Read complete books and articles on: Voluntary Simplicity

At Questia, we offer:

Exclusive access to more than 67,000 books and 1.5 million articles.
Trusted resources from leading publishers.
Time saving tools to do better, faster research!

9 of the Best Books and Articles on: Voluntary Simplicity

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

New Pioneers: The Back-to-the-Land Movement and the Search for a Sustainable Future ("Living the Simple Life" begins on p. 92) » Read Now
by Jeffrey Jacob. 262 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

A revealing look at "back-to-the-landers" in the U.S. and Canada.
New Pioneers is about one such group of people -- the hundreds of thousands of urban North Americans who over the past three decades have given up their city or suburban homes for a few acres of land in the countryside.
Jeffrey Jacob's...
Read More

A revealing look at "back-to-the-landers" in the U.S. and Canada.
New Pioneers is about one such group of people -- the hundreds of thousands of urban North Americans who over the past three decades have given up their city or suburban homes for a few acres of land in the countryside.
Jeffrey Jacob's new pioneers are ordinary people who have tried to break away from the mainstream consumer culture and return to small-town and rural America. He traces the development of the movement and identifies seven different kinds of back-to-the-lander: the weekender, country romantic, purist, country entrepreneur, pensioner, micro-farmer, and apprentice. From over 1,300 survey responses, interviews, and in-depth case studies, at both the regional and national levels, of representative back-to-the-landers, Jacob analyzes their values, use of appropriate technology, family division of labor on their acreages, and predisposition toward environmental activism.
Jacob finds that back-to-the-landers for the most part are not completely independent of the mainstream economy, and consequently, their lives do reflect the contradictions between the available conveniences of a high-technology culture and the movement's goals of self-reliant labor. He analyzes their ambivalent attitudes toward technology -- hoes and shovels versus mini-hydroelectric systems, wood stoves versus microwave ovens, and so on. After examining the experiences of the back-to-the-country people who live
Show less
2.

Lead Us into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism ("The Voluntary Simplicity Movment" begins on p. 6) » Read Now
by James B. Twitchell. 310 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Coke adds life. Just do it. Yo quiero Taco Bell. We live in a commercial age, awash in a sea of brand names, logos, and advertising jingles -- not to mention commodities themselves. Are shoppers merely the unwitting stooges of the greedy producers who will stop at nothing to sell their wares? Are...
Read More

Coke adds life. Just do it. Yo quiero Taco Bell. We live in a commercial age, awash in a sea of brand names, logos, and advertising jingles -- not to mention commodities themselves. Are shoppers merely the unwitting stooges of the greedy producers who will stop at nothing to sell their wares? Are the producers' powers of persuasion so great that resistance is futile? James Twitchell counters this assumption of the used and abused consumer with a witty and unflinching look at commercial culture, starting from the simple observation that "we are powerfully attracted to the world of goods (after all, we don't call them 'bads')." He contends that far from being forced upon us against our better judgment, "consumerism is our better judgment." Why? Because increasingly, store-bought objects are what hold us together as a society, doing the work of "birth, patina, pews, coats of arms, house, and social rank" -- previously done by religion and bloodline. We immediately understand the connotations of status and identity exemplified by the Nike swoosh, the Polo pony, the Guess? label, the DKNY logo. The commodity alone is not what we are after; rather, we actively and creatively want that logo and its signification -- the social identity it bestows upon us. As Twitchell summarizes, "Tell me what you buy, and I will tell what you are and who you want to be." Using elements as disparate as the film The Jerk, French theorists, popular bumper stickers, and Money magazine to explore the nature and importance of advertising lingo, packaging, fashion, and "The Meaning of Self," Twitchell overturns one stodgy social myth after another. In the process he reveals the purchase and possession of things to be the self-identifying acts of modern life. Not only does the car you drive tell others who you are, it lets you know as well. The consumption of goods, according to Twitchell, provides us with tangible everyday comforts and with crucial inner security in a seemingly faithless age. That we may find our sense of self through buying material objects is among the chief indictments of contemporary culture. Twitchell, however, sees the significance of shopping. "There are no false needs." We buy more than objects, we buy meaning. For many of us, especially in our youth, Things R Us.
Show less
3.

The Post Affluent Society, in Review of Social Economy » Read Now
by Amitai Etzioni. 14 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
4.

