Transition and the revitalised middle class

In ‘Arena Magazine’ no. 102, Ted Trainer, author of the ‘Conserver Society Alternatives for Sustainability’, enters the debate on the Transition Towns movement with the question ‘Transitioning to Where?’ He notes the potential of the Transition Towns movement but believes there is a good chance the ‘present movement will come to nothing of lasting significance’. He acknowledges that the way of life we now have is ‘unjust and unsustainable’ but claims we cannot overcome the ‘overshoot’ in material consumption simply by using technical advances. Many Transition Towns ideas are based on technical advances, for example solar power. Running alongside these advances is the other important notion, localisation and/or small communities. Notably in this respect, Trainer advocates the same kind of smallness put forward by Transition Towns. It may be that small is inevitable but if so, we need to be very clear about the implications of this move.