Nick Meynen
The easy answer would probably be to name just one flash, a great "aha" moment, which I could then blow up to magical proportions. The more honest answer is that this idea grew on me as I was busy mapping environmental conflicts globally, as part of my day-job for an environmental non-profit. I came across so many strong stories from people such as Sumaira Abdulali, a women risking her life and winning court battles to stop the sand mafia in India. I also travelled to many environmental frontlines, for example with nuclear engineer Bruno Chareyron as my guide on a toxic tour to an abandoned uranium mine in Bulgaria. Their stories are so inspiring, important, little-known and a great way to lay the foundations for this book. I do what I do in all my books: I use stories, anekdotes, experiences, short reflections and I order them in such a way that slowly, a bigger picture emerges. The idea for this book also grew while seeing ever clearer the many connections between the strong stories I came across and the theories of how our world works. I learned the latter mostly from the geographers, ecological economists and political ecologists that I work with. They often use difficult terms like "unequal ecological exchange", "ecological debt" or "metabolism of the global economy". All of them are fascinating concepts to understand our world, but in need of unpacking.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more