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development” in the heart of the neighborhood. In Routt County, Colorado, two often-estranged groups, cattle ranchers and environmentalists, join forces to protect open land and to support conservation-based development (negotiating together what this might mean). In suburban New Jersey, local groups focus on protecting open space and managing growth, recapturing the legacy of the “Garden State” in the face of pressures toward sprawl. Each of these scenarios contains a different combination of private and public investment, stakeholders, sustainable technology, and creative imagination. Each generates possible models for use elsewhere -for example, the environmental indicators developed by the Trenton-based group New Jersey Future, or the concept of sustainable “working landscapes” negotiated by cattle ranchers and environmentalists, and increasingly adopted, Shutkin tells us, by mainstream environmental groups such as The Nature Conservancy. Some, like the first two cases, have a strong base in civil rights issues, and provide models for environmental justice in communities of color facing such challenges as “brownfield” redevelopment and urban disinvestment. All illustrate what Shutkin terms “an ecosystem approach to social problem solving, with the environment as both a prime subject and a principal metaphor of civic action” (p.238). The case studies make for exciting reading and allow Shutkin to elegantly present a case for civic environmentalism. There is little to find fault with in this volume. Although it wasn’t the case for this reader, some may find it a bit of a long ride getting to the case studies themselves, due to the length of the preceding chapters. Some additional references to civic environmentalism in the southern region of the country might be helpful, since this has been the originating place of the contemporary environmental justice movement and the setting for some interesting experiments with civic democracy--the city of Chattanooga comes to mind. Some will say that Shutkin is too optimistic. While he understandably focuses on the creative synergy that emerges in the communities presented here, those same communities are hugely vulnerable to a global capitalism that undermines social capital. Shutkin does not ignore these challenges, but chooses to put his energy elsewhere. Perhaps he too readily dismisses critics of “smart growth” who say that our addiction to growth is one of our most fundamental social problems. However, Shutkin stakes out his position (cautiously but energetically) among the optimists, supported by the experience that he has accumulated and shared with his readers. Let us hope that he is right that civic environmentalism will fulfill “environmentalism’s promise as democracy’s boldest symbol and practice” (p.244). By writing a book such as this one, he contributes to the likelihood of that outcome.

Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century. By Vaclav Smil. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press (2000). Reviewed by Vijoy S. Sahay