Re: [pf] where I am coming from

by Jill Taylor Bussiere

19 December 2000 17:52 UTC

Priscilla,
    Can you tell more about the book Common Fire?  I have also requested
from my father-in-law ( who always wants specifics when he buys gifts -
which I have always appreciated, but sometimes it is a challenge to come up
with something I want....) the book The Local Politics of Global
Sustainability by Thomas Prugh, Robert Costanza, and Herman E. Daly.

Looking for a workable change agent., December 4, 2000
Reviewer: tim.campbell@ces.uwex.edu from Hurley, WI United States
This book could eventually be one of the most important ever published
within the environmental community if it encourages environmental activists
to shift their approach from confrontation to "principled" negotiation.
Environmental activists for most of the past thirty years have tended to
confront their adversaries using "hard" negotiation as described in Getting
To Yes by Fisher and Ury. This was the style implied by Herman Daly's early
writings.

If "names" such as Robert Costanza and Herman Daly can shift their thinking
away from confrontation and toward working with non-environmentalists as
collective problem-solvers, there is no end to the possibilites.
Interestingly, they endorse the process of public deliberation or what
Benjamin Barber calls "strong" democracy. They are dsicovering, as many of
us already know, that citizens engaged in deliberation naturally tend to
gravitate toward "sustainable" concepts. Hence, if we can create forums for
strong democracy in our communities, pro-environmental thinking will follow.

In this manner, public deliberation can foster "principled" negotiation
where all of us look for win/win solutions and treat each other with
respect. Or, we can continue to confront and litigate each other and/or wait
for big brother to impose a resolution. Are we, as "ordinary" citizens, up
to the challenge. Prugh et al imply we are. Those of us in the "front lines"
of community development know we are. Happy reading!!


7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

 More interesting to theorists than activists, April 11, 2000
Reviewer: Keith Winston from Maryland, USA
This book is a quick read, essentially an application of Barber's Strong
Democracy treatise to the idea of sustainable development. It defines
sustainable development as the reorientation of the economic system to
accommodate inherent natural limits on energy use, waste sinks, etc. The
authors point out there may be many different paths humanity may choose into
the future: increasing maldistribution of resources or increasing global
equity; increasing loss of biodiversity or reduced destruction of the
biosphere; a bleak and degrading future or a more promising one. They posit
that a move towards a strong democratic structure, with wider and deeper
participation in the political system, would be a crucial step towards a
more promising future.

I found the book interesting, though a little light on examples: there's one
chapter devoted to historical examples of strong(er) democracy. On the other
hand, the book offers some ideas about how to get there from here, how to
move incrementally towards stronger democracy. The author's proposal to
create the democratic foundation for a sustainable future is the major focus
of the book: it would be interesting to explore in greater detail those
aspects of modern culture that mitigate against popular participation, and
those that might be brought into play to support it. How does the increasing
homogenization of world culture, and the concomitant consumerization of the
world's people (and the corresponding influence of advertising), undermine
democratic participation? What trends, like the coop movement or the
expanding NGO movement, help develop political participation? How can we
shift the direction of the increasingly international economy and it's
political implications as illustrated by the WTO, for example? What are the
implications of modern communication/computer technologies, both positive
and negative, on the ideas outlined here?

"Local Politics" doesn't attempt anything so grandiose. It's presents
interesting ideas regarding strong democracy. I think it will be more
interesting to theorists than activists, but many people might find
something to chew on here.


----- Original Message -----
From: <prichter1@aol.com>
To: <positive-futures@igc.topica.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: [pf] where I am coming from


> In a message dated 12/19/00 10:08:50 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> vlmadden@spacelab.net writes:
>
> >  I am not active in a church but I do go sometimes, but I have
> >  always been mystified at the lack of attention paid by churces to the
evils
> >  of consumerism and the harm being done to the earth. In the Seattle
> >  protests, I was so glad that church groups were there too, and I
thought
> >  that maybe there would start to be a coalition built that would
question
> >  handing our world over to multinational corporations. But alas it has
not
> >  happened yet. Priscilla, what about a congregation=supported
agriculture
> >  movement`?
> >
>
> Vicxki,
>    Although I serve in a denomination that is proud of its progressivism,
we
> still have a long way to go.  I don't know too many congregations that are
> ripe for this. Sometimes I have dreams of starting my own church, but I am
> not an entrepreneurial person and don't really have the right skills for
that
> kind of job.  I am starting a simplicity group in my congregation,  but so
> many buy into the status quo. I have found that, to be an effective change
> agent in a church,  it is necessary to go slow (or we will be ex-pastors
and
> the hoped for change will have been set back for a long time).
>
>  Though I am much freer with my views on this list and I moderate my
opinions
> quite a bit in my congregation, I am seen as somewhat of an oddity, though
I
> look mainstream. When people find out I don't watch TV and don't tend to
> frequent the supermarkets and minimize my driving, the tendency is to feel
> sorry for me.  But there is hope, and I am still in the stage where people
> need to get to know me and I them. I am hopeful that many are beginning to
be
> ready to really look at things like an agricultural movement.  Our church
has
> grounds that would be amenable to a large community organic garden.  I
have
> heard that someone proposed such a thing before but was shot down. I need
to
> learn the particulars before I act.
>
> On a related topic:  has anyone read the book _Common Fire_ with many
> authors, among them Sharon Daloz Parks and her husband (Larry?) of the
> Whidbey Institute?  What do you think of this book as serving as a basis
of a
> discussion on beginning to be active in a community sense??
>
> Blessings, Priscilla