2020/03/17

Rainbow of Mysteries eBook: Habel, Norman: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Rainbow of Mysteries Kindle Edition

Product Description

Have you ever wondered how you can connect with the sacred in nature, or whether there is anything sacred in nature? Is presence more than existence? Has the Christian tradition obscured the sacredness of nature? Is the Bible alive to the wonder of creation? How can we sustain a sense of mystery and an appreciation of the sacred in nature?

In the biblical Flood narrative, the rainbow was the sign of God’s covenant promise to never again to destroy the Earth with flood waters. The rainbow served to remind God of God’s own bond with Earth. “My rainbow,” says Habel, “represents my covenant promise to explore my bonds with Earth, my spiritual connections with creation.” Each colour represents an often-overlooked aspect of creation and inspires the reader to consider our place in nature.

Using poetry and prose, Norman Habel journeys deep into his personal experiences of the sacred in nature, from his initial sense of alienation from Earth to his eventual “homecoming.” Along the way, he investigates seven wonders of nature and their spiritual dimensions or mysteries. He explores biblical texts that praise or suppress creation and examines each mystery through the lens of ecology and his own experiences. Ultimately his goal is to discern how to sustain each mystery and its spiritual dimension.

The book includes a suggested workshop outline, and seven rites to explore mystery in nature.

About the Author

Dr. Norman Habel hails from a farm community in Australia where he first met nature in a local bushland. He has led the move to include The Season of Creation as part of the church year. See seasonofcreation.com. Among other works, he has recently published An Inconvenient Text: Is a Green Reading of the Bible Possible? and the first volume in the new Earth Bible Commentary series, entitled The Birth, the Curse and the Greening of Earth.

A Christian View of Hospitality: Expecting Surprises (The Giving Project Series) / Cheap-Library.com

A Christian View of Hospitality: Expecting Surprises (The Giving Project Series) / Cheap-Library.com

A Christian View of Hospitality: Expecting Surprises (The Giving Project Series)
Michele Hershberger
What does it mean for Christians to be hospitable? How, in this age of pressing deadlines and busy schedules, can we keep from sighing with the heaviness of one more Christian duty? Hospitality is often seen as a bland practice of politeness or an invitation to be harmed by a stranger. Biblical hospitality is different. God's call to love the stranger is neither boring nor dangerous. Instead, it is an invitation to experience God in a new way. Not in a way that depletes our energy, but always in a way where two become three, as God joins us at the table. People usually don't expect surprises. Yet biblical hospitality, the call to love the stranger, guarantees that a surprise is just around the corner. The guest becomes the host. Givers receive more than they give. God is seen in the most unlikely people. In the process, we become guests of the most gracious Host of all.
$6.76 (USD)

The Birth, the Curse and the Greening of Earth: An Ecological Reading of Genesis 1-11 / Cheap-Library.com

The Birth, the Curse and the Greening of Earth: An Ecological Reading of Genesis 1-11
Norman Habel
Few people realize that the first character in the Bible (after the headline sentence of Genesis 1.1) is Earth. What if we read the creation story and the primal myths of Genesis from the perspective of that key character, rather than from the anthropocentric perspective in which our culture has nurtured us? This is the project of Norman Habel’s commentary, resisting the long history in Western culture of devaluing, exploiting, oppressing and endangering the Earth. Earth in Genesis first appears wrapped in the primal waters, like an embryo waiting to be born. On the third day of creation it is actually born and comes into existence with its green vegetation as a habitat for life of all kinds. It is hardly a moment before Earth is damaged by human sin and suffers a divine curse, and then must cry out for justice for the blood of Abel it has been compelled to drink. It is an even greater curse when Earth, together with almost all life on Earth, comes near to total annihilation at the Flood. Has Earth brought this fate upon itself, or is it the innocent victim of human wrongdoing? Genesis has God regretting the threat to Earth and its children that the Flood has brought, and vowing to green Earth again, remove the curse, restore the seasons and make a personal covenant of assurance with Earth and its creatures.
$21.98 (USD)

The Land is Mine (Overtures to Biblical Theology): Norman C. Habel: 9780800626648: Amazon.com: Books

Norman C. Habel
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The Land is Mine (Overtures to Biblical Theology) Paperback – December 1, 1993
by Norman C. Habel (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 3 ratings

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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Norman C. Habel identifies six discrete ideologies in the Hebrew Bible regarding land: royal, agrarian, theocratic, prophetic, ancestral household, and immigrant.
About the Author

Norman Habel is Professor of Religious Studies, University of South Australia.

Product details

Series: Overtures to Biblical Theology

Paperback: 212 pages
Publisher: Fortress Press (December 1, 1993)
Language: English

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Customer reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
3 customer ratings
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Top Reviews

Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four StarsReviewed in the United States on March 10, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
A good book to read.

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Clint Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on history and spirituality of Hebrews and the LandReviewed in the United States on October 11, 2013
Format: Paperback
Summary:

Building off of the fine work that Walter Bruggemann did in The Land, Norman Habel goes in depth in his study of the Israelite people's relationship to the land, and discovers six ideologies of land and its meaning to the Israelite people in the Hebrew Testament.

The ideologies are as follows:

· The Land as the Source of Wealth (for the nation)

o Views land as trust of the king (as representative of the nation)

o Land is given to build nation as empire

o Wealth trickles down to people

o Scriptures: I Kings 3-10

· The Land as Conditional Grant

o God has conquered the land for Israel

o He gives it to the Israelites on an indefinite loan

o Israel needs to obey God and do his will in order to keep the land and be blessed by it

o Scripture: Book of Deuteronomy

· Land as Family Lots

o Land assigned by God

o Up to each tribe to subdue the land and claim it for God's people

o The tribe is central then, to Israelite land claims and loyalty

o Scripture: Book of Joshua (especially the end)

· The Land as God's inheritance

o God, Israel and Land are bound together

o The land suffers because of Israel's sin

o The land, ultimately, is God's

o The healing of the land is coming

o Scriptures: prophets, especially Jeremiah

· The Land as Sabbath Bound

o God is owner of the land

o Israelites are tenant farmers

o Land is promised Sabbath, including Sabbath years and jubilee

o The health of the people and land is tied to this Sabbath practice

o Priests are accountable to keep this land ethic before the people

o Scriptures: Leviticus 25-27

· The Land as Host Country

o People of God came from another place

o The land existed before the people

o The people of God are responsible for remembering that they were immigrants and wanderers

o Scriptures: Exodus, Abraham narratives

Response:

This is such a fun, thoughtful book. It is academic and deep as well. It carefully scours to discover the multiple threads of people's understanding their land in relationship to the God of the Bible. As one reads this fine book, it is not long before one realizes that the Israelite understanding of land formed their identity, changed and evolved over time, and at the same time was a layered, multivalent ideology filled with power and conflict. For me, and my interests in land and spirituality, this is a must have on my desk. For others, it would be an interesting way to understand Hebrew througt from a new and enlightening perspective.

