Sallie McFague - Wikipedia, an American feminist Christian theologian,

Sallie McFague - Wikipedia



Sallie McFague
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Sallie McFague (1933-) is an American feminist Christian theologian, best known for her analysis of how metaphor lies at the heart of how we may speak about God. She has applied this approach in particular to ecological issues, writing extensively on care for the earth as if it were God's ‘body’.


Contents
1Biography
2The language of theology
2.1Metaphor as a way of speaking about God
3McFague’s sources of new metaphors and models
3.1God as mother
3.2Care for creation – the world as God’s body
4Analysis – the nature and activity of God in McFague’s thought

5Criticism
6Select Bibliography
7References
8External links

Biography[edit]

McFague was born in May 1933 in Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. She gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature in 1955 from Smith College, and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in 1959. She then went on to gain a Master of Arts degree at Yale University in 1960 and was awarded her Ph.D. in 1964 - a revised version of her doctoral thesis being published in 1966 as Literature and the Christian Life. She received the Litt. D. from Smith College in 1977. At Yale, she was deeply influenced by the dialectical theology of Karl Barth, but gained an important new perspective from her teacher H. Richard Niebuhr, with his appreciation of liberalism's concern for experience, relativity, the symbolic imagination and the role of the affections.[1] She is deeply influenced by Gordon Kaufman. Sallie McFague is Distinguished Theologian in Residence at the Vancouver School of Theology British Columbia, Canada. She is also Theologian in Residence at Dunbar Ryerson United Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. For thirty years, she taught at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, TN where she was the Carpenter Professor of Theology. She is a member of the Anglican Church of Canada.[2]

The language of theology[edit]

For McFague, the language of Christian theology is necessarily a construction, a human creation, a tool to delineate as best we can the nature and limits of our understanding of God. According to McFague, what we know of God is a construction, and must be understood as interpretation: God as father, as shepherd, as friend, but not literally any of these. Though such habits of language can be useful (since, in the Western world at least, people are more used to thinking of God in personal than in abstract terms[3]), they become constricting when there is an insistence that God is always and only (or predominantly) like this.

Metaphor as a way of speaking about God[edit]

McFague remarks, ‘theology is mostly fiction’,[4] but a multiplicity of images, or metaphors, can and should enhance and enrich our models of God. Most importantly, new metaphors can help give substance to new ways of conceiving God appropriately ‘for our time’,[5] and more adequate models for the ethically urgent tasks humankind faces, principally the task of caring for an ecologically fragile planet.

McFague remarks that: ‘we construct the worlds we inhabit, but also that we forget we have done so’.[6] In this light, her work is rightly understood as about ‘helping to unmask simplistic, absolutist, notions of objectivity’ in relation to the claims language makes about God.[7] And such images are usually not neutral: in McFague's understanding (and that of many feminist theologians), images of God are usually embedded within a particular socio-cultural and political system, such as the patriarchal one feminist theology critiques extensively - she asserts that ‘there are personal, relational models which have been suppressed in the Christian tradition because of their social and political consequences’.[3]But the 'trick' of a successful metaphor, whether in science or theology, is that it is capable of generating a model, which in turn can give life to an overarching concept or world-view, which looks like a coherent explanation of everything – looks like ‘reality’ or ‘truth’. In McFague's view, this is how the complex of ‘male’ images for God has long functioned in the Christian West – but it has done so in a way that is oppressive for all but (privileged) men. So, the notion of God as 'father', 'lord' or 'king' now seemingly unavoidably conjures up oppressive associations of ‘ownership’, obedience and dependency, and in turn dictates, consciously or otherwise, a whole complex of attitudes, responses and behaviours on the part of theistic believers.

McFague’s sources of new metaphors and models[edit]

This understanding of the shifting nature of language in relation to God underpins McFague's handling of the 'building blocks' that have long been considered foundational to accounts of belief, primarily Scripture and tradition. But neither is privileged as a source of conversation about God for McFague - both ‘fall under experience’,[8] and are, in their different ways, themselves extended metaphors of interpretation or ‘sedimentations’ of a linguistic community's interpreted experience’. The experience of Jesus - his parables, table fellowship and healing ministry in particular - makes him a rich source of the ‘destabilising, inclusive and non-hierarchical’ metaphors Christians might profitably borrow from him as paradigmatic, a ‘foundational figure’.[9] But he is not all they need. Experience of the world, and of God's relationship to it, must add to that illustration and re-interpret it in terms and metaphors relevant to those believers, changing how they conceive of God and thus care for the earth. As McFague remarks: ‘we take what we need from Jesus using clues and hints…for an interpretation of salvation in our time’.[10]

God as mother[edit]

Though McFague does use biblical motifs, her development of them goes far beyond what they are traditionally held to convey. She uses others, such as the notion of the world as God's body, an image used by the early church but which ‘fell by the wayside’ (according to British theologian Daphne Hampson[11]), in her search for models ‘appropriate’ to our needs. She stresses that all models are partial, and are thought-experiments with shortcomings: many are needed, and need to function together.[12] Her work on God as mother, for example, stresses that God is beyond male and female, recognising twin dangers: exaggeration of the maternal qualities of the mother so as to unhelpfully essentialise God (and by transference, women as well) as caring and self-sacrificing; or juxtaposition of this image to that of father, unhelpfully emphasising the gender-based nature of both male and female images for God. Nonetheless, she sees in it other connotations, which she maintains are helpful in re-imaging God in terms of the mother metaphor.

In particular, God as mother is associated with the beginning of life, its nurture, and its fulfilment. These associations allow McFague to explore how creation of the cosmos as something ‘bodied forth’ from God preserves a much more intimate connection between creator and created than the traditional model whereby the world is created ex nihilo and sustained by a God distanced and separate from the creation. However, this same ‘mother’ who ‘bodies forth’ the cosmos cares for it with a fierce justice, which demands that all life (not just humankind) has its share of the creator's care and sustenance in a just, ecological economy where all her creatures flourish. For McFague, God is the one ‘who judges those who thwart the well-being and fulfilment of her body, our world’.[13]

Care for creation – the world as God’s body[edit]

From this metaphor develops another: the metaphor of the world (or cosmos) as God's body. McFague elaborates this metaphor at length in The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. The purpose of using it is to ‘cause us to see differently’, to ‘think and act as if bodies matter’, and to ‘change what we value’.[14] If we imagine the cosmos as God's body, then ‘we never meet God unembodied’.[15] This is to take God in that cosmos seriously, for ‘creation is God’s self-expression’. Equally we must take seriously our own embodiment (and that of other bodies): all that is has a common beginning and history (as McFague puts it ‘we are all made of the ashes of dead stars’[16]), and so salvation is about salvation of all earthly bodies (not just human ones) and first and foremost about living better on the earth, not in the hereafter. Elaborating further, McFague argues that sin, on this view, is a matter of offence against other parts of the ‘body’ (other species or parts of the creation) and in that sense only against God, while eschatology is about a better bodily future (‘creation is the place of salvation, salvation is the direction of creation’[17]), rather than a more disembodied spiritual one. In this metaphor, God is not a distant being but being-itself, a characterisation that has led some to suggest McFague's theology is a form of monism. She defends her views as not monist but panentheist.[18] The world seen as God's body chimes strongly with a feminist and panentheist stress on God as the source of all relationship, while McFague's understanding of sin (as essentially a failure of relationality, of letting other parts of the created order flourish free of our control) is also typically panentheist.

Analysis – the nature and activity of God in McFague’s thought[edit]

McFague's panentheistic theology stresses God as highly involved in the world (though distinct from it), and concerned (as seen in the life of the paradigmatic Jesus, for example) to see all of it brought to full enjoyment of the richness of life as originally intended in creation. This is not the omnipotent, omniscient and immutable God of classical theismand neo-orthodoxy: for McFague, God is not transcendent in any sense that we can know. This has led some critics to ask whether McFague's theology leaves us with anything that may properly be called God at all. British theologian Daphne Hampson notes ‘the more I ponder this book [Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age], the less clear I am that it is theistic’.[19]

A theology where God as creator does not stand ‘over against’ the creation tends to shift the focus away from God as personal. In which Jesus is a paradigm individual rather than the unique bearer of godlikeness. The role of the Spirit is emphasised in her theology, though there is little sense in which this is uniquely the spirit of Jesus. God as Spirit is not primarily the initiator of creation, but ‘the empowering, continuing breath of life’.[20]

It follows, too, from this metaphor of God as involved in the world that traditional notions of sin and evil are discarded. God is so much part of the process of the world and its agencies’ or entities’ ‘becoming’ that it is difficult to speak of ‘natural disasters’ as sin: they are simply the chance (as viewed by human observers) trial-and-error ways in which the world develops. As McFague sees it, ‘within this enlarged perspective, we can no longer consider evil only in terms of what benefits or hurts me or my species. In a world as large, as complex, and with as many individuals and species as our planet has, the good of some will inevitably occur at the expense of others’.[21] And because the world is God's body, evil occurs in and to God as well as to us and the rest of creation.[22]

Correspondingly, the notion of the individual in need of God's salvation is anachronistic in a world ‘from’ which that individual no longer need to be saved, but rather ‘in’ which he or she need to learn how to live interrelatedly and interdependently. Redemption is downplayed, though not excluded: McFague emphasises, characteristically, that it ‘should include all dimensions of creation, not just human beings’ and that it is a fulfilment of that creation, not a rescue from it.[7] This of course brings about a radical shift in the significance of the cross and resurrection of Jesus, whose resurrection is primarily if not exclusively a validation of continued human embodiment. There is, too, an insistence on realised, not final, eschatology. The earth becomes the place ‘where we put down our roots’,[23] and we live with ‘the hope against hope’[24] that all will participate in the resurrection of all bodies. However, God is presently and permanently with humankind: we are ‘within the body of God whether we live or die’.[22]

Criticism[edit]

Trevor Hart, a theologian from the Barthian tradition, within which McFague herself situated her early work, claims her approach, while it seeks to develop images that resonate with ‘contemporary experiences of relatedness to God’,[25] shows her to be ‘cutting herself loose from the moorings of Scripture and tradition’ and appealing only to experience and credibility as her guides. Human constructions determine what she will say about God – her work is mere anthropologising.[26] The lack of a transcendent element to her work is criticised by David Fergusson as ‘fixed on a post-Christian trajectory’.[27]

McFague defends her approach as simply being about a refocusing, a ‘turn of the eyes of theologians away from heaven and towards the earth’.[7] She insists on a relevant theology, ‘a better portrait of Christian faith for our day’,[28] and reminds us that her approach is not intended as a blueprint, but a sketch for a change in attitude.[29] It remains to be seen whether the disclosive power of such a shift in emphasis will be tested, and can successfully influence Christians’ approach to caring for the earth and all its inhabitants.

