Jeremy Rifkin (born 1945,
Denver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
), founder and president of the
Foundation on Economic Trends (FOET) and creator of the
Third Industrial Revolution (TIR), is an American economist, writer, public speaker and activist who seeks to shape public policy in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and globally.
He advised the government of France during its presidency of the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
(July 1 to December 31, 2008).
Jeremy Rifkin (born 1945,
Denver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
), founder and president of the
Foundation on Economic Trends (FOET) and creator of the
Third Industrial Revolution (TIR), is an American economist, writer, public speaker and activist who seeks to shape public policy in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and globally.
He advised the government of France during its presidency of the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
(July 1 to December 31, 2008). Rifkin also served as an adviser to Chancellor
Angela Merkel' is the current Chancellor of Germany. Merkel, elected to the German Parliament from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 10 April 2000, and Chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary party group from 2002 to 2005...
of Germany, Prime Minister
Jose SocratesJosé Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa,
GCIH , commonly known simply as José Sócrates, is the Prime Minister of Portugal and Secretary-General of the Socialist Party. Sócrates became Prime Minister on 12 March 2005. For the second half of 2007, he acted as the President-in-Office of...
of Portugal, and Prime Minister
Janez JanšaJanez Janša is a Slovenian politician and president of the Slovenian Democratic Party. Between November 2004 and November 2008, he served as the Prime Minister of Slovenia.- Youth and education :...
of Slovenia, during their respective
European CouncilThe European Council is the highest political body of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the Union's member states along with the President of the European Commission...
Presidencies, on issues related to the
economy, climate change, and energy security. He currently advises the
European CommissionThe European Commission acts as an executive of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.The Commission operates in the method of cabinet government, with 27...
, the
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, and several EU heads of government, including Prime Minister
Jose Luis Rodriguez ZapateroJosé Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , better known by his maternal surname Zapatero or ZP, is the current President of the Government of Spain...
of Spain and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
Rifkin has testified before numerous congressional committees and has engaged in litigation extensively to ensure "responsible" government policies on a variety of
environmentalThe natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof....
, scientific and
technologyTechnology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment...
related issues. Since 1994, Rifkin has been a fellow at the
University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claims to have been the first university in America...
's
WhartonWharton most often refers to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.Other uses of the name may include:-Places:*Wharton, Cheshire, England*Wharton, New Jersey*Wharton, Ohio*Wharton, Texas*Wharton, West Virginia...
Executive Education Program, lecturing CEOs and senior corporate management from around the world on new trends in science and technology.
Biography
Rifkin was born in Denver, Colorado in 1945, to Vivette Ravel Rifkin and Milton Rifkin, a plastic-bag manufacturer. He grew up on the southwest side of Chicago.
He earned a BA in economics at the Wharton School of the
University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claims to have been the first university in America...
, graduating in 1967. He was a self-described, "party animal", and also class president. He had an epiphany when one day in 1966 he walked past a group of students picketing the administration building and was amazed to see, as he recalls, that "my frat friends were beating the living daylights out of them. I got very upset." He organized a freedom-of-speech rally the next day. From then on, Rifkin quickly became an active member of the peace movement.
He went on to graduate study in international affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at
Tufts UniversityTufts University is a private research university in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The university is home to the nation's oldest graduate school of international relations, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy....
.
He pursued anti-war activities at Fletcher. He avoided the Viet Nam war by joining
VISTAVISTA or Volunteers in Service to America is an anti-poverty program created by Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as the domestic version of the Peace Corps. Initially, the program increased employment opportunities for conscientious people who felt they could contribute tangibly to...
and humorously claimed he instead "saw action" as an unpaid tutor in the Brooklyn and East Harlem ghetto neighborhoods of New York City.
In 1973 he published his first book,
How To Commit Revolution American Style, with John Rossen. In 1977, with Ted Howard, he founded the Foundation on Economic Trends. The foundation continues to be his main calling card. He works out of an office on L Street in Washington, D.C., a neighborhood home to many lobbyists. In 2003 Jeremy Rifkin was a founding member of the Frankfurt based
Institute for Corporate Culture AffairsThe Institute for Corporate Culture Affairs , is a not-for-profit institute based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, that assists companies in mainstreaming their corporate social responsibility activities...
