ECOCIVILIZATION
Making a World that Works for All
Jeremy Lent
Melville House (May 26, 2026)
Hardcover • ISBN-13: 9781685892333 • US $32.99 • 5 in x 8 in • 400 pgs.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A bold, practical vision for humanity’s future
As climate chaos, inequality, and social fragmentation intensify, humanity faces an imminent choice: continue with a system built on extraction and endless growth, or reimagine civilization itself.
Leading thinker Jeremy Lent offers that reimagination: an ecocivilization, grounded in proven design principles of ecosystems and in humankind’s evolved inclination toward justice, mutuality, and dignity.
The book doesn’t merely diagnose what’s broken. It reveals how our current civilization—designed for exploitation, accumulation, and elite power—is functioning exactly as it was intended. In its place, Ecocivilization charts a radical yet feasible alternative.
Lent lays out a world that’s both hopeful and practicable:
- Technology reconfigured to empower people rather than entrench centralized power.
- Cities designed around wellbeing, community, and balance with nature.
- Democracy reinvented so regular citizens—rather than oligarchs—shape collective destiny.
- Corporations legally restructured to serve life and people, not just profit.
- Enforceable Rights of Nature legislation protecting all of Earth’s sentient beings.
Backed by years of research, Ecocivilization goes beyond critique to articulate a coherent, achievable vision for humanity’s next chapter. It is both a roadmap and a manifesto—a call to imagine, and build, a better future on a regenerated Earth.
PRAISE:
Out of crisis, who then can we become? This powerful book charts a visionary course. Read it and join the crew.”
Kate Raworth, author, Doughnut Economics
“Jeremy Lent’s Ecocivilization challenges the myth that endless economic growth can coexist with a living planet. Tracing the historical roots of today’s ecological and social crises, Lent argues that only a profound transformation of our economic system can avert catastrophe. At once sobering and hopeful, this book offers a compelling vision of a future grounded in cooperation, commons, and care for the Earth—reminding us that another way of organizing society is both necessary and possible.”
Kohei Saito, author, Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto
“Ecocivilization offers an inspiring, thought-provoking road map for policymakers, environmental advocates, and concerned citizens, encouraging them to imagine and actively participate in building a future based on the “key principles of collaboration, solidarity, respect for the inherent dignity of others, and reverence for the intrinsic value of life.”
Booklist STARRED review
“According to complexity theory, new order may emerge spontaneously in all complex systems in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. In this beautifully written volume, Jeremy Lent applies this scientific insight to the current state of the world, describing in eloquent detail the emergence of a new ecological civilization. This is an inspiring and tremendously hopeful book, needed more than ever in our current dark times.”
Fritjof Capra, author of The Tao of Physics
“We need to think big—the crisis we’re in demands nothing less. And this book does just that, understanding the climate crisis as both a symptom of a degraded system, and a possible entry into building something fresh and new. It will fire your imagination.“
Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
“A passionate book that takes us though our past, present, and most importantly, the future we can, and must, create.”
Riane Eisler, author of The Real Wealth of Nations
“Lent’s Ecocivilization is a magnificent undertaking, a brilliantly informed guide through the past and into radically different futures. He shows that humanity is indeed at a turning point in its story, and he summons us to a great project. A must-read.
James Gustave Speth, co-founder, Natural Resources Defense Council
“Jeremy Lent’s book is not only an insightful analysis of our present social, political, economic, and ecological challenges, it is a vital call toward transformation of our Earth community. It highlights a major paradigm shift toward a viable future in the aspirations of ecological civilization. This book will be a critical compass in leading the way toward a generative movement of movements.”
Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-director, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology; co-author of Journey of the Universe
“We are stuck in a morass of our own making—a violence-prone civilization intent on destroying its life support systems. Jeremy Lent has been to the mountaintop and here describes a far better, more human and humane civilization on the horizon. The primary impediment to better possibilities is vision without which we will surely perish. Ecocivilization is about visionary imagination that builds on our inherently social disposition and our affinity for justice. It is, however, a compass, not an itinerary that points toward practical possibilities: an ecological civilization calibrated to a planet with an ecosphere. This is an important book and deserves close reading, debate, and action.“
David Orr, author of Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World
“Our civilization is coming to an end. And thus: It is high time we aimed at co-creating or returning to eco-civilization … I see there as being no higher calling than following this aim. This book is an intellectually impressive and impassioned guide to what it actually could look like.”
Rupert Read,co-director, Climate Majority Project; author of Why Climate Breakdown Matters
“Jeremy Lent is a radical thinker and an eco-activist. His book Ecocivilization is a constructive critique of current predicament of humanity and an inspiring vision for a new paradigm. The book makes a compelling case to make a shift from the industrial and commercial civilization to an ecological civilization in which humanity can live at ease with itself and also live in harmony with our precious planet Earth. This life-affirming worldview presented by Jeremy Lent in this book is urgently needed to insure the well-being of present as well as the future generations.“
Satish Kumar, founder, Schumacher College
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jeremy Lent described by Guardian journalist George Monbiot as “one of the greatest thinkers of our age,” is a speaker and author of the award-winning The Patterning Instinct and The Web of Meaning. He is the founder of the Deep Transformation Network and the nonprofit Liology Institute. He lives with his partner in Berkeley, California.
RIGHTS INFORMATION:
Please contact subagents for the following languages and territories:
| Language/Territory | Subagent |
|---|---|
| China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam | Big Apple Agency |
| Dutch | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| English outside North America | David Grossman Literary Agency |
| French | Deborah Druba Agency |
| German | Paul & Peter Fritz AG Literatur Agentur |
| Greek | Read n' Right Agency |
| Hebrew | The Deborah Harris Agency |
| Italian | Berla & Griffini Rights Agency |
| Japanese | The English Agency (Japan) Ltd |
| Korean | BC Agency, or Korea Copyright Center |
| Portuguese | RIFF Agency |
| Russia/Baltics/Eastern Europe | Prava I Prevodi |
| Scandinavia | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| Spanish in Latin America | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Spanish in Spain | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Turkish | Anatolialit Agency |
For all other languages/territories, please contact Roam Agency.