Star Rating (out of 5 stars):

Five stars

Best Audience:

Pastors who like to think, academics, and those interested in Middle-Eastern politics.

3 people found this helpful

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Top international reviews

St. Cuthman of Sussex
5.0 out of 5 stars Whose land is it anyway? By might, right, or refugee flight?Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book is an excellent introduction to land theology, and a must-read for anyone who is wrestling with land issues and historical injustices. Thus it is pertinent to the situation in many ex-colonies in Africa; as well as Australia and New Zealand, and also for the USA and Tibet.

Habel identifies six different land ideologies in the Old Testament, and concludes that even if one disagrees with his categories it is unarguable that “there is no monolithic concept of land in the Hebrew Scriptures.”

This reviewer agrees.

Given the simplistic levels of thinking and preaching in many churches about the Conquest of Canaan and the modern State of Israel, this book challenges us to really think and not adopt a position based on partial – in both senses of that term - readings of Scripture.

Habel highlights stark differences between the six dominant images of land.

The royal ideology is centrist and absolute- the king is God’s regent on earth, and the land is his to deal with as he pleases.

In contrast, the theocratic ideology grants conditional land usage to people - and their occupancy can be lost if they break the terms of God’s treaty with them.

On the other hand, Jeremiah’s prophetic ideology sees the land as God’s alone, and an entity in its own right, defiled by what its occupying humans do, and needing sabbaticals to recover! Greens and Gaiaists would approve.

A divergent agrarian approach sees the land as God’s garden, allotted to peasant farmers, conserving a Sabbath - and seemingly subsistence - economy.

Peaceworkers who are confronted with the issue of colonial land-grabbing need to read this book, and thus avoid the pitfalls of simplistic proof texts that do nothing to advance peaceful co-existence of humans, whether Christians or not, across tribal and ethnic lines.

This reviewer was sobered by the thought that only a sixth approach, the immigrant ideology embodied in Abraham’s story, actually assists peacemakers in such endeavours. Further, that it is power that appears to fuel the various ideologies, with the royal ideology being both product and apex of hierarchical centralisation.

Yet all of these approaches claim a divine imprimatur!

Habel’s analysis will of course cause affront to those who read Scripture in certain restricted ways- they will find it difficult to accept his argument that we need to consider the identity of the implied audience for Biblical narratives, and the locus of power the author(s) sought to address.

Those who seek monochrome and systematic approaches to the Old Testament may therefore wish to avoid this book. Those who seek to cogitate over the challenge of how we humans are to live together in this increasingly crowded planet, sharing and sustaining resources rather then competing and killing each other, will find this book very helpful.

The author mentions, but does not dwell on the concept of sacred space, nor is he at all poetic or mystic in his presentation. Readers should go to Bruegemann and Wendell Berry for that way of experiencing land!

In summary, Habel identifies and examines six different Biblical approaches to human land ownership and concomitant rights and responsibilities. He offers historical and cultural explanations for these different approaches taken by the Hebrew/Semitic peoples over time and space, and in so doing encourages us to seek our own ethical principles and approaches in the modern world.
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Jun 26, 2017Danny Daley rated it liked it

Norman Habel has written a helpful study on land ideologies in the Hebrew Bible. His sections on household ideology, Sabbath, and land rights are all very well argued, and I agree wholeheartedly with Habel's conclusions regarding Yahweh's perpetual ownership of the land.

My major issue with this study deals with his excursus on "nahala." Habel argues that "inheritance" is not an appropriate term for translation in the majority of cases, and throughout the book he relies mostly on the gloss "entitlement." Habel's principle reason for this is simply that God cannot give an inheritance if he does not die, but Habel never demonstrates that death is required to bequeath an inheritance, and much of his discussion actually bears out that inheritance is precisely the right term (familial and ancestral contexts, and God's unique relationship to his people, to cite two examples).

The book is helpful for understanding key texts on land ideology, but nahala is a major aspect of the study, and I do not think his point was argued effectively. (less)

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Apr 02, 2013Brian Collins rated it it was ok

Carson’s critique of Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture could easily be adapted to Habel. Habel finds competing land ideologies in different parts of Scripture. As Carson notes with regard to Niebuhr, this prompts "questions about whether they are alternatives or components of a bigger pattern—a pattern that begins to emerge when we follow the Bible’s story line in the categories of biblical theology." It can also raise questions about how accurately Habel is reading the text in some instances. I found the book to have some helpful insights on particular passages here and there, but overall Habel’s conception of the nature of Scripture distorts his approach to Scripture. (less)

Reconciliation. Searching For Australia's Soul Habel Norman C | Marlowes Books

Corona, A Communist Agent | Yonder — Global News & Commentary

Corona, A Communist Agent | Yonder — Global News & Commentary

Connecting global events into
a new narrative.by Andrej Mrevlje

HEALTH
Corona, A Communist Agent
By Andrej Mrevlje | a day ago

During the Coronavirus pandemonium, the voice of Slavoj Žižek is an essential one. The renowned Slovenian philosopher is there when you need him: decoding a mind-boggling event, explaining a new phenomenon that is shattering global society, connecting the dots, filling in loose ends, shedding light on the unknown. There isn’t anybody else on this planet who could transform the Coronavirus into social theory. Never expect Žižek to do something banal or obvious. Always provocative, Slovenia’s most famous export chose to speak from the Russian platform, RT (Russian Television), which is controlled by Putin:

When I suggested that the Coronavirus epidemic may give a new boost of life to communism, my claim was, as expected, ridiculed. Although it looks that the strong approach to the crisis by the Chinese state worked – at least it worked much better than what goes on now in Italy, the old authoritarian logic of communists in power also clearly demonstrated its limitations. One of them was that the fear of bringing bad news to those in power (and to the public) outweighs actual results – this was apparently the reason why those who first shared information on a new virus were reportedly arrested, and there are reports that a similar thing is going on now.

As Žižek says, China has done a pretty good job fighting the virus because of the Chinese state’s strong approach to the crisis. Meanwhile, the predominantly noncommunist world (Italy excluded) is still awaiting a spike in the epidemic. The critical moment–when the capacity of hospitals, the number of respiratory machines, and the medics will become scarce–is still looming. The pandemic may become too big to be managed by a single country, Žižek says:

The Coronavirus epidemic does not signal just the limit of market globalization, it also signals the even more fatal limit of nationalist populism which insists on full state sovereignty: it’s over with ‘America (or whoever) first!’ since America can be saved only through global coordination and collaboration.

I am not a utopian here, I don’t appeal to idealized solidarity between people – on the contrary, the present crisis demonstrates clearly how global solidarity and cooperation is in the interest of the survival of all and each of us, how it is the only rational egotist thing to do. And it’s not just Coronavirus: China itself suffered the gigantic swine flu months ago, and it is now threatened by the prospect of a locust invasion. Plus, as Owen Jones noted, climate crisis kills many more people around the world than Coronavirus, but there is no panic about this.

