Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Toward a History of Needs

Toward a History of Needs

Illich, Ivan

Paperback

EconomicsGeneral Sociology

ISBN10: 1800508719
ISBN13: 9781800508712
Publisher: Equinox Publishing (UK)
Published: Jul 22 2026
Pages: 180
Weight: 0.50
Height: 0.33 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English

Toward a History of Needs was first published in 1977 and still retains its sharpness.The first quarter of the twenty-first century shows that Illich did not misread industrial society. His warning that life without access to commodities and services would become impossible or criminal now reads less like provocation than description. Economic development has intensified the dependence on cash in a world without enough paid jobs-whether in the United States or in Uganda. Desire, not need, fuels the economy and is the explicit product of algorithmic persuasion, whose raw material is the envious fear of missing out. Energy production is growing rapidly, ignoring environmental limits and social thresholds. Professional authority has mutated into legalized force. Without credentials one cannot cut hair, practice medicine, offer childcare, or drive. Commodity dependence is no longer sold as progress but is legally enforced as the requirement for survival.

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