Select Bibliography[edit]

Literature and the Christian Life. Yale: Yale University Press (1966) [30]

Speaking in Parables: A Study in Metaphor and Theology. Philadelphia: Fortress Press (1975) [30]

Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language. Philadelphia: Fortress Press (1982) [31]

Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press (1987) [32]

The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press (1993) [33]

Super, Natural Christians: How we should love nature. London: SCM (1997) [34]

Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril (Searching for a New Framework). Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress (2000) [35]

A New Climate for Theology: God, the World and Global Warming. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress (2008) [36]

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

References[edit]

^ "Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Western Theology". people.bu.edu.
^ "Dr. Sallie McFague: Distinguished Theologian in Residence". vst.edu. Vancouver School of Theology. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
^ Jump up to:a b McFague, Sallie (1982) Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 21
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, xi
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 13
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 6
^ Jump up to:a b c Article An Earthly Theological Agenda at website of The Christian Century magazine
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 42
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 136
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 45
^ Hampson, Daphne (1990) Theology and Feminism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 158
^ Article The World as God’s Body at website of The Christian Century magazine
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 11
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, viii and 17
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 184
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 44
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, viii and 180
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 47 – 55
^ Hampson, Daphne (1990) Theology and Feminism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 160
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 155
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 175
^ Jump up to:a b McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 176
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 211
^ McFague, Sallie (1993) The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 210
^ Hart, Trevor (1989) Regarding Karl Barth: Essays Toward a Reading of his Theology. Carlisle: Paternoster, 181
^ Hampson, Daphne (1990) Theology and Feminism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 159
^ Fergusson, David (1998) The Cosmos and the Creator. London: SPCK, 8
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 14
^ McFague, Sallie (1987) Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 122
^ Jump up to:a b McFague, Sallie (8 April 1966). "Literature and the Christian life". Yale University Press – via Amazon.
^ Mcfague, Sallie (1 January 1959). "Metaphorical Theology: Models Of God In Religious Language". Augsburg Fortress – via Amazon.
^ results, search (1 August 1987). "Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age". FORTRESS PRESS – via Amazon.
^ Mcfague, Sallie (25 July 2006). "The Body Of God: An Ecological Theology". Augsburg Fortress – via Amazon.
^ results, search (5 September 2000). "Super, Natural Christians: How We Should Love Nature". Augsburg Fortress Publishers – via Amazon.
^ results, search (1 November 2000). "Life Abundant (Searching for a New Framework): Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril". FORTRESS PRESS – via Amazon.
^ results, search (1 May 2008). "A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming". Fortress Press – via Amazon.

혼자 잘해주고 상처 받지 마세요 - 사소한 일에 욱한다면 확인할 3가지 - 정신의학신문-의사들이 직접 쓰는 정신 & 건강 뉴스

혼자 잘해주고 상처 받지 마세요 - 사소한 일에 욱한다면 확인할 3가지 - 정신의학신문-의사들이 직접 쓰는 정신 & 건강 뉴스





혼자 잘해주고 상처 받지 마세요 - 사소한 일에 욱한
다면 확인할 3가지
유은정 정신건강의학과 전문의 | 승인 2019.01.04 08:59



[정신의학신문 : 유은정 정신건강의학과 전문의]



분노는 정신의학적으로 내가 처해진 상황이 ‘불공평’하다는 인지를 하면서 발생되는 감
정의 표현입니다.
밖으로 분노의 에너지가 향하게 되면 분노조절이 어려워지고 사소한 일에도 폭발하는
반응을 보이기 쉽습니다. 반면, 분노가 내 안으로 향하게 되면, 자기 자신을 공격하고 무
기력하게 만들면서 우울해지게 됩니다.
다시 말해서, 분노와 우울은 동전의 양면과 같이 불공평한 나의 상황을 표현하고 있는
것이므로 상처 난 내 마음을 돌아보라는 시그널(신호)인 것입니다.
혼자 잘해주고 상처 받게 되면 사소한 일로 욱하게 되고 오히려 스스로 더 힘들어지게
됩니다. 사소한 일에 상처를 잘 받는다면 다음의 세 가지를 확인해보아야 합니다.
댓글 2 트위터 페이스북
새해를 함께 맞이하지 못한 우리의 동료에
정신과 의료진은 넥타이를 하지 않습니다.
2018년의 마지막 날, 참으로 참담한 소식을
아이들은 어떤 꿈을 꿀까? - 연령별 꿈
밤을 새우면 우울증에 도움이 된다(연구)
우리는 정신질환자 곁에 있는 사람들입니다.
새해맞이 계획과 작심삼일의 심리
섬망과 치매의 차이 - 섬망이 치매로 진행하
혼자 잘해주고 상처 받지 마세요 -



사소한 일
[Doctor's Mail] 아이를 이른 시기에 기관에
유가족의 숭고한 애도, '그를 증오하지
1/6/2019 혼자 잘해주고 상처 받지 마세요 - 사소한 일에 욱한다면 확인할 3가지



첫째, 같은 마음, 같은 입장이 아님을 알아야 한다.
나는 상대방에게 늘 최선을 다하지만 그들은 내게 잘해주지 않는 경우가 있습니다. 사
람은 이기적이기도 하지만 상대가 같은 입장일 수 없는 경우가 있습니다. 사장과 종업
원, 상사와 부하 직원, 엄마와 자식, 시어머니와 며느리는 서로 같은 입장일 수 없습니
다. 나와는 다른 입장이라는 것을 이해하면서 기대하는 것이 달라질 수 있습니다.
정신과 의사인 저를 보고 주변에서 상처 안 받을 것 같다고 하시는데, 유난히 직원들에
게 상처를 받는다는 것을 알게 되었습니다. 그런데, 어느 순간 직원들이 직장을 위해서
일하는 사람들이 아니라, 오히려 내가 돌보아 주어야 할 대상이라고 생각하고 보살펴주
니 관계가 개선되었습니다. 직원들이 내 편이 되어주지 않는다고 섭섭하다는 생각이 들
지 않고 오히려 내가 돌봐주어야 할 대상으로 여겨지니 상처를 덜 받게 되었습니다.



두 번째, 자신의 욕구를 솔직하게 표현하라.
대가를 바라지도 기대하지도 말아야 합니다. 

시어머니에게 늘 김치를 해드리는 환자 분
이 있었는데 한 번은 김치를 담가 갔더니 게장을 담가오라고 하셨답니다. 허리를 다쳐
서 게장을 담글 상황이 아니었기 때문에 나중에 허리 나빠진 탓을 하지 말고, 게장은
그냥 사가라고 했습니다.
그분이 게장 사갔을까요? 시어머니가 자기가 담근 게장과 사간 게장의 맛을 아신다고
계속 고민했습니다. 상담 끝에 “어머니 제가 명품 게장 사왔어요. 이번에만 드세요.”라
고 말할 수 있었습니다.
남의 눈치 보지 말고 자기 욕구를 솔직하게 얘기해야 해야 합니다. 병이 난 후에 남
의 탓하지 말고 자신을 챙기십시오. 누구든지 각자의 짐은 각자가 져야 합니다. 자기가
되도록 할 수 있을 만큼 잘해드리는 것이 각자 자기 짐을 지는 것입니다.



세 번째, 기대가 없으면 상처도 없다.
큰 잘못이나 비난을 마주했을 때 상처 받는 것이 아니라, 내 편이라고 생각했던 사람,
나를 챙겨줄 거라고 생각했던 사람의 사소한 말을 통해 상처 받습니다.

 진료실에서 만난 워킹 맘이 있었습니다. 새로운 직원을 열심히 가르치고 챙겨주었는데
어느 날, 아이가 아파서 응급실에 다녀오느라 늦게 출근하게 되었습니다. 하지만 그 부
하 직원이 자기를 보고는 “애기는 괜찮아요?”라고 묻지도 않고 쌩 하니 가버리자 마음이
상했습니다. 그 직원을 볼 때마다 화가 나서 회사에 다닐 수가 없어 병원을 찾았습니다.
“그 직원은 결혼했나요?” 제가 이야기를 한참 듣고 물었습니다. 그 부하 직원은 결혼을
하지 않아 엄마가 애를 들쳐 업고 병원에 가는 것조차 상상 못 했을 것입니다. 회사에
들어온 지 몇 달이 안 되어 일도 파악이 잘 안 되고, 상사가 왔을 때 그런 말을 해야
되는지조차 모를 수 있습니다.
제 말을 다 듣고 나니 그녀는 부하 직원의 입장을 이해하게 되었습니다. 화는 누그러졌
고 부하직원을 다시 볼 자신이 생겼습니다. 상대방의 마음은 항상 내 마음 같지 않습니
다. 인간관계의 원칙은 자기중심성에서 벗어나서 상대방은 나와 다르고 그 고유함을 있
는 그대로 인정하는 것으로부터 출발합니다. 자주 욱하는 자신을 발견한다면 이점을 기
억하고 자신을 최대한 보호하면서 상처를 덜 받아야 합니다.

일본 대기업 사장의 생전 장례식…고령화 사회의 ‘종활’ 바람 : 일본 : 국제 : 뉴스 : 한겨레

일본 대기업 사장의 생전 장례식…고령화 사회의 ‘종활’ 바람 : 일본 : 국제 : 뉴스 : 한겨레





일본 대기업 사장의 생전 장례식…고령화 사회의 ‘종활’ 바람



등록 :2017-11-22 16:25수정 :2017-11-22 21:20



종활의 일종인 생전 장례식으로 화제

“암 수술 불가 연명 치료 안받겠다.

생전에 감사의 마음 전하겠다” 광고

아직 이례적이지만 2010년께부터 유행





안자키 사토루 전 고마쓰 사장이 신문에 감사의 모임이라는 이름으로 낸 ‘생전 장례식’ 광고

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

“10월 초 몸 상태가 좋지 않아서 병원에서 검사를 받아보니 예상치 못하게 담낭암이 발견됐습니다. 폐 등에 전이돼 수술은 불가능하다는 진단을 받았습니다. 아직 기력이 있을 동안 여러분에게 감사의 마음을 전달하고 싶어 감사의 모임을 개최하려 합니다.”



대기업 회장의 이례적 ‘생전 장례식’이 일본 사회에 반향을 일으키고 있다.