He is married to Carol Grunewald.
Published works
Rifkin has seventeen published books—primarily focused on the impact of scientific and technological changes—in which he has predicted changes in:
workCareer is a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as an individual's "course or progress through life "...
,
propertyProperty is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of persons. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property has the right to consume, sell, rent, mortgage, transfer, exchange or destroy his or her property, and/or to exclude others from...
, the
American dreamThe American Dream is a national ethos of the United States of America in which democratic ideals are perceived as a promise of prosperity for its people...
, the dangers of
biotechnologyBiotechnology is technology based on biology, agriculture, food science, and medicine. Modern use of the term usually refers to genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies...
, and a new
hydrogen economyThe hydrogen economy is a proposal for the distribution of energy by using hydrogen. Hydrogen releases energy when it is combined with oxygen; however in practice, production of hydrogen from water requires more energy than is released when the hydrogen is used as fuel...
.
Rifkin became one of the first major critics of the nascent biotechnology industry with the 1977 publication of his book,
Who Should Play God? His 1995 book,
The End of WorkThe End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era is a non-fiction book by American economist Jeremy Rifkin, published in 1995 by Putnam Publishing Group....
, is credited by some with helping shape the current global debate on technology displacement, corporate downsizing and the future of jobs. His 1998 book,
The Biotech Century, addresses the many critical issues accompanying the new era of genetic commerce. His 2004 book, The European Dream, was an international bestseller and winner of the 2005 Corine International Book Prize in Germany for the best economic book of the year
Renewable hydrogen economy
After the publication of
The Hydrogen Economy, Rifkin worked both in the U.S. and the EU to advance the political cause of renewably generated hydrogen. In the U.S., Rifkin was instrumental in founding the Green Hydrogen Coalition. The GHC consists of 13 environmental and political organizations (including
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in 46 countries, which are affiliated to the...
and MoveOn.Org) that are committed to building a renewable hydrogen base bio.
Foundation on Economic Trends
The Foundation on Economic Trends (FOET), based in Washington D.C. is active in both national and international public policy issues related to the environment, the economy, and biotechnology. FOET examines new trends and their impacts on the environment, the economy, culture and society, and engages in litigation, public education, coalition building and grassroots organizing activities to advance their goals.
Reception of his work
Rifkin has sparked controversies about his positions.
Time MagazineTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
went so far as to call him "the most hated man in science". Groups like the
Union of Concerned ScientistsThe Union of Concerned Scientists is a nonprofit science advocacy group based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists...
have cited some of his publications as useful references for consumers.
Books
- 2004, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream
The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream is a book, by Jeremy Rifkin published in September 2004. Rifkin describes the emergence and evolution of the European Union over the past five decades, as well as key differences between European and...
, Jeremy P. Tarcher, ISBN 1-58542-345-9
- 2002, The Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the Worldwide Energy Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth, Jeremy P. Tarcher, ISBN 1-58542-193-6
- 2000, The Age Of Access: The New Culture of Hypercapitalism, Where All of Life is a Paid-For Experience, Putnam Publishing Group, ISBN 1-58542-018-2
- 1998, The Biotech Century: Harnessing the Gene and Remaking the World, J P Tarcher, ISBN 0-87477-909-X
- 1995, The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era
The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era is a non-fiction book by American economist Jeremy Rifkin, published in 1995 by Putnam Publishing Group....
, Putnam Publishing Group, ISBN 0-87477-779-8
- 1992, Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture, E. P. Dutton, ISBN 0-525-93420-0
- 1992, Voting Green: Your Complete Environmental Guide to Making Political Choices In The 90s, with Carol Grunewald Rifkin, Main Street Books, ISBN 0-385-41917-1
- 1991, Biosphere Politics: A New Consciousness for a New Century, Crown, ISBN 0-517-57746-1
- 1990, The Green Lifestyle Handbook: 1001 Ways to Heal the Earth (edited by Rifkin), Henry Holt & Co, ISBN 0-8050-1369-5
- 1987, Time Wars: The Primary Conflict In Human History, Henry Holt & Co, ISBN 0-8050-0377-0
- 1985, Declaration of a Heretic, Routledge & Kegan Paul Books, Ltd, ISBN 0-7102-0709-3
- 1983, Algeny: A New Word—A New World, in collaboration with Nicanor Perlas, Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-10885-5
- 1980, Entropy: A New World View
Entropy: A New World View is a non-fiction book by Jeremy Rifkin and Ted Howard, with an Afterword by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen. First published by The Viking Press, New York in 1980 ....
