A World in Transition, Humankind and Nature is appropriately entitled after its aim for an intrinsic property of reality: change.Of major concern, in this era of transformation, is the extensive and profound interaction of humankind with nature. The global-scale social and technological project of humankind definitely involves a myriad of changes of the ecosphere. This book develops, from the call for an interdisciplinary synthesis and respect of plurality, acknowledging the evolving scientific truth, to the need for an integrated but inevitably provisional worldview.Contributors from different parts of the world focus on four modes of change: (i) Social change and the individual condition, (ii) Complex evolution and fundamental emergent transformations, (iii) Ecological transformation and responsibility inquiries, (iv) The economic-ecological and socio-technical equilibria.Primarily concerned with the deep transformations of humankind and of the relationship between humans and nature, it is addressed to a broad and thinking public that wants to be kept informed.

Social Change and the Individual Condition.- 1. A Critique of the Competitiveness Imperative and Current Globalisation.- 2. Barriers of Human Evolution.- 3. Altered States of Society: A Tentative Approach.- 4. Social Space: Prom Freedom to Freedom of Movement.- 5. Hunger Strikes: The Dramaturgy of Starvation Politics.- Complex Evolution and Fundamental Emergent Transformations.- 6. Supra-Human Institutions and the Human Condition.- 7. Stability, Turbulence, Chaos?: Systems Analogies and Metaphors, and Change in Contemporary World Politics.- 8. Confronting Health Transition Complexity.- 9. Non-Natural Cultural Uni versais Exist.- 10. Communication: The Key to Understanding the Very Nature of 'Life', 'Death' and the Force Driving Evolution.- Ecological Transformation and Responsibility Inquiries.- 11. Science and Environmental Law. The Perspectives of Truth-Pluralism.- 12. Strength and Weakness (SWOT) Analysis of Humankind to Overcome the Global Ecological Challenges.- 13. "And You, My Mountain, Will You Never Walk Towards Me?".- 14. Humankind and Natura.- Rural Economic-Ecological and Socio-Technical Equilibria.- 15. Rural Development Knowledge: Indigenous, Necessary, Appropriate.- 16. The Predicament of Ecological-Economic Valuation and the Need for Linkage through an Institutional Framework.- 17. The Post-Industrial Society: What Future Are We Preparing?.- 18. Scarcity versus Fertility. Two Ways of Thinking about Economy.