생전 장례식을 여는 이는 건설 기계로 유명한 대기업 고마쓰의 전 사장 안자키 사토루(80)다. 안자키 전 사장은 20일 <니혼게이자이신문>에 실은 광고에서 “남은 시간 삶의 질을 우선하겠다”며 “약간의 연명 효과가 있다고는 하지만 부작용 가능성이 있는 방사선 치료와 항암제 치료는 받지 않기로 했다”고 밝혔다. “‘1961년 고마쓰 입사 뒤 퇴임한 2005년까지 40여년 동안 신세를 진 이들 그리고 퇴임 뒤 여생을 같이 즐긴 이들에게 감사의 마음을 전하고 싶다”고도 했다. 그는 1995년부터 2001년까지 사장을 역임하고 이후 회장과 고문 격인 상담역을 거쳤다. 퇴임 뒤에는 강연활동 등을 해왔다. <마이니치신문>은 대기업 사장 출신이 생전 장례식을 여는 것은 이례적인 일이며, 인터넷에서는 인생의 마지막을 정리하기 위한 활동이라는 뜻의 ‘종활’(終活)로 받아들여지고 있다고 전했다.







안자키 사토루 전 고마쓰 사장일본에서 ‘생전 장례식’은 에도 막부 시대에도 간혹 있었다고 할 만큼 역사가 오래됐지만, 활발해진 것은 고령화 사회가 진전된 최근의 일이다. 연예인들이 이벤트 형식으로 여는 경우가 많았다. 전 적군파 의장으로 지난 14일 숨진 시오미 다카야가 2010년 연 생전 장례식도 화제를 모았다. 시오미는 여객기를 납치해 북한으로 간 1970년 ‘요도호 사건’ 등을 주도한 일로 19년을 복역한 뒤 노년에는 주차관리원으로 일하며 시민운동도 했다. 그의 생전 장례식은 오키나와 미군 기지 문제 해결을 위한 시민운동 자금 모금을 겸한 것이었다. 생전 장례식은 주위에 감사의 마음을 전하는 목적이 크기 때문에 사후에 작더라도 다시 장례식을 여는 경우도 많다. 시오미의 경우에도 친지들을 중심으로 소규모 장례식이 열렸다.



생전 장례식 자체는 아직 이례적이지만, 2010년께부터 유행한 ‘종활’은 비즈니스로까지 발전했다. 일본은 65살 이상 고령자 비율이 27.7%를 차지하는 고령사회인데다가 출산율은 낮아서, 고령자들이 장례식부터 유산 정리까지 스스로 준비해 놓아야 주위에 부담을 주지 않는다는 의식이 확산되고 있다. 이 때문에 생전에 미리 장례식 비용을 치르는 장례식 생전 계약이 증가하고 있다. 생전에 묘를 미리 사놓는 경우도 많고, 물품 정리 대행 사업도 있다. <엔에이치케이>(NHK) 방송은 종활 사업 시장 규모를 연간 1조엔(약 10조원)대로 추산했다.



도쿄/조기원 특파원 garden@hani.co.kr







원문보기:

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/japan/820214.html#csidx5885d51b5c1fd4ea45fa7f8c5be3fbd

Sustainable agriculture and resistance : transforming food production in Cuba

Sustainable agriculture and resistance : 

transforming food production in Cuba 

/ edited by Fernando Funes ... [et al.].
---
Author: Fernando Funes; Asociación Cubana de Técnicos Agricolas y Forestales.; Universidad Agraria de La Habana. Centro de Estudios de Agricultura Sostenible.
---
Subjects: Sustainable agriculture -- Cuba; Organic farming -- Cuba; Sustainable development -- Cuba
Creation Date: c2002
---
Description:
Prologue : the principles and strategies of agroecology in Cuba / Miguel Altieri --

Introduction : lessons of Cuban resistance / Peter Rosset and Martin Bourque --
Ch. 1. The organic farming movement in Cuba / Fernando Funes --
Ch. 2. Cuban agriculture before 1990 / Armando Nova --
Ch. 3. Cuban agriculture and food security / Marcos Nieto and Ricardo Delgado --
Ch. 4. Transforming the Cuban countryside : property, markets, and technological change / Lucy Martin --
Ch. 5. Social organization and sustainability of small farm agriculture in Cuba / Mavis D. Álvarez --
Ch. 6. Agroecological education and training / Luis Garcia -- 

Ch. 7. Ecological pest management / Nilda Pérez and Luis L. Vázquez --
Ch. 8. Intercropping in Cuba / Antonio Casanova, Adrián Hernández, and Pedro L. Quintero --
Ch. 9. Mechanization, animal traction, and sustainable agriculture / Arcadio Ríos and Félix Ponce --
Ch. 10. Advances in organic soil management / Eolia Treto ... [et al.] --
Ch. 11. The integration of crops and livestock / Marta Monzote, Eulogio Muñoz, and Fernando Funes-Monzote -- 

Ch. 12. Green medicine : an option of richness / Mercedes Garcia --
Ch. 13. The growth of urban agriculture / Nelso Companioni ... [et al.] --
Ch. 14. "Cultivo popular" : small-scale rice production / Miguel Socorro, Luis Alemán, and Salvador Sánchez --
Ch. 15. Sugarcane and sustainability in Cuba / Rafael Suárez Rivacoba and Rafael B. Morín --
Ch. 16. Case studies : the mixed experiences of two new cooperatives / Niurka Pérez and Dayma Echevarría --
Epilogue : the unique pathway of Cuban development / Richard Levins.
---
Translated from the Spanish.
"Co-published with ACTAF (Asociación Cubana de Técnicos Agrícolas y Forestales) and CEAS (Centro de Estudios de Agricultura Sostenible, Universidad Agraria de La Habana)"
Uniform Title: Transformando el campo Cubano. English.
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : Food First Books
Format: xx, 307 p. : ill., map ; 23 cm..
Language: English
----

Description

This is a story of resistance against all odds, of Cuba’s remarkable recovery from a food crisis brought on by the collapse of trade relations with the former Socialist Bloc and the tightening of the US trade embargo. Unable to import either food or materials needed for conventional agriculture, Cuba turned inward to self-reliance. Sustainable agriculture, organic farming, urban gardens, smaller farms, animal traction, and biological pest control are all part of the new Cuban agriculture. In this book, Cuban authors offer details of these remarkable achievements to serve as guideposts toward healthier, more environmentally friendly and self-reliant farming.

Cuba’s remarkable recovery from a food crisis brought on by the collapse of trade relations with the former Socialist Bloc and the tightening of the US trade embargo came about by the use of sustainable agriculture, organic farming, urban gardens, smaller farms, animal traction, and biological pest control. In Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba, Cuban authors offer details—for the first time in English—of these remarkable achievements, to serve as guideposts toward healthier, more environmentally friendly and self-reliant farming.

Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba is the story of Cuba’s achievements in the use sustainable agriculture, organic farming, urban gardens, smaller farms, animal traction, and biological pest control to feed the country.

Paperback: 340 pages, illustrated, ISBN 0-935028-87-0
--------
Praise for Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance

“To understand Cuban agricultural development we must first look at the richness of detail in this volume. Then we have to step back and squint to capture the truly novel pathway of development that Cuba is pioneering. And then once again we have to focus in on the details, and glimpse the processes through which Cuba is creating something truly new and hopeful for all of humanity. ”

—from the epilogue by Professor Richard Levins, Harvard University School of Public Health
---
“The Cuban experience has demonstrated that the adoption of agroecological methods can bring about productive and economic benefits in a socially equitable manner. The advances achieved by Cuba…offer a valuable set of lessons for the millions of people throughout the world who are committed to a truly sustainable agriculture.”

—from the prologue by Professor Miguel Altieri, Environmental Studies, University of California at Berkeley




3회리, Paik Yonjae and 1 other

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오강남의 폴 틸리히 이야기

지성인들을 위한 사도 - 오강남의 폴 틸리히 이야기 : 네이버 카페

지성인들을 위한 사도 - 오강남의 폴 틸리히 이야기 | 자유게시판
 2019.01.04. 17:45
 soft103a(soft****)
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https://cafe.naver.com/yooyoonjn/1612

폴 틸리히Paul Tillich(1886~1965년)

-종교의 '깊이'를 역설했던 조직신학자, 지성인들을 위한 사도
“모든 종교의 심층에는 종교 자체의 중요성을 잃어버리게 하는 경지가 있다”
==================

들어가며


1963년 영국의 성공회 신부 John A. T. Robinson이 쓴 <신에게 솔직히>라는 책에서 20세기 기독교 신학을 대표하는 신학자로 루돌프 불트만, 디트리히 본회퍼와 함께 폴 틸리히를 꼽았다. 1990년대 미국 신학교에서 조직신학을 가르치는 신학자들을 대상으로 조사한 바에 의하면 긍정적이든 부정적이든 그들에게 가장 큰 영향을 준 신학자로 틸리히를 꼽았다. 필자의 경우도 성서 이해나 해석학 분야에서는 불트만의 영향을 크게 받았지만, 

신학 사상에 있어서는 틸리히의 영향이 가히 절대적이라 할 수 있을 정도였다.

대학교 저학년 때 사촌형의 책꽂이에 꽂힌 틸리히의 󰡔조직신학Systematic Theology󰡕을 펼쳐보았다. 하얀 것은 종이고 까만 것은 글자라는 사실 이외에는 전혀 알 수 있는 것이 없었다. 세월이 흘러 대학원 학생이 되었을 때 틸리히의 사상에 매료되기 시작했다. 내가 틸리히를 좋아하는 것을 본 어느 선배가 "틸리히를 읽고 눈물을 흘리며 기독교로 개종한 사람이 있나?"하는 투로 나를 나무랐다. 나는 "틸리히 때문에 기독교를 떠나지 않은 사람이 얼마나 될까"하는 말로 대답했다. 사도 바울이 '이방인들을 위한 사도'였다면 틸리히는 실로 '지성인들을 위한 사도'였다.


캐나다에서 유학하며 불교를 전공할 때도 틸리히가 머리에서 떠나지 않았다. 틸리히 때문에 불교 사상을 더욱 친근하게, 더욱 쉽게 접할 수 있게 되지 않았나 생각한다. 이 글을 쓰기 위해 유튜브에서 틸리히가 생전에 했던 두 시간 분량의 인터뷰를 다시 보았다. ‘과연’이라는 말이 절로 나왔다.


틸리히의 삶

틸리히는 1886년 8월 20일 독일 동부의 조그마한 도시 슈타르체델Starzeddel에서 보수적인 루터교 목사였던 아버지와 자유주의적이었던 어머니 사이의 첫째로 태어났다. 밑으로 두 여동생이 있었다. 틸리히가 네 살 때 아버지의 임지인 인구 3천 명의 쇤플리스Schönfliess로 옮겨가 거기서 초등학교를 다니고, 열두 살 때 혼자서 쾨니히스베르크Königsberg로 가 한국의 중고등학교에 해당하는 김나지움에 다녔다. 기숙사에서 외로움을 달래기 위해 성경을 읽고, 그러면서도 학교에서 가르치는 인문주의적 사상에 매료되기도 했다. 1900년 아버지가 다시 베를린으로 옮김에 따라 틸리히도 15세에 베를린에 있는 학교로 옮기고 3년 후 18세에 졸업했다. 그가 17세 때 어머니가 암으로 세상을 떠났다.