Let’s recapitulate: epidemics like the Coronavirus, Sars or Swine Flu are dangerous enough to teach humanity that isolation–sealing off a single country–will not block or eliminate the virus. Only global solidarity and cooperation will enable us to survive. There are only more bad viruses and climate change in our future. These upcoming calamities will not be resolved by a simple teleconference among global leaders. Obviously, something much stronger and binding will be necessary.

Žižek finishes his thought:

From a cynical vitalist standpoint, one would be tempted to see Coronavirus as a beneficial infection that allows humanity to get rid of the old, weak and ill, like pulling out the half-rotten weed and thus contribute to global health.

The broad communist approach I am advocating is the only way for us to really leave behind such a primitive vitalist standpoint. Signs of curtailing unconditional solidarity are already discernible in the ongoing debates, as in the following note about the role of the “three wise men” if the epidemics take a more catastrophic turn in the UK: “NHS patients could be denied life-saving care during a severe Coronavirus outbreak in Britain if intensive care units are struggling to cope, senior doctors have warned. Under a so-called ‘three wise men’ protocol, three senior consultants in each hospital would be forced to make decisions on rationing care such as ventilators and beds, in the event hospitals were overwhelmed with patients.”

What criteria will the “three wise men” rely on? Sacrifice the weakest and eldest? And will this situation not just open up space for immense corruption? Do such procedures not indicate that we are getting ready to enact the most brutal logic of the survival of the fittest? So, again, the ultimate choice is this or some kind of reinvented communism.

So this is it? Some kind of reinvented communism? Why call it communism? Communism as the new world order sounds utopian, Trotsky-esque even. “Reinvented” hints towards a more creative and open model of society instead of the pure, rude communism from the Soviet Union. But does the new model include the methods that China is applying under Xi Jinping? A decade ago, Žižek considered the challenge between authoritarian and democratic regimes to be a priority that the world needed to resolve:

Following this path, the Chinese used unencumbered authoritarian state power to control the social costs of the transition to capitalism. The weird combination of capitalism and Communist rule proved not to be a ridiculous paradox, but a blessing. China has developed so fast not in spite of authoritarian Communist rule, but because of it.

There is a further paradox at work here. What if the promised second stage, the democracy that follows the authoritarian vale of tears, never arrives? This, perhaps, is what is so unsettling about China today: the suspicion that its authoritarian capitalism is not merely a reminder of our past – of the process of capitalist accumulation which, in Europe, took place from the 16th to the 18th century – but a sign of our future? What if the combination of the Asian knout and the European stock market proves economically more efficient than liberal capitalism? What if democracy, as we understand it, is no longer the condition and motor of economic development, but an obstacle to it?

The image Žižek puts forward paints China as the most efficient regime when it comes to dealing with the emergencies the world is facing at the moment. It’s been a week since we were flooded with reports on how successful China was in dealing with the latest plague. These reports were sustained in a big way by an interview with Dr. Bruce Aylward, who led the W.H.O. team that visited China to assess the country’s response to the Coronavirus outbreak. Dr. Aylward’s praises for China are endless. But if you do not want to read through all of them, you can watch the video in which a journalist from the New York Times who interviewed him shoots out a concentrated version of the Chinese model that sounds like a fairy tale. In addition to the widespread reporting on China’s success, images of the dismantling of the hospital that was built to cope with the pandemic in Wuhan and a video of Chinese workers taking off their face masks are circulating throughout the internet. However, the propaganda peaks with footage of the plane loaded with Chinese experts and medicine landing in Rome a few days ago. It is supposed to show that China is now back on its feet and ready to save the world.

But let us not forget that the Coronavirus sprung from the wet markets of Wuhan in China and that the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping ordered containment—of both the virus and information about it—on January 7. Only on January 20 did the Chinese government allow any public disclosure about the deadly outbreak, losing vital weeks in which the world might have done more to prevent a pandemic if both the scientific genome sequencing and the dangers had been shared.

As Dispatch.com reports:

Xi’s prime concern was not lives at risk, or containment of the virus, but rather the nation’s and his reputation, place in the global supply chain and his grip on power. In this, Xi is much like every other dictator who prioritizes everything above the well-being of his own people, let alone others’.

Iran and Russia have also joined in as regimes that have mismanaged the virus for political purposes. As much as it might be hard to believe, Donald Trump joined the elite of dictatorial regimes. There is no difference between the way Xi and Trump forced their members of government into obedience, making them publicly praise their wisdom and success in leading their nations.

As Dispatch puts it, there is not much difference between the two regimes:

When we consider the United States’ failings on this front, it’s fair to argue that Donald Trump has been more Xi and less Abraham Lincoln than desirable. (See, in particular, his insistent tweets that the virus was “contained” in the United States and his reluctance to let in the passengers of the Grand Princess cruise ship because it would hurt the “numbers.”) The president and the CDC were initially slow to face up to the challenge.

But even in this instance, the nature of the American democratic state has served to defuse Trump’s selfish impulses, with institutions stepping up to fill the void. And as we will likely see, the U.S. will belatedly come to speed, with lower fatality rates that reflect the democracy/dictatorship divide.

Even though China’s leadership finally managed to mobilize the country against the virus, how can we trust these people? The Chinese authorities put themselves at the front lines of the battle against the Coronavirus, but only after they screwed it up and allowed the virus to travel from Wuhan across China and then out into the world. Trump did the identical thing when he hushed data on the potential pandemic, blocking efficient measures that would contain the virus. Was all this done to let the financial markets remain high, to get reelected?

Turning back to the always inspiring Žižek, we can ask if Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and a dozen similar dictators, can reinvent communism, reinvent anything. Why did Xi Jinping not close the wild animal markets when he knew that the Coronavirus could easily jump from animals to humans in these places, creating a pandemic? Why did Donald Trump abolish the protection plan that the U.S. administration created in the case of a pandemic breakout years ago? Why today, when China is claiming to have resolved the crisis, can we not read more reports about the real state of things there? It will only be after the pandemic ends and the regimes pass by that we can start to face what lies beyond the immediate emergency. The Coronavirus will definitely change our future behavior and our way of life. Take social distancing, working from home, spending more time reading and in nature: how can we go back from this? There is no doubt that even a few weeks of a lockdown will improve climate change. What will we learn from it? There’s no doubt that we will have to reinvent many of the things that we took for granted in the past.
Coronavirus pandemic Slavoj Žižek

Yonder is a weekly newsletter from Andrej Mrevlje that connects global events in the news, delivered every week. Learn more »

Questions? am@yondernews.com

2003 박경철 [농정춘추] 이 세계는 좋아질까 - 한국농정신문

[농정춘추] 이 세계는 좋아질까 - 한국농정신문

UPDATED. 2020-03-16 14:07 (월)

[농정춘추] 이 세계는 좋아질까

박경철 충남연구원 사회통합연구실장
승인 2020.03.15 18:00

박경철 충남연구원 사회통합연구실장

아직 속단하기 이르지만 국내 코로나19 사태가 다소 진정세로 돌아선 것 같다. 이 칼럼이 출간되는 날에는 코로나19 감염자가 더욱 줄어 진정국면으로 들어서길 기대해본다. 하지만 코로나19가 아시아를 넘어 유럽과 미국 등으로 퍼져나가는 것을 보면 쉽게 잦아들 것 같지는 않다. 전 세계적으로 대유행이 될 거라는 전망도 나오고 있다. 공포가 일상이 돼버린 지금, 우리가 할 수 있는 일은 정부가 제시하는 예방수칙을 잘 지키는 것 말고는 없다.

