Jeremy Rifkin was born on January 26, 1945. He is an American economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist. Rifkin has written 23 books that discuss how scientific and technological changes affect the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. His most recent books include The Age of Resilience (2022), The Green New Deal (2019), The Zero Marginal Cost Society (2014), The Third Industrial Revolution (2011), The Empathic Civilization (2010), and The European Dream (2004).

Rifkin is the main creator of the "Third Industrial Revolution," a long-term plan to address three major problems: the global economic crisis, energy security, and climate change. The Third Industrial Revolution was officially supported by the European Parliament in 2007.

In October 2015, The Huffington Post reported from Beijing that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had read Rifkin’s book The Third Industrial Revolution and used its ideas when developing China’s thirteenth Five-Year Plan. According to EurActiv, Rifkin’s book The Third Industrial Revolution is believed to have influenced Germany’s shift to a low-carbon economy and China’s acceptance of climate policies.

Since 1995, Rifkin has taught at the Wharton School executive education program at the University of Pennsylvania. He teaches CEOs and senior management about transitioning business operations to sustainable economies. In 2015, Rifkin was ranked number 123 in the WorldPost/The Huffington Post global survey of "The World's Most Influential Voices." He is also listed among the top ten most influential economic thinkers in the same survey. Over the past 35 years, Rifkin has given lectures to many Fortune 500 companies, hundreds of governments, civil society organizations, and universities.

Biography

Jeremy Rifkin was born in Denver, Colorado, to Vivette Ravel Rifkin and Milton Rifkin, who worked in the plastic-bag industry. He grew up on the southwest side of Chicago. He was the top student in his class of 1967 at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in economics from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. He also received the University of Pennsylvania's General Alumni Association's Award of Merit in 1967.

Rifkin was an active supporter of peace efforts. He attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (MA, International Affairs, 1968), where he continued to work against the war. Later, he joined Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), a program that helps communities in need.

In 1970, Rifkin started the People's Bicentennial Commission to offer new ideas for celebrating the Bicentennial years. In 1973, he organized a protest against oil companies during the 200th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in Boston Harbor. Thousands of people joined the protest, and activists dumped empty oil barrels into the harbor. This protest happened after gasoline prices increased in 1973 because of the OPEC oil embargo. The media later called this event the "Boston Oil Party."

On April 17–18, Rifkin’s group camped at Concord Bridge, Massachusetts, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Minute Men’s 1775 fight with the British, which marked the start of American independence. According to White House documents, they tried to stop President Gerald R. Ford from laying a wreath at the Minute Man Statue. https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0067/7580533.pdf

On July 4, 1976, the People's Bicentennial Commission held a rally on the Capitol Mall as an alternative to other Bicentennial celebrations. https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0067/1563322.pdf

In 1977, Rifkin and Ted Howard founded the Foundation on Economic Trends (FOET), which works on public policy issues related to the environment, the economy, and climate change. FOET studies new trends and their effects on the environment, economy, culture, and society. It also works on legal cases, public education, and organizing groups to support its goals. Rifkin became one of the first major critics of the new biotechnology industry with the 1977 publication of his book, Who Should Play God?

In 1978, Jeremy Rifkin and Randy Barber co-authored the book The North Will Rise Again: Pensions, Politics, and Power in the 1980s. The book and the authors’ work with labor unions, financial groups, and civil society helped promote the idea of investing in companies that do good things. An article in the New York University Review of Law and Social Change noted that the book helped bring attention to the idea of socially responsible investing in 1978.

Rifkin’s 1980 book, Entropy: A New World View, discusses how the physical concept of entropy applies to nuclear and solar energy, urban decay, military activity, education, agriculture, health, economics, and politics. The Minneapolis Tribune called the book "a comprehensive worldview" and "an appropriate successor to… Silent Spring, The Closing Circle, The Limits to Growth, and Small Is Beautiful." Rifkin’s work was influenced by the ideas in Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s 1971 book The Entropy Law and the Economic Process. In the 1989 revised edition of Entropy, titled Entropy: Into the Greenhouse World, Georgescu-Roegen wrote the afterword.

In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a patent could be granted for the first genetically engineered life form. Five justices supported the patent, while four opposed it. Jeremy Rifkin’s office, The People’s Business Commission, provided a legal document supporting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, arguing that genetically engineered organisms were not covered by patent laws. Chief Justice Warren Burger called the opposing arguments "the gruesome parade of horribles" and said the key difference was between natural things and human-made inventions. Justice William Brennan argued that Congress, not the court, should decide how patent laws apply, noting that the genetically engineered organism raised public concerns.