틸리히는 1904년 베를린 대학에 입학했다가 곧 튀빙겐 대학으로 옮기고, 1905~1907년에는 할레 대학에 다닌 후, 1911년 브레슬라우 대학에서 셸링Schelling 연구로 철학박사 학위를 받고, 1912년 할레 대학에서 역시 셸링 연구로 신학 전문직 학위를 취득, 루터교 목사로 안수도 받았다. 그의 사상 형성에 영향을 준 사상가들은 셸링 외에 니체, 헤겔, 키르케고르, 하이데거 등이었다. 1914년 9월 결혼한데 이어 10월부터 4년간 1차 세계대전 군목으로 복무해 제1급 십자훈장도 받았다. 제대 후 1919년에서 1924년까지 베를린 대학에서 신학을 가르쳤다.

1924년부터 2년간 마르부르크 대학 신학 교수로 있으면서 그의 『조직신학』 체계의 틀을 잡았다. 그 이후 드레스덴, 라이프치히, 프랑크푸르트 등에서 가르쳤다. 프랑크푸르트 대학에서 가르치는 동안 전국을 다니며 한 그의 강연이 나치 운동과 갈등을 빚게 됐고, 1933년 히틀러가 정권을 잡자 교수직에서 해임되었다. 그 후 라인홀드 니버의 초청으로 미국 뉴욕에 있는 유니온 신학대학원으로 옮겼다.


1933년 47세의 나이에 새롭게 영어를 배우고, 그 이후 모든 저작을 영어로만 하기로 결심했다. 처음에는 영어가 서툴러 고생을 했지만, 영어로 말하거나 글을 쓸 경우 독일어보다 쉽고 부드럽게 되는 것을 발견하게 되었다고 한다. 1933년 종교철학을 가르치기 시작, 1955년까지 유니온 신학대학원에서 ‘철학적 신학 교수’로 알려졌고, 그 가까이 있는 컬럼비아 대학교에서도 방문 교수로 철학 강의를 할 정도로 명강의를 했다. 그가 유니온 대학에 있을 때 영어로 쓴 『프로테스탄트 시대』 등의 논문 모음집, 『흔들리는 터전』 등의 설교 모음집, 특히 그의 대표작인 『조직신학』 제1권 등의 저작으로 크게 명성을 떨쳤다. 이에 힘입어 1953년에는 영예로운 스코틀랜드 기포드 강연 강사로 초대되고, 1955년에는 하버드 대학교 신학대학으로 초빙되어 강의에 구애받지 않는 최우대 특별 교수가 되었다. 1962년까지 하버드에 있으면서 『조직신학』 제2권과 그 유명한 『신앙의 역동성』 등을 출판하였다.

1962년 시카고 대학으로 옮겨가 2년 동안 그 당시 시카고 대학 종교학의 대가 미르체아 엘리아데와 공동 세미나를 이끌면서 그와 학문적 교분을 두텁게 했다. 여기서 『조직신학』 제3권이 완성되었다. 1965년 10월 12일 저녁 시카고 대학 종교사학회에서 그의 동료들의 요청으로 ‘조직신학자를 위한 종교학의 의의’라는 제목으로 강연을 했다. 거기서 그는 그가 시간적 여유만 있다면 그의 조직신학을 동양 종교를 포함하여 세계종교들의 통찰과 대화하면서 다시 쓰고 싶다는 그의 염원을 말하고, 이런 식으로 세계종교의 맥락 속에서 쓰이어지는 신학이 “신학의 미래를 위한 나의 희망”이라고 했다. 강연이 끝나고 오랫동안 박수가 그치지 않았다. 그러나 다음 날 새벽 4시에 심장마비를 일으킨 그는 그 후 10일 만인 10월 22일 79세를 일기로 숨을 거두었다.

그의 유해는 미국 인디애나주 뉴하모니에 있는 폴 틸리히 공원에 안치되었다. 조지아 하크니스는 틸리히를 두고, “미국 철학을 위해 화이트헤드가 있었다면 미국 신학을 위해 틸리히가 있다”는 말로 틸리히의 신학적 공헌을 찬양했다.


그의 가르침

틸리히는 그리스도교의 가르침을 오늘을 사는 그리스도인들을 위해 재해석하는데 일생을 바친 신학자였다. 그에게 있어서 그리스도교의 전통적 가르침은 모두 ‘상징symbol’이었다. 그의 주저인 『조직신학』 목차만 보아도 ‘타락의 상징’, ‘그리스도의 상징’, ‘십자가의 상징’, ‘천국의 상징’ 등등의 용어가 등장한다. 타락, 그리스도, 십자가, 천국 등의 개념이 그 자체로 진리가 아니라는 것이다. 그에 의하면 상징은 “그 자체를 넘어서는 다른 무엇을 가리키는” 역할을 하는 것이기 때문에 이런 상징적인 개념들을 대할 때 우리는 그런 것들 자체에 정신을 빼앗기지 말고, 그것들이 가리키는 그 너머에 있는 의미를 찾도록 해야 한다는 것이다. 불교적 용어로 하면 이런 상징들은 ‘달을 가리키는 손가락’과 같은 역할을 한다는 뜻이다.

그는 오늘 우리가 처한 ‘상황’을 무시하고 어느 한때 인간의 필요에 부응하여 주어진 ‘과거’의 해석 자체를 붙들고 있겠다는 미국의 근본주의적 태도나 유럽의 정통주의적 자세는 ‘과거의 정황’에서 형성된 특수 해석 자체를 절대화하려 한다는 의미에서 ‘악마적 특성’을 가지고 있다고 했다. 그리스도교의 메시지를 각 세대를 위해 그때그때 새롭게 해석하는 이른바 ‘응답하는 신학’으로서의 신학적 소임을 망각한 신학은 신학의 역할을 방기한 것이라는 뜻이다. 틸리히의 경우 그리스도교 상징을 해석하는 틀은 주로 하이데거의 실존철학이었다.

그는 성경이나 그리스도교의 메시지에 나오는 이런 상징들을 무조건 문자적으로 받아들이려는 것은 무의미하고 무모한 일이라고 말했다. 그는 “성경을 심각하게 읽으려면 문자적으로 읽을 수 없고, 문자적으로 읽으면 심각하게 받아들일 수가 없다”고 하였다. 틸리히가 영향을 받은 루돌프 불트만이 ‘비신화화’라는 용어로 신화의 재해석을 강조했다면 틸리히는 그 용어가 신화를 없애야 한다는 말로 오해될 소지가 있으므로 그 대신 ‘비문자화deliteralization’라는 용어를 사용한 셈이다. 신화나 상징은 호두가 깨어져야 그 속살을 얻을 수 있는 것처럼 ‘깨어져야’ 그 깊은 의미를 얻을 수 있다고 보았다. 이른바 “깨어진 신화broken myths”여야 신화로서의 역할을 충실히 한 셈이라는 뜻이다.

틸리히에 의하면, 종교란 인간이 가지고 있는 ‘궁극 관심ultimate concern’이다. 그 궁극 관심의 대상은 결국 궁극적인 것, 곧 신이다. 그러나 우리가 일상적으로 사용하는 ‘신’이라는 말도 상징이라는 사실을 잊으면 안 된다고 한다. 우리는 우리가 쓰는 ‘신’이라는 말 너머에 있는 궁극 실재로서의 신을 경험해야 한다는 것이다. 그러기에 그는 ‘신의 상징으로서의 신God as the symbol of God’이라든가 ‘신 너머에 있는 신God beyond God, God above God’이라는 말을 즐겨 사용한다. 그는 궁극 실재로서의 신은 ‘상징적으로’ 표현하지 않고는 표현할 수 없다고 못 박았다. 틸리히는 물론 이런 상징들을 두고 ‘겨우 상징일 뿐인가?’ 하는 말을 하면 안 된다고 한다. 종교적 상징은 우리를 궁극 실재로 이끌어주는 필수 불가결의 신성한 수단이기 때문이다.

그러면 궁극 실재로서의 신은 구체적으로 어떻게 이해해야 할까? 틸리히는 마이스터 에크하르트와 마찬가지로 신God과 신성Godhead을 구별해야 한다고 강조한다. 신은 우리의 구체적인 일상 경험에서 이해된 대로의 신이고 신성은 언어나 상징체계 너머에서 직접적으로 경험되는 궁극 실재라고 보았다. 이런 궁극 실재는 ‘하나의 존재a being’일 수가 없다. 궁극 실재가 ‘하나의 존재’라면 우리가 아무리 ‘위대하다’, ‘전능하다’, ‘전지하다’ 등의 현란한 수식어를 붙인다 하더라도 그것은 ‘다른 존재들 중의 하나a being among others’로서 여전히 존재의 차원에 머물 수밖에 없고, 그런 의미에서 다른 존재와 특별하게 다르다고 할 수도 없다.

절대적이고 ‘조건 지워지지 않는’ 궁극 실재로서의 신은, ‘존재 자체Being-itself’라 하든가 ‘존재의 힘the Power of Being’ 혹은 ‘존재의 근거the Ground of Being’라 보아야 한다고 했다. 존재 자체 혹은 존재의 바탕으로서의 신은 ‘존재와 비존재’, ‘본질과 실존’ 등의 분별을 넘어서기 때문에 ‘신은 존재하지 않는다’고 할 수밖에 없다고 했다. 따라서 일반인들이 상식적으로 믿고 있는 신은 결국 우상숭배나 미신에 지나지 않는다고 본 셈이다. ‘존재의 근거’라는 용어는 가히 화엄 불교에서 말하는 ‘법계法界․dharmadhātu’를 연상하게 하는 말이다.

틸리히는 스스로를 ‘경계인a man on the boundary’이라 하였다. 1960년 일본을 방문해서는 불교 사찰을 방문하고 선불교 스님들과 대화하면서 깊은 인상을 받았다. 그때 받은 감명을 1961년 컬럼비아 대학교에서 행한 『그리스도교와 세계종교들과의 만남Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions』이라는 강연을 통해 발표하고 그 후 작은 책자로 출판했다. 여기서 그는 그리스도교에서 말하는 ‘하느님의 나라’와 불교에서 가르치는 니르바나를 비교하고, 종교 간의 관계는 ‘개종conversion’이 아니라 ‘대화dialogue’이어야만 한다는 것을 역설했다. 그리고 마지막으로 다음과 같은 명언으로 끝을 맺었다.