몇 해 전 한 스님이 쓴 ‘멈추면, 비로소 보이는 것들’이라는 책이 유행한 적 있다. 지금이 그때가 아닌가 싶다. 인간의 이기심으로 한없이 쌓아올린 바벨탑이 속절없이 무너지는 광경 앞에서 우리는 공황상태에 빠진 게 아닌가 싶다. 인간의 합리적 이성으로 만들어낸 많은 가치들이 전도되고 부정되는 요즘이다. 하늘길이 막히고 바닷길마저 끊어지고 있다. 분주했던 버스와 기차가 비어버렸다. 사람이 사람을 피하고 사람이 사람을 의심하고 사람이 사람을 혐오한다. 인간 존재의 근원적 부정이 만연하고 있다. 종교는 더 이상 구원을 위한 으뜸의 가르침이 아닌 인간 파멸의 도구가 되고 있다. 우리는 몰랐다. 종교가 얼마나 타락하고 악의적일 수 있는지를. 코로나19가 알려준 사실이 너무 많다.

역사학자와 인류학자들은 고대 도시 멸망의 이유 중 하나로 전염병을 지적한다. 소위 문명화됐다고 자부하는 도시인들은 도시의 바깥 존재들을 미개하고 야만스러운 존재라고 여겼다. 그래서 도시 바깥의 존재들이 못 들어오게 단단히 성을 쌓고 문을 닫았다. 농촌사람들과 자연은 배제의 대상이었고 두려움의 대상이고 무시의 대상이었다. 인간이 자연을 멀리하면 할수록, 자연을 배신하면 할수록 자연도 인간을 배신하게 된다. 인간이 아무리 자연을 멀리해 공고한 성을 쌓더라도 눈에 보이지도 않는 바이러스와 세균에 침몰하게 된다. 유럽인구의 1/4이 죽은 흑사병이 그랬고 수천만명이 사망한 스페인독감이 그랬다.

중국 우한은 1938년 10월 10일, 의열단의 후신인 조선의용대가 창립된 역사적인 도시기 때문에 8년 전 한 번 방문한 적 있다. 우리에게 낯선 도시지만 우리 독립운동 역사에서는 매우 의미 있는 도시다. 그런 우한이 코로나19의 진원지가 되면서 원망의 대상이 돼버렸다. 나는 중국의 여러 도시를 다니면서 원초적 두려움을 느끼곤 했다. 이름도 몰랐던 도시들도 막상 찾아가면 몇 백만명의 인구가 되고 조금 알려진 도시에선 천만 인구가 기본이었다. 갈수록 공룡화 돼가는 도시들을 인간이 완벽히 통제할 수 있다는 자체가 오만이다. 만약 서울이라는 도시가 중국 우한처럼 봉쇄됐다면 어땠을까? 생각만 해도 끔찍하다. 지금 대구 하나도 통제하기 힘든데 서울과 같은 거대도시에서 대구와 같은 사태가 발생한다면 상상하기 힘든 결과를 가져올 것이다.

유럽의 도시들은 그 유명세에도 불구하고 대개 크지 않다. 독일 같은 경우에 베를린이나 뮌헨정도가 큰 도시이지 나머지 도시들은 불과 몇십만 명에 불과하다. 도시가 크지 않은 이유 중 하나도 이러한 전염병으로부터 사회적, 물리적 거리를 유지하려는 역사적 교훈에서 비롯되지 않았나 싶다. 더욱이 놀라운 것은 인구의 절반 이상이 농촌에서 거주한다는 점이다. 도시에서 일을 하더라도 거주는 농촌에서 하는 경우가 많다. 그들은 과거 역사에서 배울 것을 배운 것이다.

코로나19가 지나가면 이 세상은 좋아질까? 그렇지 않을 것이다. 코로나19에 가려진 우울한 소식들을 연초부터 많이 들었다. 남극의 기온이 20℃를 넘어섰고, 불평등은 사상 최악으로 치달았고, 출산률은 또 다시 최저치를 갱신했다. 심각한 불평등은 우리 사회를 좀먹는 바이러스였고 사회적 병리현상은 의학적 병리현상과 맞물리면서 우리 사회를 수렁으로 빠트렸다. 우리는 일상이 비상이었는데 그 비상이 코로나19로 감춰져버렸다. 특히 농촌은 늘 사회적으로 격리되고 배제돼왔다. 늘 비상사태였지만 무감각해진지 오래다.

우리는 우리 후손에게 어떤 세상을 남겨주려고 이런 만행을 저지르고도 무감각한지 모르겠다. 도시가 전염병과 같은 재난으로 멸절돼 농촌으로 찾아오길 기대하지는 않지만 그럴 수도 있는 날을 대비해야 한다. 비상사태가 변수가 아니라 상수가 됐다. 생태적 마을공동체를 회복하고 신뢰와 협력을 통한 자립적 삶을 구축하는 것, 코로나19가 지나간 자리에 싹트길 기대한다.

경철 충남연구원 사회통합연구실장 다른기사 보기

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On Being an Earth Being

Searching for the Spiritual in a Cosmic Sanctuary Called Planet Earth

BY Norman C. Habel
Imprint: Resource Publications

PAPERBACK
ISBN: 9781725259256
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 2/14/2020
Retail Price: $18.00 Web Price: $14.40
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About
What happens when you discover you are an Earth being and not just a human being? This volume traces my journey from being a child of Mother Church to being a child of Mother Earth, from being a human being cursed with original sin to being an Earth being blessed with innate spirituality. My journey includes probing the maze of mysteries called ecology, attending the Wisdom School of the ancient world, taking a cosmic journey with the traumatized Job, joining Aboriginal peoples of Australia in reading the spiritual landscape, and celebrating life in a cosmic sanctuary called Earth. These reflections are suitable not only for personal meditation, but for readings in worship contexts and for spirituality retreats or workshops.

Endorsements & Reviews
“When someone has spent more than eight decades immersed in the Judeo-Christian Bible, one might expect that the bubble called ‘the world of the Bible’ to contain a person. Not Norm Habel. Habel has seen beyond the time of sacred writing to the traces of a more ancient wisdom. Sure, traces of that wisdom have survived in the treasures held in the Bible, and Habel has spent the more recent years of his indefatigable search prizing them out. But Habel has caught a glimpse of that ancient wisdom in indigenous spirituality, stories, and rituals. Far from mining them for his own enrichment, he has sat humbly before their custodians seeking from them how he might recover . . . himself, an Earth Being. Gone is the cultured, academic discourse of the past; now come the gentle meditations, the tentative wonder of a return home, the anxious reflections on how past and present, Christian and Earth Being, might celebrate life together.”