On May 16, 1984, Federal District Judge John J. Sirica ruled against an experiment that would have released genetically altered organisms into the environment. The case was brought by Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation on Economic Trends. Rifkin argued that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) failed to assess the risks of releasing the genetically engineered organism before approving the test. The journal Science reported that the ruling surprised many people. Judge Sirica said Rifkin and his legal team had shown they might succeed in their lawsuit and told NIH not to approve more experiments involving genetically modified organisms. This ruling helped start the process of regulating the release

Reception

According to The European Energy Review, "Jeremy Rifkin has had a major influence on the European Union's important climate and energy policies. In the United States, he has spoken in front of many government groups and has worked on legal cases to support responsible laws about environmental, scientific, and technology issues. The Union of Concerned Scientists has mentioned some of Rifkin's books as helpful for people who want to learn more. The New York Times once said that people in the fields of scholarship, religion, and politics praise Rifkin for thinking creatively, asking difficult questions, and acting as a leader in social and ethical matters."

Rifkin's work has caused debate because some people believe his scientific claims lack strong evidence and because of the methods he uses to share his ideas. For example, he once said that the theory of evolution is connected to "19th century industrial capitalism" and has been criticized for using a logical mistake called the "strawman fallacy." In a 1985 article, Stephen Jay Gould, a scientist, wrote about Rifkin's book Algeny: A New Word—A New World and questioned the accuracy of Rifkin's arguments.

In a 1989 article, TIME Magazine described Rifkin as "the most hated man in science" and "the nation's top critic of environmental harm." The article said Rifkin is correct in pushing for strict rules on genetic research to protect health and the environment. However, it also raised concerns about Rifkin's harsh criticism of scientists, calling them "mad magicians" or "unethical followers of Dr. Strangelove." The article warned that Rifkin's actions might slow scientific progress, delay medical discoveries, or harm the economy.

Books

• 1973, How to Commit Revolution American Style: Bicentennial Declaration, with John Rossen, Lyle Stuart Inc., ISBN 0-8184-0041-2
• 1975, Common Sense II: The Case Against Corporate Tyranny, Bantam Books, OCLC 123151709
• 1977, Own Your Own Job: Economic Democracy for Working Americans, ISBN 978-0-553-10487-5
• 1977, Who Should Play God? The Artificial Creation of Life and What it Means for the Future of the Human Race, with Ted Howard, Dell Publishing Co., ISBN 0-440-19504-7
• 1978, The North Will Rise Again: Pensions, Politics and Power in the 1980s, with Randy Barber, Beacon Press, ISBN 0-8070-4787-2
• 1979, The Emerging Order: God in the Age of Scarcity, with Ted Howard, Putnam, ISBN 978-0-399-12319-1
• 1980, Entropy: A New World View, with Ted Howard (afterword by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen), Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-29717-8
• 1983, Algeny: A New Word—A New World, in collaboration with Nicanor Perlas, Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-10885-5
• 1985, Declaration of a Heretic, Routledge and Kegan Paul, ISBN 978-0710207104
• 1987, Time Wars: The Primary Conflict In Human History, Henry Holt & Co, ISBN 0-8050-0377-0
• 1990, The Green Lifestyle Handbook: 1001 Ways to Heal the Earth (edited by Rifkin), Henry Holt & Co, ISBN 0-8050-1369-5
• 1991, Biosphere Politics: A New Consciousness for a New Century, Crown, ISBN 0-517-57746-1
• 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
• 1995, The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era, Putnam Publishing Group, ISBN 0-87477-779-8
• 1998, The Biotech Century: Harnessing the Gene and Remaking the World, J P Tarcher, ISBN 0-87477-909-X
• 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
• 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
• 2004, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, Jeremy P. Tarcher, ISBN 1-58542-345-9
• 2010, The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness In a World In Crisis, Jeremy P. Tarcher, ISBN 1-58542-765-9
• 2011, The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-230-11521-7
• 2014, The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-137-27846-3
• 2019, The Green New Deal: Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse by 2028, and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-1-250-25320-0
• 2022, The Age of Resilience: Reimagining Existence on a Rewilding Earth, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 9781250093547
• 2024, Planet Aqua: Rethinking Our Home in the Universe, Polity Pr, ISBN 978-1-509-56373-9