<모든 종교의 심층에는 종교 자체의 중요성을 잃어버리게 하는 경지가 있다. >

그는 시카고에서 한 마지막 강연에서도 비슷한 말을 되풀이했다. 틸리히는 신학자였지만, 이처럼 모든 종교의 심층을 꿰뚫어보고 우리를 그리로 인도한다는 의미에서 생각하는 모든 종교인들을 위한 스승이라 하여도 지나칠 것이 없으리라.*



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Paul Hawken: The Blessed Unrest

07 Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being By Paul Hawken

Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming By Paul Hawken | World of Books




Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming By Paul Hawken



Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming
by Paul Hawken
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Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming SummaryN/A

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YEAR PUBLISHED
2007-06-30

NUMBER OF PAGES
288

Paul Hawken has spent more than a decade researching organizations dedicated to restoring the environment and fostering social justice. From billion-dollar nonprofits to single-person dot.causes, these groups collectively comprise the largest movement on earth, a movement that has no name, leader, or location and that has gone largely ignored by politicians and the media.

Blessed Unrest explores the diversity of the movement, its brilliant ideas, innovative strategies, and centuries of hidden history. A culmination of Hawken's many years of leadership in the environmental and social justice fields, it will inspire all who despair of the world's fate, and its conclusions will surprise even those within the movement itself.

----

Editorial Reviews

Review

?"Blessed Unrest" is exciting, compelling and very important. . . . It will inspire and encourage millions more to take action.?

?Jane Goodall

?Writing with zest, clarity, and a touch of wonder . . . Hawken offers a fascinating history of our perception of nature and human rights. Hawken also presents an unprecedented map to this new ?social landscape.

?"Booklist" (starred review)

"Blessed Unrest" is exciting, compelling and very important. . . . It will inspire and encourage millions more to take action.

Jane Goodall

Writing with zest, clarity, and a touch of wonder . . . Hawken offers a fascinating history of our perception of nature and human rights. Hawken also presents an unprecedented map to this new social landscape.

"Booklist" (starred review)

a"Blessed Unrest" is exciting, compelling and very important. . . . It will inspire and encourage millions more to take action.a

aJane Goodall

aWriting with zest, clarity, and a touch of wonder . . . Hawken offers a fascinating history of our perception of nature and human rights. Hawken also presents an unprecedented map to this new asocial landscape.aa

a"Booklist" (starred review)

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author. Starting at age 20, he dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His practice has included starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN : B000QCSA40

Publisher : Penguin Books (May 10, 2007)

Publication date : May 10, 2007

Language : English

File size : 730 KB

Text-to-Speech : Enabled

Screen Reader : Supported

Enhanced typesetting : Enabled

X-Ray : Not Enabled

Word Wise : Enabled

Print length : 356 pages

Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #382,824 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

#111 in Non-Governmental Organization Policy

#157 in Ecology (Kindle Store)

#241 in Nonprofit Organizations & Charities (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews: 4.4 out of 5 stars    64 ratings

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Biography

Paul Hawken has written eight books published in over 50 countries in 30 languages including five national and NYT bestsellers, The Next Economy, Growing a Business, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest, and Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Every Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. Natural Capitalism, co-authored with Amory Lovins, was read by several heads of state including Bill Clinton who called it one of the five most important books in the world. He has appeared on numerous media including the Today Show, Larry King, Talk of the Nation, Charlie Rose, and been profiled in articles including the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Washington Post, Business Week, and Esquire. His writings have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Resurgence, New Statesman, Inc, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Mother Jones, Orion, and other publications. He founded several companies including Erewhon, the first food company in the U.S. that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods. He has served on the board of several environmental organizations including Point Foundation (publisher of the Whole Earth Catalogs), Center for Plant Conservation, Trust for Public Land, and National Audubon Society. He lives with his wife, flocks of nuthatches, red tail hawks, and coyotes in Cascade Canyon watershed in Northern California. Go to www.drawdown.org to see upcoming speaking events, and www.paulhawken.com for a more extensive biography. Go to www.drawdown.org for a list of upcoming speaking events and www.paulhawken.com for a more extensive biography.

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paul hawken blessed unrest social justice grace justice social movement justice and beauty largest social book blessed movement in history human environmental organizations process ecological society thoughts groups planet inspiring local

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Pizzo

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ!

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2015

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Honestly, this work should be a MUST READ for all human beings, no matter race, color or creed! Why? Because it simply presents interconnectedness and sustainability in true perspective! Okakura Kakuzō once stated, “The concept of totality must not be lost in the individual.” Blessed Unrest exemplifies the very essence of Okakura’s wisdom and love for collective human health, fellowship and continuity.

I’ve gone as far as purchasing additional copies, and sharing them with friends and strangers who seem to be at the threshold of realizing that there is something wrong with our current collective thinking. WE MUST join the ranks of not philosophers, but DOERS if we are to course-correct our present and thus our future. Blessed Unrest is not about politics or finances. Instead, it is about the hidden POWER of HUMANITY, and how our CHOICES impact the quality of LIFE of EVERYONE near and far, known and unknown!

I am a professor at a local college, and I am trying to convince the faculty, to allow me to build a Humanities’ curriculum, based on this book. I firmly believe that it should be a fundamental teaching in all disciplines spanning from the arts, to technology, and especially business. Why especially business? It is my unwavering belief that no business leader, should ever sit in the chair of “power,” without thoroughly examining the contents of Blessed Unrest.

I highly recommend this book. Please give it a chance, it just may change your life, the lives of those you love, and the lives of those you may never come to know.

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white cloud blue sky

5.0 out of 5 stars Bless yourself with these insights

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2016

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Crawl inside the mind of a genius who sees the world with clear eyes and a clear conscious. Paul Hawken changes hearts and lives by just arranging words and telling stories that expand your worldview. The amount of research that went into this book is nothing short of amazing and yet it is so enjoyable to read.

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Allan Stellar

4.0 out of 5 stars Granola Heads With Values...

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2011

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Much is made about the new "Green Economy". Obama and Hillary both mention the promise of millions of Green jobs, as we move to a more sustainable society. For the past thirty years, there have been those who have been struggling (and succeeding) to make a living as they pioneered this new economy.

These guys (and gals) are all pretty much the same. Last fall I had the privilege to hear Paul Hawken speak. Paul (a Green Entrepreneur) has written an excellent book: "Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming" (quite the title) in which he describes and defends this new environmental movement based on love of the land and also people. When you meet these folks, they almost always dress the same. Blue Jeans. Either a T-shirt or a Flannel shirt. Hiking boots (the old leather kind). And they tend to be thin. Energetic. Healthy. They look like they live their values.

Politically it's hard to pin them down, as they promote both capitalism and environmentalism. They aren't socialists (but they have morals and a community ethic); they aren't capitalists (but they promote sustainable living and products). Frankly, they befuddle me. I'm thinking of Michael Pollan, Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Bill McKibben. Granola heads with values and a functioning checkbook, they seem to be.

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Matt

5.0 out of 5 stars So Amazing! Really Opens Your Eyes!

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2014

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This book is such a Revelation! The way Paul Hawken writes is almost poetic. I actually bought the kindle version, realized that I since I bought the kindle version I could download the Audible version for only a few dollars more and listen to it on my daily commute, then pick up where I left off once I got home! I also like listening to it and then going back and highlighting what I liked in the kindle!

I will recommend this to anyone who is interested in a healthy planet, "the movement", action plans, ideas, or even just the history of sustainability...

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Nancy P. Greenleaf

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a great antidote to the nightly news

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2014

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This book is a great antidote to the nightly news. Putting together environmental, social justice and indigenous movements local grassroots efforts is a great way to see through all the fragmented disaster plans the major media feed us every day.

We just had a major victory in South Portland Maine where the city council passed a city ordinance that will ban the exporting of crude oil and tar sands from the port. We need to tell other people with similar local efforts that they are not alone. This book, BLESSED UNREST, encourages us to not give up because we are "only one little town."

2 people found this helpful

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TLee

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2020

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Book came as advertised.

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Lisa

5.0 out of 5 stars great summary of the history of social movements

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2017

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Very relevant today...great summary of the history of social movements. Highly recommend

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GE Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2014

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Brilliant

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Theo T.

5.0 out of 5 stars Ein hoffnungsvolles Buch

Reviewed in Germany on October 31, 2013

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Endlich mal ein Buch, das zeigt, was im Weltmassstab gesehen an zukunftsträchtigen Aktivitäten alles am Werk ist. Unverzichtbar, wenn man die geistigen Wurzeln der NGOs kennen will.

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CC

5.0 out of 5 stars MOST IMPORTANT BOOK OF OUR TIME

Reviewed in Canada on January 18, 2013

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I have been giving the book as gifts since I first read it. It should be required reading for everybody.

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irene

5.0 out of 5 stars Blessed Unrest

Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2013

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An Excellent and I would say essential read for any one interested in improving the quality of life on this planet.

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Robert McDonald

Dec 10, 2007Robert McDonald rated it liked it

Recommends it for: people into the World Social Forum process

Paul Hawken’s new book, entitled Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming, makes a simple argument in a straightforward fashion. This makes the book infinitely more readable than another book that makes a similar argument in incomprehensible poetic prose, Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt . The only problem with the clarity of Hawken’s argument is that it brings into full relief its deficiencies.

The book begins by chronicling the rapid rise of the NGO, both in sheer numbers and in political power. Somehow, this multitude of NGOs is part of “The Movement”, heading toward a consistent vision of a better world. Hawken makes an analogy to an immune system, where thousands of different cells each do one tiny thing and together the whole system creates a collective property called “immunity.” Another analogy (which Hawken doesn’t make) would be the similarity to free market economies, where thousands of firms each independently just try to make money but overall the system achieves “efficiency”. The clear message of the book is that even if only a small percentage of NGOs achieve their goals, they will help further “The Movement”.

In a sense, this kind of argument is motivated by the desire of progressives to believe we can win in the absence of a single unifying ideology. The principle problem with the argument is the fuzzy concept of a “Movement”. The diversity of NGOs is staggering, and I don’t see any real coherent goal that they all share. In fact, many more conservative NGOs (which presumably express at least somewhat real desires by real people) are working at cross-purposes with more liberal NGOs.

It’s much better to think of this explosion of NGOs as simply the birth of a global civil society. Just as we don’t expect consensus in a republic among all the elected representative, since their constituents are too diverse, neither should we expect consensus among NGOs. There’s a word for this explosion of NGOs, and it’s not “Movement”, it’s “Democracy”.