Lifestyle Market Segmentation ("Voluntary Simplicity" begins on p. 145) » Read Now
by Ronald D. Michman. 220 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The growing importance of lifestyle market segmentation and its role as one aspect of an overall marketing strategy is the focus of this management-oriented book. Michman shows how social and cultural changes in group dynamics and purchasing influences can be used in making lifestyle marketing...
Read More

The growing importance of lifestyle market segmentation and its role as one aspect of an overall marketing strategy is the focus of this management-oriented book. Michman shows how social and cultural changes in group dynamics and purchasing influences can be used in making lifestyle marketing decisions. The book places market and lifestyle segmentation in a historical perspective; discusses group dynamics and such target markets as singles, teens, the elderly, and ethnic groups; and examines the impact of decision making, purchasing habits, and changing values on consumer behavior.
Show less
5.

The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer ("When $18,000 Feels Luxurious: Jeff Lutz" begins on p. 133) » Read Now
by Juliet B. Schor. 258 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
6.

The Irony of Environmentalism: The Ecological Futility but Political Necessity of Lifestyle Change, in Ethics & International Affairs » Read Now
by Paul Wapner, John Willoughby. 12 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
7.

The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society ("Voluntary Simplicity" begins on p. 83) » Read Now
by Amitai Etzioni. 314 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

One of the world's most quoted intellectuals, university professor, and founding president of the Communitarian Network explores how a good society should operate and what values we must bring to our social interactions if we are to achieve stronger community ties. The subject of numerous media...
Read More

One of the world's most quoted intellectuals, university professor, and founding president of the Communitarian Network explores how a good society should operate and what values we must bring to our social interactions if we are to achieve stronger community ties. The subject of numerous media profiles, Amitai Etzioni has worked with both the Clinton administration and Republican senators on social policy.
Show less
8.

It's a Wonderful (Simplified) Life: Is the 'Voluntary Simplicity' Movement True Liberation, or Diminished Expectations under Another Name?, in The Nation » Read Now
by Tom Vanderbilt. multiple pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
9.

Energy Resources Development: Politics and Policies ("Voluntary Simplicity" begins on p. 188) » Read Now
by Richard L. Ender, John Choon Kim. 236 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Figures Tables Preface Introduction by Richard L. Ender and John Choon Kim Part I: Energy Policy in the Global and National Political Context The Petro-Political Cycle by Ernest J. Wilson Energy Policy and the Economy by John L. Carmichael, Jr. The Role of Congress in Energy Policy by Henry C...
Read More

Figures Tables Preface Introduction by Richard L. Ender and John Choon Kim Part I: Energy Policy in the Global and National Political Context The Petro-Political Cycle by Ernest J. Wilson Energy Policy and the Economy by John L. Carmichael, Jr. The Role of Congress in Energy Policy by Henry C. Kenski and Milo Mecham The Making of Synfuels Policy as an "Ambivalent-Majoritarian" Response by Mohammed E. Ahrari Part II: Energy Policy in the Economic Context U.S. Petroleum Dependency and Oil Price Decontrol by Francis W. Hoole and Jeffrey A. Hart The Economics of Severance Taxes by Albert L. Danielsen and Phillip A. Cartwright Part III: Energy Policy in the Intergovernmental Context The Development of Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Resources by G. Kevin Jones Intergovernmental Relations and the Leasing of Federal Lands for Energy Production: The Case of Off-Shore Oil and Gas in the State of Texas by Charles F. Cnudde Alaska's Energy Resources Development: Policy and Issues by John Choon Kim and Richard L. Ender Part IV: The Alternative Energy Debate Developing an Energy Alternative by Robert A. Solo Energy Planning Alternatives: The Changing Complexion of Barriers and Incentives by Van Robert Johnson and Maxine Kurtz Part V: The Nuclear Power Debate Decentralization of the Nuclear Power Debate by Lettie McSpadden Wenner Part VI: Energy in the Consumer Behavior Context Application of Consumer Psychology to Energy Policy Incentives by Robert E. Pitts The Political Economy of Consumer Energy Subsidies by Drew Hyman with Michael Wadsworth and David Alexander Part VII: Energy Policy: Implementation Implementing the 1977 Coal Act: A Field Level View by Donald C. Menzel and David M. Hedge Index About the Contributors
Show less