The Green Party aims to create a just, equitable and sustainable society. The Stafford and Stone Green Party is an independent branch of the Green Party. Working Closely with the North Staffordshire Green Party we represent the constituencies of Stafford & Stone.
Green Reading Group
The Green Reading group is an opportunity to find out more about the latest thinking on 'Green' and other issues. Each month we pick a book or article to and read and discuss at the next meeting. These open and friendly meetings have proved very popular with both party and non-party members.
We therefore hope you would like to join the Green Reading Group, which meets monthly (first Thursday of the month (starting July 3rd) at the Vine Hotel (7.30pm).
Green Reading List
This
list is not definitive but should be regarded as merely a starting
point. It is not suggested that everyone of these books should be
read. Please add/remove books and return your list to john_gale@tiscali.co.uk
All books suggested should be relatively easy to obtain (Local/web bookshop, library, S&SGP members copy).
The final list will be taken to the 1st meeting for us to choose from.
July | August | September | October & November | December
| Future Reading | Philosophy
Books suggested by Members
Reading for July
 |
A Sand County Almanac : and sketches Here and There.Aldo Leopold (1949)0-19-505928-X Discussed in the August meeting (Aug.7th). Lead by Kate.Natural History/Nature Conservation/Nature Philosophy.Light' natural history sketches until you’re hit by the final section. This is a cult ‘Deep Green’ book written by an American ecology professor - former ‘game ranger’ of the early 1900’s. Source of ‘Thinking like a mountain’ and ‘The Land Ethic’. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: A Sand County Almanac is a 1949 non-fiction book written by American ecologist and environmentalist Aldo Leopold. Describing the land around Leopold's home in Sauk County, Wisconsin and his thoughts on developing a "land ethic", it was edited and published by his son, Luna, a year after Leopold's death from a heart attack. The collection of essays is considered to be a landmark book in the American conservation movement. |
Reading for August
 |
A Brief History of Neoliberalism.David Harvey (2005)978-0-19-928327-9 Discussed in the September meeting (Sept. 4th). Lead by TonyGlobal FinancesA superb, short explanation of why virtually anything in the financial world happens the way it does. Review from books.google.co.uk Neoliberalism--the doctrine that market exchange is an ethic in itself, capable of acting as a guide for all human action--has become dominant in both thought and practice throughout much of the world since 1970 or so. Writing for a wide audience, David Harvey, author of The New Imperialismand The Condition of Postmodernity, here tells the political-economic story of where neoliberalization came from and how it proliferated on the world stage. Through critical engagement with this history, he constructs a framework, not only for analyzing the political and economic dangers that nowsurround us, but also for assessing the prospects for the more socially just alternatives being advocated by many oppositional movements. |
Reading for September
 |
Gaia: A New Look at Life on EarthJames LovelockDiscussed in the October meeting (Oct.7th) lead by HilaryIn this classic work that continues to inspire its many readers, Jim Lovelock puts forward his idea that life on earth functions as a single organism. Written for non-scientists, Gaia is a journey through time and space in search of evidence with which to support a new and radically different model of our planet. In contrast to conventional belief that living matter is passive in the face of threats to its existence, the book explores the hypothesis that the earth's living matter air, ocean, and land surfaces forms a complex system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit place for life. Since Gaia was first published, many of Jim Lovelock's predictions have come true and his theory has become a hotly argued topic in scientific circles. In a new Preface to this reissued title, he outlines his present state of the debate. |
Reading for October & November
 |
Animate Earth : Science, Intuition and Gaia.Stephan Harding. (2006)1 903998 75 1 Reading for October (chapters 1-5). To be discussed in the November 6th meeting to be lead by Damon.Reading for November (chapters 5-10).To be discussed in the December 4th meeting lead by John.An explanation of the functioning of Gaia and our role in the process from a lecturer in Holistic Science. Green Books review - Stephan replaces the
cold, objectifying language of science with a way of speaking of
our planet as a sentient, living being rather than as a dead,
inert mechanism. For example, chemical reactions are described
using metaphors from human life, such as marriage, attraction,
repulsion etc, so as to bring personality back into the world of
rocks, atmosphere, water and living things. In this sense, the
book is a contemporary attempt to rediscover anima mundi (the
soul of the world) through Gaian science, whilst assuming no
prior knowledge of science. |
Reading for December
|
Reading for December (aka ‘2 books from Santa’), discussed in the January meeting. ( 2 Graphic Novels )As the World Burns: 50 Things You Can Do to Stay in DenialDerrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan2007, Seven Stories Press,
|
Future Reading
The List (20+ Books)
Book Reviews:
The Diversity of Life Rev Ed edition ( 26 April 2001 )
by Edward O. Wilson 1992 (2001)
ISBN-13: 978-0140291612
Amazon £7.09 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £15.