—Alan Cadwallader, Centre for Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University, Canberra, Australia

Contributors
Norman C. Habel

Bio(s)
Norman C. Habel is a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University. He is a biblical scholar who has specialized in the book of Job and wisdom literature. His initiatives include The Earth Bible Series, The Season of Creation, and Exploring Ecological Hermeneutics. He worked with the Aboriginal Rainbow Spirit elders in Queensland to produce Rainbow Spirit Theology: Towards an Australian Aboriginal Theology. His latest work, entitled Acknowledgement of the Land and Faith of the Indigenous Custodians after Following the Abraham Trail, is a challenge for the churches of Australia.

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The Nature of Things

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Our ImprintsExplore our different imprints . . .

2020/03/16

2003 코로나19 사태를 맞아 드리는 그리스도교 공동 성명[전문]

코로나19 사태를 맞아 드리는 그리스도교 공동 성명[전문]

https://news.sarangbang.com/detail/culture/2038329

코로나19 사태를 맞아 드리는 그리스도교 공동 성명[전문]

입력 2020.03.11. 19:40 댓글 0개

"모든 생명이 안전하고 행복한 문명으로 전환해야 합니다."

--------------

[서울=뉴시스] 남정현 기자 = 개신교 21개 단체가 11일 성명을 내고 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나 19)와 관련해 "밀집해서 모이는 주일예배는 당분간 중단하고, 문명 성찰의 계기로 삼아야”한다고 밝혔다.

이 성명에는 교회개혁실천연대와 교회2.0목회자운동, 기독교환경교욱센터 살림, 성서한국, 건강한작은교회동역센터, 대구이웃을위한사마리안들, 한국교회생명신학포럼 등의 단체가 참여했다.

◇다음은 '코로나19 사태를 맞아 드리는 그리스도교 공동 성명' 전문

"모든 생명이 안전하고 행복한 문명으로 전환해야 합니다.”

작년 연말부터 시작된 코로나19 감염이 전 세계로 확산되면서 불안과 두려움이 지구촌을 덮고 있습니다. 더 이상의 감염자나 사망자 없이 이 사태가 진정되어 속히 사회적 안정이 이뤄지기를 기원합니다. 특히, 가장 큰 고통을 겪고 있는 대구와 경북 등지의 감염자들 및 그들의 가족들뿐 아니라 위험을 무릅쓰고 생명을 다해 수고하시는 의료진들을 포함한 방역담당자들에게 하나님께서 평안 주시기를 기도합니다.

1. 이 사건은 생명·생태적 삶으로 전환하라는 경고입니다

지금의 상황은 우리들이 두려워하고 놀라기만 할 단순한 사건이 아니라 그동안 삶의 터전인 피조세계 전체를 경시해왔던 관행에 들려주는 경종입니다. 세계보건기구(WHO)는 새로운 전염병 발생과 재유행의 원인으로

노령인구의 증가로 인한 인구학적 변화,
동물 병원소와의 접촉을 증대시킨 생태학적 변화,
병원체의 전파를 확장시키고 가속화하는 국가 간 여행 및 교역의 증가,
기존 전염병의 감소에 수반된 공중보건 체계의 이완과 와해,
항생제 남용

등을 들고 있습니다.

즉, 변종 바이러스의 출현은 그동안 우리가 추구했던 산업 발달과 국제 교역의 증가를 통한 경제성장이 도리어 인간의 삶의 조건과 환경에 파괴적 변화를 수반했음을 뜻합니다. 인간의 생태계 파손 행위가 동물들의 터전을 파손하고, 동물들을 숙주로 하는 미생물들을 자극하여 질병으로 되돌아오고 있습니다.

그러므로 신종 코로나19 바이러스 감염사태는 생태계를 파괴해가며 성장과 발전을 이루고자 했던 현대 문명을 향해 지금이라도 방향과 태도를 바꾸라는 경고입니다. 우리가 지금과 같은 형태의 생태파괴적인 삶을 이어간다면 앞으로 또 다른 변종 바이러스가 끊임없이 출현할 것입니다.

이 문제는 오래전부터 예견되었습니다. 2000년대 들어 '광우병'의 공포를 겪었고, 근래까지 매해 닭, 오리, 돼지, 소 등과 같은 가축들의 전염병을 겪었지만 여전히 우리는 수백 수천만의 무죄한 생명들을 살처분하고 시설들을 폐쇄하는 것으로만 일관해왔습니다. 전염에 상시적으로 노출될 수밖에 없는 공장식 가축 산업과 육식 위주의 식습관, 그리고 자원낭비적인 생활방식에는 손대려 하지 않았습니다.

이제라도 우리는 인간의 건강이 동물뿐 아니라 생태계 전체의 건강과 긴밀히 연결되어 있다는 사실을 속히 받아들여야 합니다. 우리는 생명 전체의 연계성 속에서 인간의 삶을 바라보며 ‘하나의 건강’(One Health)을 지향하는 문명사적인 전환기에 서 있습니다.

2. 한국교회는 이 사태를 깊은 자기 성찰의 계기로 삼아야 합니다

이번 코로나19 사태가 한국교회에 던져 준 의미는 매우 큽니다.

물론, 코로나19 감염의 기폭제가 된 곳은 한국교회가 이단으로 규정하는 신천지입니다. 신천지가 집단 감염 사실 자체를 감추는 동안 바이러스는 신천지 내부를 벗어나 대구 경북뿐 아니라 전국으로 확산되어 전 국민의 공분을 사고 있습니다. 그러나 한국교회도 여기서 자유로울 수 없습니다.

종교적 특수성을 내세워 사회적 보편성을 놓치는 일은 한국교회도 범하기 쉬운 관행이기 때문입니다. 한국교회는 신천지를 반면교사로 삼아야 할 것입니다. 교계 일부에서는 정부나 국회, 또는 지자체의 예배 방법 변화 요구에 순교자의 각오로 맞서야 한다고도 합니다.

그러나 이는 교회가 사회와 더욱 멀어지게 할 뿐이며 지금의 사태를 해결하는데도 전혀 도움이 되지 않을 것입니다. 오히려 우리는 지금 상황을 모든 생명을 존중하고 이웃을 사랑하라는 기독교적 가르침에 근거한 공적 책임을 실천할 기회로 여겨야 할 것입니다.

신천지와 몇몇 교회 사례에서 확인되었듯이, 많은 대중이 좁은 공간에 밀집하게 되는 공중 예배 형태는 당분간 중단하는 것이 필요합니다. 이것은 ‘안식일이 사람을 위해 있다’고 하신 주님의 마음(막 2:27)을 실천하는 것이므로 오히려 권장하고 기쁘게 협력해야 할 것입니다.

