Hazel Henderson

Hazel Henderson ( born 1933 in Bristol, United Kingdom ) is an American futurist and expert on alternative economy. She is the author of several books and is active as a columnist for newspapers and magazines as well as a consultant for issues of sustainable development.

Life

After Hazel Henderson had completed 16 years of school, she worked in retail and finally in the hotel industry in England and the Caribbean. In 1956 she came to the U.S., where she was naturalized in 1962. Until 1971, she lived in New York, where she helped organize in 1964 the first New York environmental organizations. This time their motivations and describes it in the preface to one of her books as follows:

"Today, humanity 's problems are mounting. [ ... ] I tried to understand, predict, interpret to others and to organize politically for the changes I was sure must come as the mass consumption joyride of Americans collided with global population / resource realities. In 1964 I started my own self -education ( there were few college courses then in synthesis matters ) Concerning this needed transformation of our economy and technology. At the same time, I began to express my concern active when i joined with someother worried citizens and mothers of small children in New York City to form at organization called Citizens for Clean Air, I soon learned did if the air which To Remain breathable and the environment life -sustaining for my infant daughter falling on her life time, I and other citizens would have to commit ourselves to a process of learning about the complex, interdependent, urban, industrial societies in Which We lived and about the basic assumptions on Which Their technical and economic system were founded. So I Discovered in studying ecology, economics, corporate behavior, mass media and our sociopolicical system so that many of the traditional assumptions about economic growth, recource exploitation and competition were literally killing us. "

"Humanity today is facing growing problems. [ ... ] I tried to understand this, to predict and to explain to others and to organize the political changes of which I was sure that they must come, for the Americans' consumption binge collides with the global population and raw reality. In 1964 I started my self-study ( there were hardly any lectures on the topic) about the necessary transformation of our economy and technology. At the same time I showed my active interest, as I built up with other concerned New York citizens and mothers of young children an organization that called itself Citizens for Clean Air (Citizens for Clean Air ). I soon realized that I and other citizens learn more needed about the complex, intertwined, urban, industrial society in which we lived, and of their basic assumptions on which their technical and economic systems were based, when the air during the lifetime of my little daughter respirable and the environment should be life sustaining. In my studies of ecology, economy, corporate behavior, mass media and of our socio- political system, I soon realized that many traditional assumptions about economic growth, resource exploitation and competition are literally going to kill us. "

She enrolled in economics and business administration and became friends with EF Schumacher. Disappointed by the prevailing school of thought, she began to write articles yourself, in which they argued for alternative ways of production and distribution of resources. At the University of Santa Barbara, she was a lecturer of the Board and at the University of Berkeley, she held the Horace Albright Chair of Environmental Protection. Her first article appeared in 1967, since then she has published several books and numerous articles.

As a self-taught themselves Henderson brought in the bulk of their knowledge itself, she read Smith and Keynes; their works are largely free of academic terminology and formulas and therefore accessible to a wide readership.

Activities

From 1974 to 1980, Hazel Henderson Advisor to the Office of Technology Assessment and the National Science Foundation on issues of technology assessment. She is an active member of the National Press Club, the Social Venture Network, the World Future Society and the World Futures Study Federation.

She serves on the board of the Worldwatch Institute. She is a member of the advisory boards of the Calvert Social Investment Fund, the Cousteau Society, the Council on Economic Priorities and the New Economics Foundation and the Club of Rome.

She is co-editor of World Paper, Futures Research Quarterly, World Business Academic Perspectives, E: The Environmental Magazine, and Resurgence and Futures. She is a member of the World Business Academy and the Global Commission to Fund the United Nations and supporter of the Global Marshall Plan.

She is a member of the jury of the Petra Kelly Prize of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Awards

In 1967, she was honored as Citizen of the Year of the City of New York with the Citizen of the Year Award in 1977, she was appointed honorary doctorate from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute awarded for her work in the field of alternative economics and technology, and in 1996, she was, together with the Nobel Peace Prize A. Pérez Esquivel of Global Citizen Award.

Works

• Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-933392-23-3
• Daisaku Ikeda coauthor, Planetary Citizenship, Middleway Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-9723267-2-8, 256 pages
• Hazel Henderson et al, Calvert - Henderson Quality of Life Indicators, Calvert Group, 2000, ISBN 978-0-9676891-0-4, 392 pages
• Beyond Globalization. Kumarian Press, 1999, ISBN 978-1-56549-107-6, 88 pages
• Creating alternative futures. Kumarian Press, 1996, ISBN 978-1-56549-060-4, 430 pages (original edition, Berkley Books, NY, 1978)
• Hazel Henderson et al, The United Nations: Policy and Financing Alternatives. Global Commission to Fund the United Nations, 1995, ISBN 978-0-9650589-0-2, 269 pages
• Redefining Wealth and Progress: New Ways to Measure Economic, Social, and Environmental Change: The Caracas Report on Alternative Development Indicators. Knowledge Systems Inc., 1990, ISBN 978-0-942850-24-6, 99 pages
• The Politics of the Solar Age. Knowledge Systems Inc., 1988, ISBN 978-0-941705-06-6, 433 pages (original edition, Doubleday, NY, 1981)