This is still the best book on biodiversity. Wilson, an eminent
Harvard entomologist, details the rise of biodiversity on earth
and the human threats to it. His eloquent plea to save the rich
variety of plant and animal life will resonate with readers of
all ages and educational backgrounds. He examines organic
history in terms of reproductive isolation, nucleotide variation
(microevolution) and adaptive radiation (macroevolution). Wilson
focuses on the abundance of life forms within tropical rain
forests, especially pointing out that both vanishing species and
their threatened natural habitats (hot spots) must be saved if
we are to maintain the earth's rich and needed genetic
reservoir. Identifying five natural events that have disrupted
evolution and global diversity (e.g., climatic changes,
meteorite strikes), Wilson maintains that the present sixth
great extinction is being caused by human neglect and ignorance.
Amazon.com
Humans, the Harvard University entomologist Edward O. Wilson has
observed, have an innate--or at least extremely
ancient--connection to the natural world, and our continued
divorce from it has led to the loss of not only "a vast
intellectual legacy born of intimacy" with nature, but also our
very sanity. In The Diversity of Life, Wilson takes a sweeping
view of our planet's natural richness, remarking on what on the
surface seems a paradox: "almost all the species that ever lived
are extinct, and yet more are alive today than at any time in
the past." ( Wilson 's elegant explanation is a scientific
education in itself.) This great variety of species is, of
course, threatened by habitat destruction, global climate
change, and a host of other forces, and Wilson revisits his
oft-stated call for the protection of wilderness and undeveloped
land, noting that "wilderness has virtue unto itself and needs
no extraneous justification." We should, he continues, regard
every species, "every scrap of biodiversity," as precious and
irreplaceable, without attempting to quantify that regard with
utilitarian measures such as "bio-economics." In short, Wilson
offers with this book a simple, workable environmental ethic
that extends the work of Aldo Leopold (author of Sand County
Almanac) and other conservationists. A remarkably productive and
influential scientist, Wilson is also a fine writer, and his
survey of biodiversity makes for welcome and instructive
reading. --Gregory McNamee
This important book is highly recommended for all biologists,
environmentalists, and academic libraries.-- H. James Birx,
Canisius Coll., Buffalo , N.Y.
The Shock Doctrine : The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by
Naomi Klein (2007)
(Paperback) ISBN-13: 978-0141024530
Price: £5.39 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £15.
Klein's third book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster
Capitalism, was published on 4 September 2007, becoming an
international and New York Times bestseller[7] translated into
20 languages.[13] The book argues that the free market policies
of Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of
Economics have risen to prominence in countries such as Chile
under Pinochet, Russia under Yeltsin, the United States (for
example in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina), and the
privatization of Iraq's economy under the Coalition Provisional
Authority not because they were democratically popular, but
because they were pushed through while the citizens of these
countries were in shock from disasters or upheavals. It is also
claimed that these shocks are in some cases, such as the
Falklands war, created with the intention of being able to push
through these unpopular reforms in the wake of the crisis.
Review
'Impassioned, hugely informative, wonderfully controversial, and
scary as hell' John le Carre 'Packed with thinking dynamite ...
a book to be read everywhere' John Berger 'If you read only one
non-fiction book this year, make it this one' - , Books of the
Year, Metro 'There are few books that really help us understand
the present. The Shock Doctrine is one of those books' - John
Gray, Guardian 'Lucid, calm, impeccably researched, gorgeously
readable' - , Books of the Year, Observer 'A brilliant, brave
and terrifying book' Arundhati Roy 'Powerful ... epic ...
dramatic' Daily Telegraph 'A brilliant book written with a
perfectly distilled anger, channelled through hard fact. She has
indeed surpassed No Logo' Independent 'Excoriating ...
passionate and informed ... Her prose packs a punch' Scotsman
Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher (Paperback - 16 Sep 1993 [orig. 1973])
Amazon Buy new: £8.99 £6.99 32 Used & new from £3.54
Product Description
The classic of common-sense economics. "Enormously broad in
scope, pithily weaving together threads from Galbraith and
Gandhi, capitalism and Buddhism, science and psychology."
First published in 1973, Small Is Beautiful brought Schumacher's
critiques of Western economics to a wider audience during the
1973 energy crisis and emergence of globalization. The Times
Literary Supplement ranked Small Is Beautiful among the 100 most
influential books published after World War II.
The book is divided into four parts: The Modern World;
Resources; The Third World; and Organization and Ownership.