지금은 한국교회가 하나님께서 창조하신 모든 생명을 살려내는 참된 예배의 본질을 어떻게 구현할 것인지 더욱 깊이 고민하며 사회를 향한 공적 책임을 더 잘 감당해야 할 시기입니다. 다만 각 교회들은 자체 방역과 개인위생 지침을 분명히 하는 가운데 개인과 공동체의 선택에 따라 모여서 예배한다면 무조건 비난할 일도 아닐 것입니다.

한국교회는 이번 사태가 주는 의미를 깊이 묵상하고 성찰해야 할 것입니다. 앞만 향해 달려온 신앙적 질주를 잠시 멈추고, 하나님이 명령하신 이웃사랑의 참된 의미를 되살려야 합니다. 특히, 교회는 큰 짐을 지고 있는 대구 경북 및 주변 이웃, 작은 교회들에 마스크 십일조, 헌금 나누기, 의료진 파송 운동 등을 전개할 수 있다면 더욱 좋을 것입니다.

3. 사회와 국가를 향해 당부합니다

우리는 이번 사태가 정쟁의 도구로 활용되는 것을 경계합니다. 사회적 분열을 조장하는 정치권 및 일부 세력도 선동을 중지할 것을 권고합니다. 한국사회는 이 위기에서 전염병으로 인한 사회공동체의 붕괴를 막고 고귀한 생명을 구하는 일에 전국민적으로 함께 매진해야 할 것입니다.

국정운영 전반을 책임진 정부나 보건당국 역시 책임을 회피하거나 스스로를 과신하지 말고 더욱 성실하고 겸손하게 바이러스 확산 방지 대책을 마련해야 할 것입니다. 정부는 미래에 예견되는 유사한 국제적 전염병에 대비해 국가적 방역 및 치료시설들과 제도들을 충분하게 준비하여 더 큰 재난에 대비하도록 민간 전문가 및 시민단체와 함께 유기적인 생명망을 구축하는 것이 필요합니다.

코로나19 감염사태로 경제 취약계층이 겪는 고통은 이미 임계치를 넘어섰습니다. 아울러 사회 전반에 '광범위하고 장기적인 불황'도 예상됩니다. 정부와 경제주체들은 서민들을 위한 사회 안전망 대책 마련에도 더욱 힘을 기울여야 할 것입니다.

정부나 국회, 그리고 일부 지자체도 강제성을 띤 의결이나 행정명령이 아닌 상대를 배려하는 깊은 대화와 권고로 이 상황을 함께 헤쳐 나가도록 해야 할 것입니다. 일각에서 우려하는 것처럼 감염예방을 위한 정보공개가 확진자의 인권을 지나치게 침해하지 않도록 조금 더 신중한 방법을 찾아 줄 것을 당부합니다.

지금 같은 위기일수록 국민들의 현명한 대처가 필요합니다. 특정 개인과 집단에 대한 배제와 차별, 증오를 멈추고 인류애에 기초한 사랑의 연대로 이 위기를 함께 극복할 수 있기를 기대합니다.

슬기롭고 따뜻한 우리 국민 모두에게 주님의 평강을 빕니다.

- 우리의 제안 -

1. 우리는 코로나 사태를 계기로 생명 경시의 문화를 버리고 생명 전체를 존중하는 문명으로 전환하기를 제안합니다.

2. 한국교회는 이 사태를 자기 성찰의 기회로 삼아 이웃사랑의 공적 책무를 다하기를 제안합니다.

3. 한국사회는 이 위기를 발판으로 삼아 사회적 분열을 치유하고 사랑으로 연대하는 미래를 만들어가기를 제안합니다.

2020년 3월 11일

건강한작은교회동역센터, 공의정치포럼, 교회개혁실천연대, 교회와사회연구소, 교회2.0목회자운동, 기독교사회적기업지원센터, 기독교환경교육센터 '살림', 기독연구원 느헤미야, 농어촌선교연구소, 대구이웃을위한사마리안들, 사이비종교피해대책연맹, 사회적협동조합 희년, 생명누리, 성서한국, (사)인천내일을여는집, 한국공공정책개발연구원, 한국교회생명신학포럼, 한국그리스도교일치포럼, 한국복음주의교회연합, (사)한국영성예술협회, 햇살보금자리 (21개 단체

코로나19 사태를 맞아 드리는 정의평화불교연대의 성명

"합리적 성찰과 문명의 패러다임 전환이 필요합니다"

정의평화불교연대, 코로나19 성명서 발표

정의평화불교연대_불교포커스
승인 2020.03.16 11:48

정의평화불교연대(상임대표: 이도흠, 공동대표: 김광수, 최연, 이희선)는 16일 코로나 사태를 맞아 발표한 "합리적 성찰과 문명의 패러다임 전환이 필요합니다"라는 성명서에서 "한국사회는 주술, 광기, 반지성이 압도하고 있다. 상당수의 언론이 과학적, 의학적으로 분석하고 합리적 대응 방식을 제시하는 대신 객관적 사실까지 조작하고 SNS에 떠도는 가짜뉴스를 기사화하며 공포를 조장하고 있다. "며 개탄하였다.

정의평화불교연대는 이어 "현재 모습은 흑사병으로 당시 인구의 30∼60%인 2억 명이 죽은 14세기의 유럽으로 퇴행한 듯한 모습을 보인다. 역사는 기도가 아니라 과학이 흑사병으로부터 인류를 구원하였음을 분명히 증언한다."라 하였다.

정의평화불교연대는 "탐욕과 성장 위주의 문명을 성찰하고 온 생명과 공존하는 문명으로 전환할 것, 한국 교회와 사찰은 주술을 강요하여 부(富)를 축적한 것을 성찰하면서 기복신앙을 폐기하고 합리성과 과학에 근거하여 교리를 해석하고 신행을 이끌며, 아픈 이웃에게 우선적으로 손을 내밀 것, 언론은 과도한 공포를 조장하지 말고 정론을 펼치고 올바른 공론장을 형성할 것, 대중과 지식인들은 가짜뉴스를 전하면서 확증편향을 강화하고 혐오와 배제에 동참한 것을 성찰하고 합리적이고 비판적인 사고를 하며 아픈 이웃과 연대할 것" 등의 6가지 코로나 극복 행동을 제안하였다.

코로나19 사태를 맞아 드리는 정의평화불교연대의 성명

합리적 성찰과 문명의 패러다임 전환이 필요합니다

WHO는 결국 팬데믹을 선언했습니다. 코로나 감염자는 3월 16일 현재 16만 8천여 명에 달하고 사망자도 6,493명에 이르며 이미 155개국에 퍼졌습니다. 이탈리아에서 하루에만 300명이 넘는 사망자가 속출하고 있습니다. 코로나 19는 아직 백신을 발명하지 못한 상태에서 감염 초기에 무증상 상태에서 감염을 시키기에 더욱 방역이 어렵습니다. 이 사태가 언제까지 어느 정도로 파급될지 아무도 모릅니다.

