Pasi Heikkurinen and Toni Ruuska have finished editing a critical volume on technology and sustainability, titled “Sustainability beyond Technology: Philosophy, Critique and Implications for Human Organization”, which will be published by Oxford University Press this month. Sustainable Change Research Network (SUCH) and The von Wright and Wittgenstein Seminar of the University of Helsinki are organizing the book launch event on Monday 29 March 14:15 – 15:45 (Finnish time).

Synopsis of the book: Current debates on sustainability are largely building on a problematic assumption that increasing technology use and advancement are a desired phenomenon, creating positive change in human organizations. This kind of techno-optimism prevails particularly in the discourses of ecological modernization and green growth, as well as in the attempts to design sustainable modes of production and consumption within growth-driven capitalism. This transdisciplinary book investigates the philosophical underpinnings of technology, presents a culturally sensitive critique of technology, and outlines feasible alternatives for sustainability beyond technology. It draws on a variety of scholarly disciplines, including the humanities (philosophy and environmental history), social sciences (ecological economics, political economy, and ecology) and natural sciences (geology and thermodynamics) to contribute to sustainability theory and policy.

By examining the conflicts and contradictions between technology and sustainability in human organization, the book develops a novel way to conceptualize, confront, and change technology in modern society.