In the first chapter of 'Small Is Beautiful', "The Problem of
Production", Schumacher argues that the modern economy is
unsustainable. The natural resources (especially fossil fuels),
are treated as expendable income, when in fact they should be
treated as capital, since they are not renewable, and thus
subject to eventual depletion. He further argues that nature's
resistance to pollution is limited as well. He concludes that
government effort must be concentrated on reaching sustainable
development, because relatively minor improvements, like
education for leisure or technology transfer to the Third World,
countries will not solve the underlying problem of unsustainable
economy.
Schumacher's philosophy is one of "enoughness," appreciating
both human needs, limitations and appropriate use of technology.
It grew out of his study of village-based economics, which he
later termed “Buddhist Economics.” Buddhist Economics forms the
basis for 'Small is Beautiful's fourth chapter.
He faults conventional economic thinking for failing to consider
the most appropriate scale for an activity, blasts notions that
“growth is good”, and that “bigger is better,” and questions the
appropriateness of using mass production in developing
countries, promoting instead “production by the masses.”
Schumacher was one of the first economists to question the
appropriateness of using GNP to measure human wellbeing,
emphasizing that “the aim ought to be to obtain the maximum
amount of well being with the minimum amount of consumption.”
Almost Everyone's Guide to Science: The Universe, Life and Everything (Paperback) (1999)
by John and Mary Gribbin
ISBN-13: 978-0300084603
Amazon £5.99 & eligible for Free UK delivery
Almost Everyone's Guide to Science is an essential book for the
reader who is interested in science but doesn't know where to
start. Gribbin gives a broad overview of physics and biology,
starting with the atom before building up to larger objects:
humans, the earth, the solar system and the universe. He also
explains how scientific concepts are linked together--what
evolutionary theory has to say about the way we think, how
chaotic uncertainty and quantum uncertainty affect each other
and how sub-atomic particles came into being in the big bang.
A radical departure for Gribbin, who is known for books that
focus on sharply defined areas of science at the cutting edge of
research. This time, he has gone to the opposite extreme,
offering an overview of the whole scientific endeavour, in which
he explains how everything is connected to everything else, from
atoms to quarks, molecules to biology, life and the universe.
Gribbin never goes beyond a layperson's capability even when
explaining the most complex subjects. Don't bother to read it if
you don't have a healthy curiosity or the patience to put up
with complicated scientific concepts. And don't worry about not
understanding all of it; what you do understand will stagger
you.
Amazon.com Review
Science isn't for everyone, but if you have even the faintest
trace of curiosity about the world around you, Almost Everyone's
Guide to Science will be a delight. Gribbin’s choice of subjects
for this latest project reaches new territory, expanding in
breadth to cover not just physics but chemistry, geology,
meteorology, and the life sciences as well; in short, he
introduces the world as we know it. Challenging but not
intimidating, his writing presumes an actively intelligent
reader willing to pause and think things out from time to time.
Like the best science writers, he knows that his characters are
people like Einstein and Darwin rather than theories like
relativity and natural selection. This human-centered writing
style is absorbing and a little sneaky--even those readers
pathologically resistant to retaining scientific information
will find themselves startled once or twice by an odd paradox or
brilliant insight. This mastery of storytelling is ultimately
what sets Gribbin apart from most other science writers; if
you've decided that it's time to survey what we know about the
world, Almost Everyone's Guide to Science is the best place to
start.
From Publishers Weekly
Any book attempting to explain topics as diverse as the inner
workings of atoms and the origin of the universe, as well as
everything in between, is bound to be superficial. Gribbin's is
that, but it is also informative, providing a knowing, if
idiosyncratic, view of many of the major contemporary issues in
science. Gribbin (In Search of Schr?dinger's Cat, etc.) has
written "a guide not so much for fans of science and the
cognoscenti but more a guide for the perplexedAanyone who is
vaguely aware that science is important, and might even be
interesting, but is usually scared off by the technical detail."
He begins by paying attention to the work of physicists and
their view of the atom, moving sequentially to chemists,
biologists, geologists, meteorologists, astronomers and
cosmologists. Topics as diverse as the nature of chemical bonds,
the structure of biological molecules, evolution, plate
tectonics, the greenhouse effect, stellar evolution and the big
bang all touched on. Throughout, Gribbin emphasizes fundamentals
of science and of the scientific method, particularly through
the mantra, "if it disagrees with experiment it is wrong."
Overall, this is a good bet for the would-be weekend scientist
who favors breadth over depth and wants to know a lot in little
time.
1491 : the Americas before Columbus - Charles C. Mann (2006)
978-1-86207-876-5
Recent archaeological finds are showing us that what we were taught about the New World is rubbish. A real eye opener.