이 상황에서 지금 한국사회는 주술, 광기, 반지성이 압도하고 있습니다. 상당수의 언론이 과학적, 의학적으로 분석하고 합리적 대응 방식을 제시하는 대신 객관적 사실까지 조작하고 SNS에 떠도는 가짜뉴스를 기사화하며 공포를 조장하고 있습니다. 보수 야당은 과학적 근거가 없이 ‘중국으로부터의 입국금지론’과 ‘정부 방역 실패론’만 되풀이하며 국민의 건강에는 안중에 없다는 듯 총선전략으로 이용하고 있습니다. 신천지 집단은 주술적 사고로 무장한 채 위법과 거짓, 은폐와 조작을 남발하며 방역을 붕괴시켰습니다. 일부 교회들은 과학을 부정하고 주술과 광기에 집착한 신행과 예배를 고집하고 있습니다. 일부 대중들은 가짜뉴스에 휘둘리면서 중국인, 대구/경북, 신천지 교도들에 대한 혐오와 배제를 노골화하고 있습니다.

우리는 이런 모습에서 흑사병으로 당시 인구의 30∼60%인 2억 명이 죽은 14세기의 유럽으로 퇴행한 듯한 기시감을 느낍니다. 당시 교황을 비롯하여 대다수의 성직자들은 이를 신이 내린 벌로 간주하고 대중이 교회에 모여 기도하고 속죄할 것을 강요하여 흑사병이 더 빨리 번지게 했으며, 채찍질 고행단(Confraternities of Flagellant)은 마을을 순례하며 흑사병을 전염시켰습니다. 이들은 유태인을 보이는 대로 화형시켰고, 무고한 여인을 마녀로 몰아 거의 50만 명을 불에 태워 죽였습니다.

역사는 기도가 아니라 과학이 흑사병으로부터 인류를 구원하였음을 분명히 증언합니다. 중세 말기의 대중들은 흑사병을 성찰하며 교회 바깥에 시민사회를 건설하고 공론장을 구성하여 거기에서 합리적이고 과학적으로 토론하며 여론을 형성하고 합의(consensus)에 이르렀고 이것을 정책과 제도로 정착시켰습니다. 바로 이것이 인류가 주술의 정원에서 탈출하여 계몽과 과학이 지배하는 근대 사회와 민주주의로 이행한 토대입니다.
이제 근본적인 전환이 필요합니다. 주지하듯, 신종 바이러스의 근본 원인은 인간이 자연을 파괴하는 바람에 숲에서만 살던 바이러스가 인간을 숙주로 하여 인수(人獸) 공통 전염병으로 변형한 데 있습니다. 설혹 코로나 19 바이러스를 퇴치한다 하더라도 제2, 제3의 신종 바이러스가 4-5년의 주기로 나타날 것입니다. 대중이든 지식인이든 정부든, 모두가 자연을 파괴하고 무한하게 성장을 지속시켜 온 삶과 체제에 대해 성찰하고 온 생명을 존중하고 이들과 공존할 수 있는 문명으로 전환해야 합니다. 개인은 다른 생명과 타자를 배려하여 욕망을 자발적으로 절제하여 적게 쓰면서도 행복한 소욕지족(少欲知足)의 삶을 당장 실천하고 중생이 아프면 보살도 아픈 동체대비(同體大悲)의 마음으로 아픈 자들을 먼저 돌보며, 정부는 양적 발전보다 삶의 질, GDP보다 국민의 행복지수, 경쟁보다 협력, 개발보다 공존을 지향하는 생태복지국가로 전환해야 합니다.
지금 이 시점에서 모두가 성찰하며 새로운 패러다임과 사회를 지향해야 합니다. 우리는 세 가지, 곧 성장 위주의 사회는 한계에 이른 점, 바이러스가 가장 두려워하는 것이 과학과 연대라는 점, 정의는 그 어떤 차이보다 아픔의 차이를 우선해야 한다는 점에 대하여 철저히 인식한 바탕에서 생태적인 사회로 지향해야 합니다. 이를 위해서는 정부, 종교인, 언론, 정치인, 시민 모두가 각자 자리에서 성찰하고 대전환에 동참해야 합니다. 이에 우리 먼저 명상과 성찰을 하면서 여러분께 다음을 제안합니다.

-우리의 제안-

1. 우리는 생명을 죽임으로 몰아넣은 탐욕과 성장 위주의 문명을 성찰하고 온 생명을 내 몸처럼 존중하고 그들과 공존하는 문명으로 전환할 것을 제안합니다.

1. 한국 교회와 절은 주술을 강요하여 부(富)를 축적한 것을 성찰하면서 기복신앙을 폐기하고 합리성과 과학에 근거하여 교리를 해석하고 신행을 이끌며, 아픈 이웃에게 우선적으로 손을 내밀 것을 제안합니다.

1. 정부와 지자체는 가장 가난하고 고통을 받는 이들이 가장 먼저 가장 쉽게 감염되고 사망한 데 대하여 반성하고 그들의 지원과 치유를 우선하고 장기적으로 공공의료체계를 튼실하게 확립할 것을 제안합니다.

1. 언론은 객관적 사실을 왜곡하며 과도한 공포를 조장한 것을 성찰하고 정론을 폄은 물론 올바른 공론장을 형성하여 파수견(watch dog)으로서 역할을 다할 것을 제안합니다.

1. 여야를 불문하고 정치인들은 코로나 바이러스 사태를 정치적으로 이용한 것을 성찰하고 의료보건인들이 과학에 입각하여 토론하고 고민한 끝에 판단하고 결정한 것을 존중하고 따를 것을 제안합니다.

1. 대중과 지식인들은 가짜뉴스를 전하면서 확증편향을 강화하고 혐오와 배제에 동참한 것을 성찰하고 합리적이고 비판적인 사고를 하며 아픈 이웃과 연대할 것을 제안합니다.

불기 2564(2020)년 3월 16일

정의평화불교연대

2020/03/08

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Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities: J. K. Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron, Stephen Healy: 9780816676071: Amazon.com: Books

Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities: J. K. Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron, Stephen Healy: 9780816676071: Amazon.com: Books

Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities Paperback – May 9, 2013
by J. K. Gibson-Graham (Author), & 2 more
4.2 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

In the wake of economic crisis on a global scale, more and more people are reconsidering their role in the economy and wondering what they can do to make it work better for humanity and the planet. In this innovative book, J. K. Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron, and Stephen Healy contribute complex understandings of economics in practical terms: what can we do right now, in our own communities, to make a difference?

Full of exercises, thinking tools, and inspiring examples from around the world, Take Back the Economy shows how people can implement small-scale changes in their own lives to create ethical economies. There is no manifesto here, no one prescribed model; rather, readers are encouraged and taught how to take back the economy in ways appropriate for their own communities and context, using what they already have at hand.

