Book review: The limits to scarcity

The limits to scarcity: Contesting the politics of allocation

Edited by Lyla Mehta / Earthscan / Paperback: £19.99 / ISBN: 978–1–8440–7542–3

Media sound bites raise the spectre of the looming scarcity of food, oil and water resources, leading to images of famine and ever increasing prices for commodities – but are these scenarios inevitable?

The authors of this book provide an alternative view to the seemingly all-pervasive concept of resource scarcity, which they imply is contrived by the monetising of once common goods, such as water, by corporations and governments in an effort to manage the distribution of resources effectively – in most cases without the acknowledgment of pre-existing rights and arrangements of local groups or individuals.

Gently introducing the concept of scarcity and its historical link with economics, the book explores its influence on issues from energy policy in the US to water management in Nepal. In the process it convincingly debunks the myths underlying our contemporary view of scarcity.

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