Amazon Synopsis
Up until very recently it was believed that in 1491, the year before
Columbus landed, the Americas, one-third of the earth's surface, were a
near-pristine wilderness inhabited by small, roaming bands of indigenous
people. But recently unexpected discoveries have dramatically changed
our understanding of Indian Life. Many scholars now argue that the
Indians were much more numerous, were in the Americas for far longer,
and had far more ecological impact on the land than previously believed.
This knowledge has enormous implications for today's environmental
disputes, yet little has filtered into textbooks,
and even less into public awareness.
Mann brings together all of the latest research, and the results of his
own travels throughout North and South America, to provide a new,
fascinating and iconoclastic account of the Americas before Columbus.
The Spell of the Sensuous : perception and language in a more-than-human world. - David Abram (1996)
0-679-77639-7
Green spirituality/nature philosophy.
If you’re feeling lazy/busy and generally inadequate/overworked, there is an interview The Ecology of Magic - An Interview with David Abram (equivalent to approx. 7 sides A4) giving a general sort of feel about this ’must read’ book to be found at http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/index.html
I initially read this book because it has the best reviews I’d ever come across – and I agree with them. A ’must read’.
AmazonSynopsis - Describes the influence of spoken and written language and rational thinking on man's perception of the natural world around him.
Understanding Power :the Indispensable Chomsky. - Edited by P.R. Mitchell and J. Schoeffel (2003)
0-099-46606-6
Politics/Current Affairs.
Transcripts from some of Noam Chomsky’s Q&A sessions through the 90’s. Another ‘must read’. Punchier than ever but not in Chomskys’ usual dense style and therefore easy to read.
Amazon Synopsis
Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the pre-eminent public
intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly
diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sell-out lectures. Now, in
"Understanding Power", Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel have
assembled the best of Chomsky's talks on the past, present and future of
the politics of power. In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging
discussions - published here for the first time - Chomsky radically
reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from
foreign policy during the Vietnam War to the decline of welfare under
the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between
America's imperialistic foreign policy and social inequalities at home,
Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change.
With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular
struggle, as well as US foreign and domestic policy, "Understanding
Power" is definitive Chomsky.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. - Robert Tressel
978-0586090367
A superb socialist tract.
It is claimed that this is the book that is responsible for Labour being voted in after the war.
Amazon Synopsis
Originally published in 1914, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a
timeless story of Socialism, political awakenings and class struggle,
told with a volatile mix of heartfelt rage and sly humour. The Ragged
Trousered Philanthropists tells the story of a group of working men who
are joined one day by Owen, a journeyman-prophet with a vision of a just
society. Owen's spirited attacks on the greed and dishonesty of the
capitalist system rouse his fellow men from their political quietism. It
is both a masterpiece of wit and political passion and one of the most
authentic novels of English working class life ever written. This
enduring favourite is now reinvigorated by a smart new jacket and
exclusive extra material as part of Perennial's Modern Classics line of
reissues. Now its timeless message of justice, equality and reason will
be introduced to a whole new generation of discerning readers.
Guns, Germs and Steel : a short history of everybodyfor the last 13,000 years. - Jared Diamond (1997)
0-224-03809-5
Human history on this planet.
An excellent explanation of how European dominance came about.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Life isn't fair--here's why: Since 1500, Europeans have, for better and
worse, called the tune that the world has danced to. In Guns, Germs,
and Steel, Jared Diamond explains the reasons why things worked out
that way. It is an elemental question, and Diamond is certainly not the
first to ask it. However, he performs a singular service by relying on
scientific fact rather than specious theories of European genetic
superiority. Diamond, a professor of physiology at UCLA, suggests that
the geography of Eurasia was best suited to farming, the domestication
of animals and the free flow of information. The more populous cultures
that developed as a result had more complex forms of government and
communication--and increased resistance to disease. Finally, fragmented
Europe harnessed the power of competitive innovation in ways that China
did not. (For example, the Europeans used the Chinese invention of
gunpowder to create guns and subjugate the New World.) Diamond's book is
complex and a bit overwhelming. But the thesis he methodically puts
forth--examining the "positive feedback loop" of farming, then
domestication, then population density, then innovation, and on and
on--makes sense. Written without bias, Guns, Germs, and Steel is
good global history. --This text refers to the
Paperback edition.