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Allison Myers

Apr 28, 2008Allison Myers rated it it was ok

I forced my way through this book because its written by Paul Hawken, one of the authors of Natural Capitalism (one of my very favorites). But man, it was hard to get through. Overly emotional and too historical. The bits about the civil rights movement were interesting though. Anway, I was about half way through when I realized I couldn't sludge on any further. So I peeked ahead to see if there was anything else I wanted to read- and realized that I wasn't half way through, but nearly done! The ...more

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jeremy

Jan 21, 2008jeremy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: gen-nonfiction

as a friend pointed out, the blurbs alone deem this a must-read (jane goodall, bill mckibben, barry lopez, terry tempest williams, david james duncan, & david suzuki). at the beginning of blessed unrest, hawken succinctly remarks, "in total, the book is inadvertently optimistic, an odd thing in these bleak times." indeed. refreshingly propitious, hawken counters prevailing disillusionment and listlessness with numerous examples of innumerable organizations acting to effect beneficial, lasting change. invigorated by an ardent prose, blessed unrest offers an essential reorientation of both perspective and priority.

the appendix may be the most thorough of its kind in print, a resource of immeasurable opportunity, understanding, & potential beneficence.

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Kevin

Oct 15, 2017Kevin rated it it was ok

Shelves: z-questionable-reformist

The author teetered on a tightrope between solidarity on one side, and status quo post-Cold-War “non-ideology” illusions on the other. Must I perform this circus act with my review?

The Good:

--If we can set aside the rampant cognitive dissonance for a moment, there were some positive moments. The eulogy to Rachel Carson was heartfelt, and the framing of the Luddites movement as a workers protest against deskilling and loss of worker autonomy stood out (Progress Without People: In Defense of Luddism). So there it is, an attempt at solidarity.

The Bad:

--I came into this with the awareness that Hawken has written books sounding suspiciously like Green Capitalism. But it’s always worth seeing how various ideologies placate to the public, and I would not mind going through the details of some green capitalist ventures. Alas, such details were sparse; the majority of this book attempted to connect environmentalism with “non-ideological” social justice.

The Abyss of Non-ideology

The purpose of this book is to inspire beginners to environmentalism and social justice, so we should expect incomplete ideas and stress the direction. The direction of non-ideology is abysmal. Social justice is a challenge to dominant ideologies; this is difficult enough when most are compelled to participate in (and thus perpetuate) dominant ideologies, often without realizing it. Capitalism has thrived on abstraction, sprawling the entire globe with its international division of labor, commodification of relations, externalization of costs, and one-dollar-one-vote reforms.

Hawken frames Marx as rigidly ideological, and basically espouses the horseshoe theory of non-ideology center with atrocities to the left-and-right. Okay, historical context takes work, history is long and the world is big. But it is curious how, despite a precursory warning against market fundamentalism (the ideology most responsible for climate inaction, after all), Hawken keeps resorting to market crusader Hayek when trying to explain anti-State bottom-up decision-making. ( The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump has a good piece on Hayek).

For someone who espouses a plethora of ideas, how can this be? Does Hawken the entrepreneur have the utopic ideology that fancies a world of shopkeepers, where being anti-State equates to a vanguard of individualist businessmen, because who else would move society along? His use of "social entrepreneurs" reveals his confusion towards private profit-seeking and the capitalist world system. Perhaps worst of all (for readers), his rigid Cold War ideology forces him to equate socialism with complete State control, completely negating socialism as production for social needs (as opposed to profits) and its wide array of practicalities:

-prevalence in healthcare, education/training/welfare, infrastructure, research and development

-democratizing the workplace, i.e. worker cooperatives, federations

-democratizing finance/distribution, i.e. public banking, international cooperation addressing the predatory global division of labor

Enough with this dead end. There are plenty of accessible intros:

-Capitalism: Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works - and How It Fails

-Bottom-up decision-making:

-Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky

-The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement

-Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism

And it may be time to look into that historical context, particularly from a global perspective (imperialism, global division of labor). It will really make you reconsider your ideologies:

https://youtu.be/O8k0yO-deoA?t=26 (less)

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Michael

Jan 12, 2009Michael rated it it was ok

My copy of this book has a different subtitle than the one listed above. Mine is "How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World." The change is for the better since I am hard-pressed to imagine a world where grace has been restored; is there even a dance floor that can handle such smooth gesticulations? I am on-board with the use of justice, though beauty kills it for me. Subtitles should be an art form, but, ultimately, have to be the boring half of the colon.

Morphing subtitle aside this book possesses many organs, but little interstitial tissue. The book is amorphous, yet very well-written with often surprising connections between disciplines and sources of knowledge. Hawken even, for a short period of time, disentangled Thoreau and Emerson (Thoremerson)in my mind. He takes the position that the earth can be considered a single organism, a position which has obvious ramifications for the ways that humans conceptualize place and effect. Hawken, then, is in good company as ecological principles are gradually being wedged into urban planning and politics. The idea that the earth will begin buckling as we exceed its carrying capacity means many more empty condom wrappers on the bedroom floor or a trip to the doctor (depending on who has the onus of reproductive responsibility in your relationship).

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Carol

Jan 03, 2010Carol rated it liked it

Shelves: social-concerns, earth

I think the main idea of the book is summed up on page 162:

"Ideologies exclude openness, diversity, resiliancy, and multiplicity, the very qualities that noursih life in any system, be it ecosystem, immune system, or social system. Hundreds of thousands of small groups are trying to ignite an array of ideas in the world, fanning them like embers. Ideas are living things; they can be changed and adapted, and can grow. Ideas do not belong to anyone, and require no approval. This may sound ethereal but it is in fact the essence of praxis, the application of grassroots democracy in a violent and exploitative age."

The point is networking, sharing information finding ways for these diverse small local groups to work together to address system problems.

My favorite parts of the book: 1) The chapter on indigenous rights, how cultural diversity as essential as biodiversity. 2) Comparison of the diverse groups to the human immune system, how a variety of roles are needed to identify threats to health, isolate those threats, and heal the body. (less)

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Erika RS

May 13, 2013Erika RS rated it it was ok

This book is about... well, I am not completely sure what. Nominally, it is about "the movement" which is the joint effect of the various diverse and dispersed environmental and social justice groups throughout the world. However, the book tends to ramble all over, so it is hard to get a point from the book beyond these groups exist, they encompass lots of people, and they are a source of hope, even as things seem grim.

So the book gets only an "okay" from me for being rambly, but it does have lots of inspiring quotes. "The movement", as Hawken calls it, is very diverse, and throughout the book Hawken discusses why this is a healthy tendency. Many of the inspiring quotes have to do with the nature and importance of diverse, dispersed decision making. I have included my favorites below.

Bottom of page 16:

Ecologists and biologists know that systems achieve stability and healthy through diversity, non uniformity. Ideologues take the opposite view.

I like this quote because it brings to the fore that not only does everyone have a right to their own opinion; everyone having diverse opinions may very well make for a healthier system. By drawing the parallel to ecological systems, it makes one think about how uniform belief systems are more susceptible to sudden massive failures.

Page 21-22:

he was one of the first to recognize the dispersed nature of knowledge and the effectiveness of localization and of combining individual understanding. Since one person's knowledge can only represent a fragment of the totality of what is known, wisdom can be achieved when people combine what they have learned. ... viable social institutions had to evolve ... to confront the problems at hand rather than reflect theories at mind. ... a remedy for the basic expression of the totalitarian impulse: ensuring that information and the right to make decisions are co-located. To achieve this, one can either move the information to the decision makers, or move decision making rights to the information.

This quote emphasizes how top down decision making has a fatal flaw: there is no way that the centralized decision maker can have all of the relevant information. Furthermore, the centralized decision maker, because they are often far from the scene the decision applies to, may be applying rigid, incorrect theories in their decision making. Better decisions can be made if the power to make decisions is given to those who have the information to make decisions. Having many informed groups make smaller, more localized decisions is likely to produce more relevant results.

Page 131:

You can try to determine the future, or you can try to create conditions for a healthy future. To do the former, you must presume to know what the future should be. To do the latter, you learn to have faith in social outcomes in which citizens feel secure, valued, and honored.

Openness, freedom, and democracy require great trust and great humility. They require the ability the admit that a dispersed and uncontrolled set of people may be right and the decision you would make may be wrong. You also have to learn to trust that this decentralized process will come to decisions that are appropriate.

Page 132:

Just as democracies require an informed and active citizenry to prevent abuse, markets require constant tending to prevent them from being diverted or exploited. A free market, so lovely in theory, is no more feasible in practice than a society without laws. Democracies can sustain freedom because their citizens and representatives continually adjust, maintain, and as necessary enforce standards, rules, and laws. Markets are unequaled in providing feedback, fostering innovation, and allocating resources. Market competition is ultimately a matter of financial capital: those activities that most efficiently accrete and concentrate money gain market advantage; those that don't are marginalized. But there is no comparable competition to improve social or natural capital, because markets for such commodities simply don't exist. The only way those issues are dealt with is through legislation, regulation, citizen activity, and consumer pressure. Removing the laws and regulations that create market constraints leaves the body politic with very few means to promote economic democracy.

This quote is a good summary of why I do not believe the market alone is enough to make a good world. The market is good at what it does. It efficiently moves around money. Certainly, it might be even more efficient at doing so if it were unregulated. However, the market does not efficiently deal with everything. In particular, what Hawkens calls social and natural capital. This is not to say the market ignores such things, but sometimes it needs a push to be reminded that money is not the most important thing there is. What I like about this quote is that Hawkens acknowledges that the checks on the market can and should come from a variety of forces.

Page 154-155:

"If you have children, I don't see how you can fail to do everything in your power to ensure that you win your bet, and that they, and their grandchildren, and their grandchildren's grandchildren, will inherit a world whose perfection can never be accomplished by creatures whose imagination for perfecting it is limitless and free"

Hawkens quotes this from an article by Michael Chabon called "The Omega Glory". I like this quote because the attitude is not that we ought to save the planet for future generations, but that our connection to future generations makes leaving a livable planet for them a desirable end.

Page 162 near the top:

Ideologies exclude openness, diversity, resiliency, and multiplicity, the very qualities that nourish life in any system, be it ecosystem, immune system, or social system. ... Ideas are living things; they can be changed and adapted, and can grow. Ideas do not belong to anyone, and require no approval.

More about the importance of letting ideas reflect reality rather than only accepting reality in so far as it conforms to your ideas.

Page 171-172:

By definition, evolution produces creatures and systems that have the greatest ability to persist over time, and resilience allows an organism to withstand the greatest range of disturbances. This is as true for social systems as it is for environmental ones, for governments and corporations as it is for fisheries and reefs. The more resilient a system, the more shocks and impacts it can withstand and still recover. Conversely, as systems lose diversity and thus functional redundancy, they become vulnerable to disruption or collapse.

