Giorgio Nebbia. Precursore della decrescita. L’ecologia comanda l’economia

This work reconstructs the contribution made by Giorgio Nebbia, chemist and commodities expert, populariser and militant environmentalist, to the debate on the limits of growth since the 1970s. The first part outlines Nebbia’s biography and rich non-fiction production, while the second is an anthology of his most significant writings. The common thread is the interweaving of the scientific and social motivations that underpin his path over the decades. The former are based on the merceologist’s original research, centred on the study of the metabolism of goods with the aim of applying biophysical laws to the study of economics, thus revealing the natural limits of growth. At the same time, the sensitivity acquired from conciliar Catholicism and the best culture of Italian communism led him to consider the ecological crisis inseparably linked to the social crisis. Issues of great relevance today.