Hegemony or Survival : Americas quest for global dominance. - Noam Chomsky (2003)
0-241-14250-4
Just in case any of you don’t believe that the Americans believe that they are following ‘Global U.S. Manifest Destiny’. Possibly Chomskys best – brilliant and worth ploughing through.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, published November 2003, is a book by Noam Chomsky, a macroscopic view of United States foreign policy from World War II to the post-Iraq War reconstruction. The central focus of the book (as with many of Chomsky's political works), is the examination of the United States' political, military and economic motives, in comparison —often in sharp contrast— to its outward rhetorical support for democracy, the Middle-East peace process, free trade, and human rights. There is an examination of the differences between positions taken by the US government and the people of the world regarding a proposed invasion of Iraq . It also examines the doctrinal thinking of the Establishment in the United Kingdom and the US, such as in regard to propaganda use, centralised decision making and imperialism of Western powers from recent American invasions to the European empires.[1]
The book was recommended by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in a speech before the UN General Assembly in September 2006. Sales of the book surged, its rank on Amazon.com rising to #1 on paperback and #6 hardcover in only a few days.[2][3][4]
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Scholarly polemicist Noam Chomsky's latest book Hegemony or Survival
argues that America's strategy for the future is nothing less than the
maintenance of American hegemony through the use or threat of military
force--a strategy that threatens to leave the world a more dangerous and
divided place. He goes on to claim that the only other world superpower
with any chance whatever of curbing America's ideologically driven quest
for global dominance is World Public Opinion. Recent books on American
involvement in Middle East affairs, books such as Dilip Hiro's Iraq,
Rampton and Stauber's Weapons of Mass Deception, and, more
recently, The Guardian sponsored The War We Could Not Stop
have also drawn attention to the propaganda war waged upon the American
public by the Bush administration. For Chomsky this is by no means a new
development. He sees American foreign policy historically showing a
remarkably pattern of hypocrisy, racism, exploitation, and cynical
manipulation of public opinion by successive US administrations. What is
new and disturbing about the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq,
he says, is the precedent America and Britain have set for establishing
new norms of international law. The concept of "preventative war" must
have its victims and those victims must be weak, yet important enough to
be worth the trouble. Any country that is opposed to US interests but is
capable of defending itself--i.e., those with nuclear capabilities--will
be left alone. He leaves us with the terrifying assessment that the
clear and catastrophic message to opponents of American hegemony is to
get nuclear--quick. It's the only way to keep the bully off our backs.
One of Chomsky's special talent remains his ability to undermine comforting platitudes--such as the idea that we Westerners have become more "humanitarian" over the last few decades or that we have been making steady moral progress. As with Greg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival is relentlessly damning of the American political and economic elite and highly sceptical of the idea that virtue is to be found there. But if you're looking for a more balanced and hopeful examination of America's excursion into modern empire building and the problems it poses try Michael Ignatieff's Empire Lite.
Observer Nov 30 2003
"America's greatest dissenter, a one-man cultural revolution whose
writing on globalisation has mobilised a generation." --This text
refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The Last Oil Shock ; A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man - David Strahan (2007)
978-0-7195-6423-9
One of the best and most readable of the ‘Peak Oil’ books.
Amazon Synopsis
This may be the most important book you or anyone else will read in the
next fifty years. Assuming humanity survives that long. Draining the
lifeblood of industrial civilization, the terminal decline of oil and
gas production will spark a crisis far more dangerous than international
terrorism, and just as urgent as climate change. World leaders know it,
so why aren't they telling? The last oil shock is the secret behind the
crises in Iraq and Iran, the reason your gas bill is going through the
roof, the basis of a secret deal cooked up in Texas between George Bush
and Tony Blair, the cause of an imminent and unprecedented economic
collapse, and the reason you may soon be kissing your car keys and
boarding pass goodbye. David Strahan explains how we reached this
critical state, how the silence of governments, oil companies and
environmentalists conspires to keep the public in the dark, what it
means for energy policy, and what you can do to protect yourself and
your family from the ravages of the last oil shock.
Six Degrees : Our future on a hotter planet. - Mark Lynas (2007)
978-0-00-720904-0
By using major scientific projections, Lynas tells the impact of each degree of temperature change. Sobering reading, but forewarned is forearmed.
Royal Society science book of the year 2007.On deciding the winner, Professor Jonathan Ashmore, Chair of the Judges said: "Lynas gives us a compelling and gripping view of how climate change could affect our world. It presents a series of scientifically plausible, worst case scenarios without tipping into hysteria. Six degrees is not just a great read, written in an original way, but also provides a good overview of the latest science on this highly topical issue. This is a book that will stimulate debate and that will, Lynas hopes, move us to action in the hope that this is a disaster movie that never happens. Everyone should read this book."
Heat : How to stop the planet burning. - George Monbiot (2006)
978-0-713-99923-5
Surely one of the most important books of the decade. But the combination of government inactivity and the unexpected accelerating pace of Global Warming mean that many of the 'extremist' measures recommended are now thought by some/many to be inadequate.