This quote promotes diversity in organizations as well as in ideas. Having a variety of organizations makes the overall system stronger in the face of crises (the recycling business is great when the environment gets weak). Hawken sees diversity as one of the strengths of "the movement". People in the various organizations that make up this movement disagree on means so they are always trying different things, making someone more likely to find something that works.

Page 179:

The opposite of learning is a runaway system where mistakes are relegated to file cabinets and ignored. When a government, corporation, financial institution, or religious organization insulates itself, its initiatives, however well intended, create uncontrolled outcomes and second-order effects that generate newer problems.

If mistakes are hidden, they cannot be learned from. Ideas that seem good may have unexpected negative side effects. That is okay. No one could have anticipated them, and they should be treated as a learning experience. Note that laws that are useless and just make things worse just so as not to be seen as soft on crime is not the way to learn from mistakes. (less)

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Gina

Jan 20, 2020Gina rated it really liked it

I am pretty surprised by the 2 star reviews for this book, though I acknowledge the validity of those arguments. My copy is the softcover with a different subtitle ("How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World") and it is with this notion in mind that I went into reading this book.

Perhaps it's because of the time I read this--the climate crisis is a household term, many of us are living and breathing environmental problems and solutions--and from my own background as an environmentalist, but for me this book put a name to the hope I think many of us so desperately seek in the face of climate disasters. Each chapter outlined so much of what is going wrong in the word, both environmentally and in social justice issues, but then articulated what is being done to combat these ills. Drawing from many different schools of thought and how they are interrelated, Hawken makes a case for seeing smaller efforts as part of a larger symbiotic whole. A main takeaway is that we cannot see social and environmental issues as separate--they are part of the same organism. In thinking about what is happening today (this book was published in 2007), I have learned there is a network that has been developing for decades to make the world a better place, and therefore it must continue to develop and evolve today.

In the back of the book is an extensive appendix with definitions used in this "movement without a name" that may be very helpful to those new to activism. I appreciated that Hawken was thorough with his sources, and am walking away with a whole new list of books and essays to read in the future.

There were times I had to put the book down and take a break because the long list of woes could be soul crushing, but the response to these woes was uplifting and felt actionable and relevant. If you are struggling to see the hope in today's world, this book may help you to ultimately find that place of resilience and optimism, and feel motivated to continue the work you do in your every day life. (less)

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Glen Grunau

Feb 19, 2014Glen Grunau rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition

I really needed to read this book! If for no other reason than because I was raised under the influence of a fundamentalist ideology fueled by the political right, which so often promotes the unrestrained growth of capitalism while disregarding the environment as anything more than a means to this end. After all, the earth is going to be burned up anyways when all the good people disappear! Hawken quotes C.S. Lewis: "What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument".

This ideology became known as "free enterprise". In reality, there is very little that is "free" about it. Under its rule, the gap between the privileged minority and the enslaved majority, between the rich and the poor, grows at an ever-increasing rate. Hawken provides example after example of the tragic effects of the unrestrained progress of such corporate led globalization - that is imposing its "market-based rules and precepts on the entire planet, regardless of place, history, or culture, in the belief that economic growth is an unalloyed good, and that it is best accomplished with the minimization or elimination of interference from government".

One such telling example is ExxonMobil - a company with a $40 billion profit in 2006, "enough money to permanently supply pure clean drinking water to the one billion people who lack it" while all the while sharing responsibility for the 85 million barrels of petroleum that are pumped out of the ground each day and then burned up into the atmosphere (a figure that is no doubt considerably higher now than when this book was published 7 years ago).

One of the disturbing parallels that is frequently made in this book is between the fundamentalism of the Christian right and the fundamentalism of free economic enterprise. Both forms of fundamentalism believe that ordinary citizens cannot be entrusted with the reins of power and that a small group of superior individuals should rule over the majority of inferiors.

Although this book does cite many such horrors and injustices, Hawken is primarily optimistic. This appears to have happened by accident: "In total, the book is inadvertently optimistic, an odd thing in these bleak times. I didn't intend it; optimism discovered me". His focus, as the subtitle of this book reveals, is "How the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice, and beauty to the world".

A particularly impressive example of Hawken's optimism is the one of philanthropist Muhammad Ibrahim, the founder of Africa's largest cell phone network. Ibrahim believes that one of Africa's main problems is its leaders, often providing corrupt and incompetent governance in Africa. He created "The Ibrahim Prize" - awarded annually to African leaders who have developed their countries, lifted people out of poverty and paved the way for sustainable and equitable prosperity. At US $5 million over ten years and US $200,000 per year for life thereafter, it is the largest annually awarded prize in the world.

As impressive as this single example is, Hawken focuses instead on the many thousands of non-profit organizations in 243 countries, territories and sovereign islands that represent the ultimate strength of this movement of Blessed Unrest. In keeping with his emphasis, one third of his book is composed of an appendix that lists many of these organizations.

Hawken asks "How could something so important as this movement grow so much and be largely unseen?" He answers his question by providing three examples, each of which represent the timeless metaphor of the hidden, invisible mass of ice beneath the water that can only be seen by the tip of the iceberg that is visible above the waterline.

"When Wangari Maathai (the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation) won the Nobel peace prize, the wire service stories didn't mention the network of 6000 different women's groups in Africa that were planting trees. When we hear about a chemical spill in a river, it is never reported that more than 4000 organizations in North America have adopted a river, creek, or stream (a local example is A Rocha - a worldwide Christian environmental movement - that has adopted such a river in South Surrey - the Little Campbell River). We read that organic agriculture is the fastest-growing sector of farming in America, Japan, Mexico, and Europe, but no connection is made to the more than 3000 organizations that educate farmers, customers, and legislators about sustainable and biological agriculture" (A Rocha also emphasizes and devotes itself to the importance of such education).

In recognizing that the Christian religious establishment (thankfully A Rocha is one of many exceptions) has been more often than not responsible for perpetuating these economic and environmental injustices, Hawken knows that we need to look farther to grasp the essence of this mysterious movement: "Something operates us, but what? Is it not the free flow of brilliant and ancient information . . .? This is a system in which we should place our faith, because it is the only one that has ever worked eternally. If this enlightening, enlivening pulse is God, then may we get on our knees and give thanks night and day. If it is Allah, may we face the east five times between sunup and sundown and humble ourselves. If it is Yahweh, may we touch the holy wall and shed tears of gratitude. If it is biology, may science touch the sacred. I believe it is all of these, but whatever it may be to each person, and however we name it, it is not knowable".

I have been ignorant of many of these economic and environmental injustices and so am grateful that my eyes are being opened, however slowly. This is thanks to people like Paul Hawken and organizations like A Rocha that are devoted to educating the likes of me and doing their part to extend this vital world-wide movement of Blessed Unrest. (less)

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Adam

Feb 12, 2010Adam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mudd-library, non-fiction, the-problem-of-civilization, environmental-history

Blessed Unrest purports to be about the “movement of movements” that is currently upwelling on a local, case-by-case basis against the symptoms of civilization's depredations. The book went far beyond that, however, and fulfilled promises I didn't realize it had made. Hawken doesn't spend much time giving history or anatomy of the “movement” in question, and the only specific examples he gives occur in the context of larger points.

Instead, the thesis is of the book is an effective, elegant, and concise synthesis of crucial ideas from landmark books on the subject of civilization: that environmental collapse threatens the economic basis for our civilization (Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed/William Catton's Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change), and that our civilization has been doing some of the most reprehensible things in history with the power it's had (Derrick Jensen's Endgame: Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization, E.O. Wilson's The Diversity of Life). He makes these points cogently, without relying on emotional entreaties, and with an interesting breadth of evidence. On top of this crucial background (stated here as concisely and with as much interesting information as I've ever seen it done), he articulates the unique idea of the book: that millions to hundreds of millions of small organizations are arising to act as civilization's “immune system,” as he styles it, against its own self-destructive bent. In the midst of all this, he even finds time for a dubiously relevant but interesting tangent on Thoreau, Emerson, and the Civil Rights Movement.

In the simplicity of his explanations of the Problems of Civilization, Hawken's book is remarkably similar to "The Story of Stuff."

One paragraph in the epilogue sums up the unbearable frustration of our current situation:

“Over the years the ingenuity of organizations, engineers, designers, social entrepreneurs, and individuals has created a powerful arsenal of alternatives. The financial and technical means are in place to address and restore the needs of the biosphere and society. Poverty, hunger, and preventable childhood diseases can be eliminated in a single generation. Energy use can be reduced 80 percent in developed countries within thirty years with an improvement in the quality of life, and the remaining 20 percent can be replaced by renewable sources. Living-wage jobs can be created for every man and woman who wants one. The toxins and poisons that permeate our daily lives can be completely eliminated through green chemistry. Biological agriculture can increase yields and reduce petroleum-based pollution into soil and water. Green, safe, livable cities are at the fingertips of architects and designers. Inexpensive technologies can decrease usage and improve purity so that every person on earth has clean drinking water. So what is stopping us from accomplishing these tasks?”

The solutions are at our fingertips, and only problems of social structure and the dissemination ideas prevent us from saving ourselves. Grassroots groups that fix local problems with an international mindset are the only hope we have of lasting through the next few centuries. (less)

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Emma

Dec 27, 2014Emma rated it liked it  ·  review of another edition

Hmm. I don't think this is what I expected, but I'm also not sure what I expected. I appreciate Hawken's position that "the movement" is more than just environmentalism, more than just social justice, more than just the rights of indigenous people to live and thrive -- but all of these, together. I also appreciate that he chronicles the histories of many aspects of "the movment", and is often able to look critically upon them (especially the sections on Thoreau, Ghandi, King, Carson).

I'm not really sure who Hawken's intended audience is or why he wrote this book. I don't see anyone who's not already involved in "the movement" picking this up, but sometimes it seems like that's what Hawken wanted (although he is clearly writing for an audience educated on these issues). I'm also not sure what the point is, although he does offer a good description of the multitude of people and organizations working to further the causes of "the movement", adequately describing that their differences are precisely what, if anything, will make "the movement" successful. (less)

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Linda Robinson

Jul 08, 2010Linda Robinson rated it it was amazing

There are a lot of really big words in the reportage of the movement that no one saw, but this is a remarkably adept condensing of how commerce was allowed to trump humans, how humans trampled the earth (and continue to do so) and how many organizations there are trying to stop the stampede, one little NGO at a time. The story of climate change, the pillage of indigenous lands and culture, and the grim tale of the search for cheaper labor is heart-stopping in one volume, but Hawken finds the yin side of that awful yang, always just in time to let the reader take the next breath. I've read double fistfuls of books with a little of this information in each, and Hawken must have worked years to get so much all in one volume. Masterful! I'm going to buy this book because it's a great source for organizations doing good in the world, and then I can remove about 100 bookmarks in several folders on my browser. Yeah! (less)

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Katherine

Sep 30, 2009Katherine rated it it was ok

Shelves: international-development-reads

Even though this book was only 190 pages it took me quite a while to get through - the book starts out quite dry, but it starts to show potential in the second chapter when the author talks about the emergence of the environmental movement and how it becomes related to health thanks to the influence of Rachel Carlson.

