All economic systems, past and present, are driven not only by material-instrumental goals but also social-ritual ones. Both are rooted in our evolved psychology, but capitalism emphasises the former over the latter to a degree unmatched by other economic systems in world history. There is nothing inevitable about that. Harvey will suggest a raft of practical ways in which we could establish more sustainable forms of production, consumption, and exchange by appealing to various facets of human nature that once played a much more central role in economic life and could do so once again to shape an ecocentric future.