Synopsis from Penguin Books.
Started to worry about just how hot our world is going to get, and whether you can do anything about it? As the effect of climate change grows by the day, so does the amount of hot air and bluster spouted by politicians and businessmen on what we should do about it. What with the excuses, the lies, the fudged figures, the PR greenwashing and the downright misinformation on the power of everything from wind turbines to carbon trading, when it comes to saving the world, most people don’t know what they’re talking about.
Luckily, George Monbiot – scourge of big business, riler of governments, arch-enemy of climate change deniers everywhere – does. Packed with killer facts and inspiring ideas, shot through with passion and underlined by brilliant investigative journalism, with a copy of Heat you really can protect the planet.
‘I defy you to read this book and not feel motivated to change’ The Times
One No, Many Yeses : a journey to the heart of the Global Resistance movement. - Paul Kingsnorth - (2003)
0-7432-2027-7It’s not only the white middle classes that are upset by the wide-boys, bailiffs and bankers of the non-elected Global Government (WTO, IMF and WB [World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank).
Amazon Synopsis
It could turn out to be the biggest political movement of the
twenty-first century: a global coalition of millions, united in
resisting an out-of-control global economy, and already building
alternatives to it. It emerged in Mexico in 1994, when the Zapatista
rebels rose up in defiance of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The West first noticed it in Seattle in 1999, when the World Trade
Organisation was stopped in its tracks by 50,000 protesters. Since then,
it has flowered all over the world, every month of every year. The
'anti-capitalist' street protests we see in the media are only the tip
of its iceberg. It aims to shake the foundations of the global economy,
and change the course of history. But what exactly is it? Who is
involved, what do they want, and how do they aim to get it? To find out,
Paul Kingsnorth travelled across four continents to visit some of the
epicentres of the movement. In the process, he was tear-gassed on the
streets of Genoa, painted anti-WTO puppets in Johannesburg, met a tribal
guerrilla with supernatural powers, took a hot bath in Arizona with a
pie-throwing anarchist and infiltrated the world's biggest gold mine in
New Guinea. Along the way, he found a new political movement and a new
political idea. Not socialism, not capitalism, not any 'ism' at all, it
is united in what it opposes, and deliberately diverse in what it wants
instead -- a politics of 'one no, many yeses'. This movement may yet
change the world. This book tells its story.
Globalization and its discontents. - Joseph Stiglitz (2002)
0-713-99664-1
Nobel prize-winner and former chief economist at the World Bank view into the management of globalization – and now speaking out against it.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Readers of Globalization and Its Discontents will already be
familiar with the controversy and organised resistance that
globalisation has generated around the world due to massive media
coverage, yet explaining what globalisation actually means in practice
is a complicated task. For those wanting to learn more, this book is an
excellent place to start. An experienced economist, Joseph Stiglitz had
a brilliant career in academia before serving for four years on
President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors and then three years as
chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. His book
clearly explains the functions and powers of the main institutions that
govern globalisation--the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank
and the World Trade Organization--along with the ramifications, both
good and bad, of their policies. He strongly believes that globalisation
can be a positive force around the world, particularly for the poor, but
only if the IMF, World Bank and WTO dramatically alter the way they
operate, beginning with increased transparency and a greater willingness
to examine their own actions closely. Of his time at the World Bank, he
writes, "Decisions were made on the basis of what seemed a curious blend
of ideology and bad economics, dogma that sometimes seemed to be thinly
veiling special interests ... Open, frank discussion was
discouraged--there was no room for it." The book is not entirely
critical, however: "Those who vilify globalization too often overlook
its benefits," Stiglitz writes, explaining how globalisation, along with
foreign aid, has improved the living standards of millions around the
world. With this clear and balanced book, Stiglitz has contributed
significantly to the debate on this important topic. --Shawn Carkonen
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this
title.
Localization – a Global Manifesto - Colin Hines (2000)
1 85383 612 5
A ‘localization’ programme providing a starting point for an alternative to globalization.
Amazon Book Description and Synopsis
Localization is a manifesto to unite all those who recognize the
importance of cultural, social and ecological diversity for our future –
and who do not aspire to a monolithic global consumer culture. It is a
passionate and persuasive polemic, challenging the claims that we have
to be 'internationally competitive' to survive and describing the
destructive consequences of globalization. This book is unique in going
beyond simply criticizing free trade and globalization trends. It
details self-reinforcing policies to create local self-sufficiency and
shows clearly that there is an alternative to globalization – to protect
the local, globally.
