through rough terrain and requires overcoming obstacles created by vested interests. But with her careful, calm, and hopeful arguments, Kaufman persuades us that it is a path that we must follow. Fred Block, Research Professor of Sociology, University of California, Davis Philosopher Cynthia Kaufman helps us understand how our lives can be more complete with less. In another compelling book that combines ideas and practice, she makes changes in our living standards look as easy as they are essential. A must read for the perplexed as well as the committed. Kathryn Sklar, author of Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work