, with Ted HowardTed Howard has been Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative and of the National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives. He and Jeremy Rifkin co-authored Entropy: A New World View....
(afterword by Nicholas Georgescu-RoegenNicholas Georgescu-Roegen, born Nicolae Georgescu was a Romanian mathematician, statistician and economist, best known for his 1971 magnum opus The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, which situated the view that the second law of thermodynamics, i.e., that usable "free energy" tends to disperse...
), Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-29717-8
- 1979, The Emerging Order: God in the Age of Scarcity, with Ted Howard, Putnam, ISBN 978-0399123191
- 1978, The North Will Rise Again: Pensions, Politics and Power in the 1980s, with Randy Barber, Beacon Press, ISBN 0-8070-4787-2
- 1977, Own Your Own Job: Economic Democracy for Working Americans, ISBN 978-0553104875
- 1977, Who Should Play God? The Artificial Creation of Life and What it Means for the Future of the Human, with Ted Howard, Dell Publishing Co., ISBN 0-440-19504-7
- 1975, Common Sense II: The case against corporate tyranny, Bantam Books, OCLC 123151709
- 1973, How to Commit Revolution American Style, with John Rossen, Lyle Stuart Inc., ISBN 0-8184-0041-2
See also
- Biopolitics
The term "biopolitics" or "biopolitical" can refer to several different yet compatible concepts.-Definitions:# In the work of Michel Foucault, the style of government that regulates populations through biopower .# In the works of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, anti-capitalist insurrection using...
- Frankenstein argument
- National Veterans Inquiry
The National Veterans Inquiry was a national-level inquiry into American war crimes in Vietnam. They were held December 1 - December 3, 1970 in Washington, DC.-Origin:...
- Winter Soldier Investigation
The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War from January 31, 1971 – February 2, 1971. It was intended to publicize war crimes and atrocities by the United States Armed Forces and their allies in the Vietnam War...
- Genetic pollution
Genetic pollution is undesirable gene flow into wild populations. The term is usually associated with the gene flow from a genetically engineered organism to a non GE organism; however, conservation biologists and conservationists are using it to describe gene flow from a domestic, feral,...
External links
- FOET.org - The Foundation on Economic Trends
- FOET.org - 'About Jeremy Rifkin (biography)
- ActivistCash.com - 'Jeremy Rifkin Biography' (criticism)
- Guardian.co.uk - 'Sorry, Mr President, homilies won't stop the hurricanes: We Americans need to get out of our SUVs and learn the harsh lesson of Katrina and Rita: we are all to blame', Jeremy Rifkin, The Guardian
The Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
, (September 23, 2005)
- NationalCenter.org - 'Dossier, Environmental Scientist: Jeremy Rifkin', National Center for Public Policy Research
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a self-described conservative think tank in the United States. Its president since its founding has been Amy Ridenour. David A. Ridenour, her husband, is vice president, and David W. Almasi is executive director. Key staff...
- Speaking.com - 'Jeremy Rifkin, topics: Technology, Future, Economics, International Business; Fee Category: 20.0k to 25.0k'
- VJolt.net - 'Biotechnology Through the Eyes of an Opponent The Resistance of Activist Jeremy Rifkin', Paul S. Naik, Virginia Journal of Law and Technology
- WorldTrans.org - 'An Afternoon with Jeremy Rifkin'
- Green Hydrogen Coalition
- European Parliament Leaders announce Green Hydrogen initiative
- The Internationalist Review - Dossier on Mr Rifkin's position concerning ecological issues published by the Internationalist Review.