Governments hold up international competitiveness a the be-all and
end-all of policy, presenting globalization as inevitable. The author
shows that it isn't and that local economies, local autonomy and local
democracy can all be protected - globally - if the aid and trade rules
are changed. The text provides the arguments and examples for all those
threatened by the onward march of a monolithic, undifferentiated, global
consumer culture, and for those wanting to preserve local values and
services - whether local food, local housing, education, transport or
environment.
The Revenge of Gaia : why the earth is fighting back and how we can still save humanity. - James Lovelock (2006)
978-0-713-99914-3
One of the centuries greatest thinkers but not everyone will agree with his ‘solutions’.
Amazon Synopsis
For millennia, humankind has exploited the Earth without counting the
cost. Now, as the world warms and weather patterns dramatically change,
the Earth is beginning to fight back. James Lovelock, one of the giants
of environmental thinking, argues passionately and poetically that,
although global warming is now inevitable, we are not yet too late to
save at least part of human civilization. This short book, written at
the age of eighty-six after a lifetime engaged in the science of the
earth, is his testament.
Green Political Thought (4th Edit.) - Andrew Dobson (2007 [1990])
0-415-40352-9
For those wishing to wend their way through the different aspects and degrees of ‘Greeness’ – then this is THE book. By a local Prof. at Keele Uni..
Amazon Synopsis
This highly acclaimed introduction to green political thought is now
available in a new edition, having been fully revised and updated to
take into account the areas which have grown in importance since the
third edition was published. Andrew Dobson describes and assesses the
political ideology of 'ecologism', and compares this radical view of
remedies for the environmental crisis with the 'environmentalism' of
mainstream politics. He examines the relationship between ecologism and
other political ideologies, the philosophical basis of ecological
thinking, the potential shape of a sustainable society, and the means at
hand for achieving it. Features new to this edition include: analysis of
an intellectual and political 'anti-environment' backlash; an account of
sustainability in ecological thought; the effect of globalization on
ecologism; ecological citizenship; and, an expanded bibliography. "Green
Political Thought" remains the starting point for all students,
academics and activists who want an introduction to green political
theory.
Endgame: the Problem with Civilisation (vol. 1)
Not the whole book (excellent though it is) only his 20 Premises. The first few pages of this book (as well as the 20 premises) can be downloaded free from http://www.sevenstories.com/html/custom/images/Endgame_Vol_1_Sample.pdf
Endgame: Volume 1: The
Problem of Civilization
Endgame: Volume 2: Resistance
Author: Derrick Jensen
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Paperback. 931 pages (combined).
ISBN 1-58322-730-X and ISBN 1-58322-724-5
An extract from Wikipedia
Endgame is about what he describes as the inherent unsustainability of civilization. In this book he asks: "Do you believe that this culture will undergo a voluntary transformation to a sane and sustainable way of living?" Nearly everyone he talks to says no. His next question is: "How would this understanding — that this culture will not voluntarily stop destroying the natural world, eliminating indigenous cultures, exploiting the poor, and killing those who resist — shift our strategy and tactics? The answer? Nobody knows, because we never talk about it: we’re too busy pretending the culture will undergo a magical transformation." Endgame, he says, is "about that shift in strategy, and in tactics."
Review from Vegan Voice Magazine
Where do you begin with these books? A friend of mine pretty much summed up the experience of reading them, saying "I can't put them down, but I don't want them to end. I know as I'm reading them, that these are the most important books I will ever read". Beginning with a list of premises, Jensen exposes the illness that is modern industrial life and explores ways in which we can work together to treat this disease that threatens all life on the planet. The sensation I had when I began reading was that for the very first time in my life, I was directly confronting reality. I've been 'active' and 'aware' since I was a kid, but this was a raw, primal, unmediated analysis of the death of the Earth that sustains us. Analysis without veils, without euphemisms, without justifications or bogus arguments, most importantly without blind optimism. An unflinching acknowledgement that neither Science nor Faith is going to step in and save us at the last minute like in a Hollywood movie. We are facing the biggest mass extinction since the age of the dinosaurs and half way solutions and speculations are of little use at this point.
Anyone who read the interview Vegan Voice conducted with Derrick Jensen in the last issue will be aware of the central thesis of this work. To quote premise 1 of the book "Civilization is not and can never be sustainable. This is especially true for industrial civilization It's easy to blame 'human nature' or 'humanity' for the devastation that we as a species seem to leave in the wake of our 'progress'. It's easy to forget that for 99 percent of our time on this planet, we and our ancestors lived in equilibrium and harmony with our surroundings, never taking more than the generous Earth offered, never expanding our number beyond the landbase's capacity to sustain us. It wasn't until Endgame that I recognised the fact that it's not "humanity" that's the problem, it's "civilization". Within its relatively brief 6,000 years, the dominant culture has annihilated the peoples and traditions that once served to ensure the survival of the land from which our survival, in turn, depends. We have been living beyond our means for centuries now and finally we have no more frontiers to exploit, no pristine reserves to co-opt, nothing left to fuel our infinite expansion and growth.