Take Back the Economy dismantles the idea that the economy is separate from us and best comprehended by experts. Instead, the authors demonstrate that the economy is the outcome of the decisions and efforts we make every day. The economy is thus reframed as a space of ethical action—something we can shape and alter according to what is best for the well-being of people and the planet. The book explores what people are already doing to build ethical economies, presenting these deeds as mutual concerns: What is necessary for survival, and what do we do with the surplus produced beyond what will fulfill basic needs? What do we consume, and how do we preserve and replenish the commons—those resources that can be shared to maintain all? And finally, how can we invest in a future worth living in?

Suitable for activists and students alike, Take Back the Economy will be of interest to anyone seeking a more just, sustainable, and equitable world.

See all 4 formats and editions

Kindle
$18.71Read with Our Free App
Paperback

Review

"Take Back the Economy is the single most farsighted and practical work enlightening us on the path to a steady transition toward a genuine postcapitalist world. It is based on the presupposition that reorienting the economy means much more than the control of production—it means reinventing ourselves, our communities, and our world in profound ways. Out of this act of ‘reframing’ there emerges a novel understanding of work, enterprise, market, property, even finance. In this wonderful new work in the tradition of Gibson-Graham, students, activists, movements, and communities will find a toolkit for ethical and effective action any time, any place."—Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"Take Back the Economy is a valuable, engaged accessible and very clear addition to the Community Economics Collective oeuvre, and I hope it will be read widely and--more importantly--change the world."—Antipode

"Readable, practical, radical."—Sociology

"A most exquisitely conducted study into the not-for-profit or other side of organisations. It impressively shows that ‘another world’ is not only possible but already here."—Organization

"Beneficial for the use of individuals looking to alter their environmental or economic impact, students interested in administration or economics, or researchers and planners seeking alternatives for their communities."—Journal of Appalachian Studies

Read less
About the Author

J. K. Gibson-Graham is the pen name of Katherine Gibson and the late Julie Graham, feminist political economists and economic geographers based at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Take Back the Economy is the single most farsighted and practical work enlightening us on the path to a steady transition toward a genuine postcapitalist world. It is based on the presupposition that reorienting the economy means much more than the control of production—it means reinventing ourselves, our communities, and our world in profound ways. Out of this act of ‘reframing’ there emerges a novel understanding of work, enterprise, market, property, even finance. In this wonderful new work in the tradition of Gibson-Graham, students, activists, movements, and communities will find a toolkit for ethical and effective action any time, any place."—Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"Take Back the Economy is a valuable, engaged accessible and very clear addition to the Community Economics Collective oeuvre, and I hope it will be read widely and--more importantly--change the world."—Antipode

"Readable, practical, radical."—Sociology

"A most exquisitely conducted study into the not-for-profit or other side of organisations. It impressively shows that ‘another world’ is not only possible but already here."—Organization

"Beneficial for the use of individuals looking to alter their environmental or economic impact, students interested in administration or economics, or researchers and planners seeking alternatives for their communities."—Journal of Appalachian Studies

Read less
About the Author

J. K. Gibson-Graham is the pen name of Katherine Gibson and the late Julie Graham, feminist political economists and economic geographers based at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Product details

Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (May 9, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0816676070
ISBN-13: 978-0816676071
Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 4.1 out of 5 stars 8 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#757 in Economic Policy
#31 in Australian & Oceanian Politics
#761 in Economic Policy & Development (Books)

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J. K. Gibson-Graham
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Stephen Healy
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Jenny Cameron
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Top Reviews

Paul P. O'Connor
5.0 out of 5 stars Giving this book now to family members and friends is a special occasionReviewed in the United States on September 27, 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
As we watch the middle class dwindle, its income stagnant, feeling helpless to help themselves and helpless to help the poor, along comes a book that gives us practical advice supported by empirical evidence of what we can do to change the lives of our families, our communities, our Nation and the Universe. The authors aren't just brilliant academics, they have the practical experience. Anybody can say there has to be a change or blog about what is wrong. The book tells us what we can do because we are not powerless subjects of recalcitrant governments and bureaucracies. This is one of the few books that I have sent to family members simply because of its merits and not waited for a special occasion. I suggest you not borrow a copy, buy it, because you will be marking it up in the margins, underlining, and highlighting text as you learn what you can do to "Take Back The Economy".

6 people found this helpful

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vincent lyon-callo
5.0 out of 5 stars Take back the economyReviewed in the United States on July 27, 2013
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
An informative and engaging work that offers both critical insights into contemporary conditions and concrete examples of what can (and is) being done to take back the economy and create more sustainable (ecologically, emotionally, and economically sustainable) communities. This work helps readers imagine how to escape the debilitating condition of seeing "capitalism" as everywhere and forevermore. Perhaps most impressively, three academics have produced a book that is enjoyable to read with graphics and examples to illustrate their arguments. A wonderful book overall.

4 people found this helpful

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Steffanie Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, practical, inspiring resource.Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Fantastic, practical, inspiring resource. The associated website is also tremendously helpful as a resource for education and action.
Both are great antidotes to the prolific negative takes on so many global environmental, social, and economic trends.

2 people found this helpful

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Barbara
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on December 2, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
What a wonderful book, highly recommend it, in the hope of a better world for us all.

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MAG
4.0 out of 5 stars an excellent text. I would recommend a little more readings ...Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Although this book is wrote for a community-level approach (and use by community members) it is a little dense in sections that prevent some of the concepts from being appropriately understood. It is, however, an excellent text. I would recommend a little more readings in the background of the neoliberal economy before trying to tackle this book though.

2 people found this helpful

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Sam Grant
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to get your community considering ethical considerations in community developmentReviewed in the United States on October 22, 2015
Format: Paperback
Book Review

Gibson-Graham, J.K., Jenny Cameron and Stephen Healy. 2013. Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming our Communities. University of Minnesota Press; Minneapolis, MN. ISBN -978-0-8166-7606

I have been a community economic development professional and educator on this subject for more than 20 years. I am always on the lookout for books that make it simple for emerging practitioners and students to develop a quick sense of how to frame and re-frame, act, reflect and improve upon their work in the field. This book is helpful in both the applied and the academic contexts.

People new to community development, particularly those interested in alternative development paradigms will find much benefit here in the insightful and reflective review of considerations in community economies.

The book covers the nature of work and things to think about in terms of how wages are set and options that support more fairness in the use of surplus created by production. It delves into the business models, alternative ways to think about markets, finance and property. All of it is offered in a format to support dialogue of ethical considerations in community economies. It offers what the title says: ethical guidance, and that is very useful for participatory community dialogue.

2 people found this helpful

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Tommy C.
1.0 out of 5 stars what a jokeReviewed in the United States on September 5, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
liberal hippy garbage but was required for my class. the stuff inside is laughable at best.

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Suzanne Bergeron
5.0 out of 5 stars a guide for transforming the economy any time, any placeReviewed in the United States on August 4, 2013
Format: Paperback
This engaging, accessible book reframes the economy as a site of ethical action, not expert intervention. Not only does it provide a new way of thinking about the economy and our actions within it as a space of possibility, it also offers myriad inspiring examples of individuals and communities creating change. An essential book for those interested in creating ethical and sustainable futures.

4 people found this helpful

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