Simon Butler – författare

For more than two centuries, the idea that the world's ills are caused by poor people having too many babies has been remarkably successful at diverting attention from the social causes of poverty and injustice. Once the exclusive preserve of right-wing ideologues, the argument that rising population and immigration is damaging to the environment is increasingly defended in mainstream media and in the environmental movement. This is a clear, well-documented and popularly written refutation of populationist ideology, focusing in particular on the arguments on the environment.

Too Many People? provides a clear, well-documented, and popularly written refutation of the idea that "overpopulation" is a major cause of environmental destruction, arguing that a focus on human numbers not only misunderstands the causes of the crisis, it dangerously weakens the movement for real solutions.

No other book challenges modern overpopulation theory so clearly and comprehensively, providing invaluable insights for the layperson and environmental scholars alike.

Ian Angus is editor of the ecosocialist journal Climate and Capitalism, and Simon Butler is co-editor of Green Left Weekly.