It's easy to blame 'human nature' or 'humanity' for the devastation that we as a species seem to leave in the wake of our 'progress'. It's easy to forget that for 99 percent of our time on this planet, we and our ancestors lived in equilibrium and harmony with our surroundings, never taking more than the generous Earth offered, never expanding our number beyond the landbase's capacity to sustain us. It wasn't until Endgame that I recognised the fact that it's not "humanity" that's the problem, it's "civilization". Within its relatively brief 6,000 years, the dominant culture has annihilated the peoples and traditions that once served to ensure the survival of the land from which our survival, in turn, depends. We have been living beyond our means for centuries now and finally we have no more frontiers to exploit, no pristine reserves to co-opt, nothing left to fuel our infinite expansion and growth.
Endgame is a call to stare the machine in the face. To weep for the devastated forests reduced to stumps and dust. To weep for the oceans as they are vacuumed for 'food'. To weep for the rivers that are toxified, dammed and atrophied, and then to come through that grieving process reborn and willing to fight for the Earth that has been stolen from us
If we don't, we are dead
What time is it right now? Check your watch. Check the clock in the kitchen. What were you doing at the same time yesterday? In the space of the last 24 hours, at least 200 species of amphibians, insects, birds, reptiles and mammals have been pushed into the abyss of extinction. They're gone. Never to return. Now, what are you going to do about it?
More from Wikipedia
Jensen is often labeled an anarcho-primitivist, by which is meant he concludes that civilization is inherently unsustainable and based on violence. He argues that the modern industrial economy is fundamentally at odds with healthy relationships, the natural environment, and indigenous peoples. Jensen's work catalogues what he perceives as the pervasiveness of abuse, hatred, rape, environmental destruction, and dishonesty (which he says serves to maintain the systemic abuse of civilization). He concludes that the very pervasiveness of these behaviors indicates that they are diagnostic symptoms of the greater problem of civilization itself. Accordingly, he exhorts readers and audiences to help bring an end to industrial civilization.
Jensen's writing uses the first-person and interweaves personal experiences with cited facts to construct arguments. His books are written like narratives, lacking a linear, hierarchical structure. They are not divided into distinct sections devoted to an individual argument. Instead, his writing is conversational, leaving one line of thought incomplete to move on to another, returning to the first again at some later point. Jensen uses this creative non-fiction style to combine his artistic voice with logical argument.
. 2006: Named "Person of the Year" by Press Action for the publication of Endgame
The website for Jensen's latest book Endgame, which includes numerous online excerpts - http://www.endgamethebook.org/
Books suggested by S&S GP Members
Crow Country by Mark Cocker ; and Wildwood: a journey through trees by Roger Deakiin. Both are natural history but so much more.
Permaculture in a Nutshell by Patrick Whitefield..( 70 pages)
The Transition Handbook Rob Hopkins
The Last Generation Fred Pearce
Second Ecosocialist Manifesto (DRAFT: FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) http://ecosocialistnetwork.org/Docs/EcoManifesto.htm
Tescopoly by Andrew Simms (2007) 978-1845295110 - read this and you'll never shop at Tesco again, or you'll at least cut up your Clubcard amid fears that it won't be long before the company is delivering your shopping and debiting your bank account without you even asking.
As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela, Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade by Mark Thomas (2007) 978-0091909222 - as if anyone needed telling that the arms trade is bad. But what you probably didn't know was how much taxpayers help pay for African dictators' arsenals everytime Bob Geldof persuades the government to write off a load of third world debt.
Philosophy
Though this section contains more demanding texts it will challenge and change the way you think!.
Because language delimits our thoughts we must push beyond the narrow horizon of 'everday langauge' if we are to be successful here.
Therefore the use of literature, art, music and film is also appropriate on our journey.
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So as Morpheus asks in the film "the Matrix": " ...take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more." That is what you are being asked when you engage with philosophy. Remember Morpheus is "he who forms, shapes, moulds",( from the Greek morphe). He is the Greek god of dreams. Therefore we are also engaing in a process of Metamorphoses. |
Part 1: Taking the red pill...
Primary Reading
The Republic. Plato. (Book
7 - Allegory of the Cave)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Friedrick Nietzsche
A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in
the Late Twentieth Century. Donna Haraway
Secondary:
Film: The Matrix.
To participate in this sub-group please contact: Damon Hoppe at staffordandstonegreenparty@googlemail.com