His book goes into ups and downs in grabbing the reader's attention. The moments that were exciting was when he was talking about the movements and the different work of NGOs, but it was when he went into a zone of biology and his analogy to how movements come along where he would lose me.

I know his efforts were well-intentioned, but the book doesn't really inspire. Especially if you work in the field and know about these movements, it really doesn't make it a worthwhile read. This might mean something different to another kind of reader. (less)

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Hannah Debelius

Jan 27, 2017Hannah Debelius rated it liked it

This is a book designed to reassure and slightly realign the "choir." Perhaps if I had read it when it first came out or any other time except the week Trump became president it would be a 4, but it's a tough time to push through this. That said, it offers phenomenal historical context for the movement, strong reason for optimism, and a good perspective on social justice and resilience. Definitely thought provoking in the light of the Women's March this week. (less)

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Susan

Jul 02, 2007Susan rated it it was amazing

At last! A hopeful book! Seeing the emergence of grass-roots organizations committed to social and environmental justice, and knitting together these observations with commentary of the trends, the author has a compellingly positive message - we ARE pulling together to save the world. Now, we "just" have to make it happen and it truly WILL be a hopeful time again. (less)

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Kathy Truman

Jul 12, 2008Kathy Truman rated it it was amazing

This is the book for all the people in the trenches of justice work, feeling discouraged about changing the world, feeling alone, powerless. It provides a picture of hope and optimism to keep on moving mountains, one shovelful at a time. It is full of web links to assist in connecting the global network of change agents.

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Kohl Gill

Jul 26, 2008Kohl Gill rated it really liked it

Recommended to Kohl by: Allison Coleman

I was surprised and impressed with BU. Since reading this, I've definitely approached social and environmental justice with a new outlook. NB: a large chunk of this text is a list of relevant organizations that works better on the web. (less)

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Nathan

Apr 23, 2010Nathan rated it it was amazing

The Movement of Movements - the self-organizing, powerful and natural force of mankind forming a new paradigm of conscious co-creation!

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Julie

Nov 28, 2011Julie rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction

Very dry read, almost like a textbook, but not very informative. Not at all what I expected from such an inspiring public speaker.

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Shasta McBride

Jun 17, 2011Shasta McBride rated it really liked it

whew! excerpt:

While so much is going wrong, so much is going right. Over the years the ingenuity of organizations, engineers, designers, social entrepreneurs, and individuals has created a powerful arsenal of alternatives. The financial and technical means are in place to address and restore the needs of the biosphere and society. Poverty, hunger, and preventable childhood diseases can be eliminated in a single generation. Energy use can be reduced 80 percent in developed countries within 30 years with an improvement in the quality of life, and the remaining 20 percent can be replaced by renewable sources. Living-wage jobs can be created for every man and woman who wants one. The toxins and poisons that permeate our daily lives can be completely eliminated through green chemistry. Biological agriculture can increase yields and reduce petroleum-based pollution into soil and water. Green, safe, livable cities are at the fingertips of architects and designers. Inexpensive technologies can decrease usage and improve purity so that every person on earth has clean drinking water. So what is stopping us from accomplishing these tasks?

It has been said that we cannot save our planet unless humankind undergoes a widespread spiritual and religious awakening. In other words, fixes won't fix until we fix our souls as well. So let's ask ourselves this question: Would we recognize a worldwide spiritual awakening if we saw one? Or let me put the question' another way: What if there is already in place a large-scale spiritual awakening and we are simply not recognizing it?

In a seminal work, The Great Transformation, Karen Armstrong details the origins of our religious traditions during what is called the Axial Age, a 700-year period dating from 900 to 200 BCE, during which much of the world turned away from violence, cruelty, and barbarity. The upwelling of philosophy, insight, and intellect from that era lives today in the works of Socrates, Plato, Lao-tzu, Confucius, Mencius, Buddha, Jeremiah, Rabbi Hillel, and others. Rather than establishing doctrinaire religious institutions, these teachers created social movements that addressed human suffering. These movements were later called Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, monotheistic Judaism, democracy, and philosophical rationalism; the second flowering of the Axial Age brought forth Christianity, Islam, and Rabbinical Judaism. The point Armstrong strongly emphasizes is that the early expressions of religiosity during the Axial Age were not theocratic systems requiring belief, but instructional practices requiring action. The arthritic catechisms and rituals that we now accept as religion had no place in the precepts of these sages, prophets, and mystics. Their goal was to foster a compassionate society, and the question of whether there was an omnipotent God was irrelevant to how one might lead a moral life. They asked their students to question and challenge and, as opposed to modern religion, to take nothing on faith. They did not proselytize, sell, urge people to succeed, give motivational sermons, or harangue sinners. They urged their followers to change how they behaved in the world. All relied on a common principle, the Golden Rule: Never do to anyone what you would not have done to yourself.

No one in the Axial Age imagined that he was living in an age of spiritual awakening. It was a difficult time, riddled with betrayals, misunderstandings, and petty jealousies. But the philosophy and spirituality of these centuries constituted a movement nevertheless, a movement we can recognize in hindsight. Just as today, the Axial sages lived in a time of war. Their aim was to understand the source of violence, not to combat it. All roads led to self, psyche, thought, and mind. The spiritual practices that evolved were varied, but all concentrated on focusing and guiding the mind with simple precepts and practices whose repetition in daily life would gradually and truly change the heart. Enlightenment was not an end--equanimity, kindness, and compassion were.

These teachings were the original source of charities in the ancient world, and they are the true source of NGOs, volunteerism, trusts, foundations, and faith-based charities in the modern world. I suggest that the contemporary movement is unknowingly returning the favor to the Axial Age, and is collectively forming the basis of an awakening. But it is a very different awakening, because it encompasses a refined understanding of biology, ecology, physiology, quantum physics, and cosmology. Unlike the massive failing of the Axial Age, it sees the feminine as sacred and holy, and it recognizes the wisdom of indigenous peoples all over the world, from Africa to Nunavut.

I have friends who would vigorously protest this assertion, pointing out the small-mindedness, competition, and selfishness of a number of NGOs and the people who lead them. But I am not questioning whether the human condition permeates the movement. It does so, most surely. Clay feet march in all protests. My question is whether the underlying values of the movement are beginning to permeate global society. And there is even a larger issue, the matter of intent. What is the intention of the movement? If you examine its values, missions, goals, and principles, and I urge you to do so, you will see that at the core of all organizations are two principles, albeit unstated: first is the Golden Rule; second is the sacredness of all life, whether it be a creature, child, or culture. The prophets we now enshrine were ridiculed in their day. Amos was constantly in trouble with the authorities. Jeremiah became the root of the word jeremiad, which means a recitation of woes, but like Cassandra, he was right. David Suzuki has been prescient for 40 years. Donella Meadows was right about biological limits to growth and was scorned by fellow scientists. Bill McKibben has been unwavering and unerring in his cautions about climate change. Martin Luther King was killed one year after he delivered his "Beyond Vietnam" address opposing the Vietnam War and berating the American military for "taking the young black men who have been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem." Jane Goodall travels 300 days a year on behalf of the earth, speaking, teaching, supporting, and urging others to act. Wangari Maathai was denounced in Parliament, publicly mocked for divorcing her husband, and beaten unconscious for her work on behalf of women and the African environment. It matters not how these six and other leaders will be seen in the future; for now, they are teachers who try or have tried to address the suffering they witness on earth..

I once watched a large demonstration while waiting to meet a friend. Tens of thousands of people carrying a variety of handmade placards strolled down a wide boulevard accompanied by chants, slogans, and song. The signs referred to politicians, different species, prisoners of conscience, corporate campaigns, wars, agriculture, water, workers' rights, dissidents, and more. Standing near me a policeman was trying to understand what appeared to be a political Tower of Babel. The broad-shouldered Irishman shook his head and asked rhetorically, "What do these people want?" Fair question.

There are two kinds of games--games that end, and games that don't. In the first game, the rules are fixed and rigid. In the second, the rules change whenever necessary to keep the game going. James Carse called these, respectively, finite and infinite games. We play finite games to compete and win. They always have losers and are called business, banking, war, NBA, Wall Street, and politics. We play infinite games to play; they have no losers because the object of the game is to keep playing. Infinite games pay it forward and fill future coffers. They are called potlatch, family, samba, prayer, culture, tree planting, storytelling, and gospel singing. Sustainability, ensuring the future of life on earth, is an infinite game, the endless expression of generosity on behalf of all. Any action that threatens sustainability can end the game, which is why groups dedicated to keeping the game going assiduously address any harmful policy, law, or endeavor. With no invitation, they invade and take charge of the finite games of the world, not to win but to transform finite games into infinite ones. They want to keep the fish game going, so they go after polluters of rivers. They want to keep the culture game going, so they confront oil exploration in Ecuador. They want to keep the home game alive in the world, so they go after the roots of poverty. They want to keep the species game happening, so they buy swaths of habitat and undeveloped land. They want to keep the child game going; consequently, when the United States violated the Geneva Conventions and bombed the 1,400 Iraqi water and sewage treatment plants in the first Gulf War, creating sewage-, cholera-, and typhus-laden water, they condemned it as morally repugnant. When the same country that dropped the bombs persuaded the United Nations to prevent shipments of chlorine and medicine to treat the resulting diseases, the infinite-game players thought it hideous and traveled to the heart of that darkness to start NGOs to serve the abandoned.

People trying to keep the game going are activists, conservationists, biophiles, nuns, immigrants, outsiders, puppeteers, protesters, Christians, biologists, permaculturists, refugees, green architects, doctors without borders, engineers with borders, reformers, healers, poets, environmental educators, organic farmers, Buddhists, rainwater harvesters, meddlers, meditators, mediators, agitators, schoolchildren, ecofeminists, biomimics, Muslims, and social entrepreneurs.

To answer the policeman’s question, “These people” are reimagining the world.

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Brian Griffith

Jan 01, 2021Brian Griffith rated it really liked it

Shelves: ecology, cultural-social-change

As a speaker on environmental issues, Hawken always found it difficult to balance honesty about bleak realities with a need to inspire hope. But after each speech, he kept meeting groups of dedicated activists, till he had a small mountain of their business cards. Slowly it dawned on him that these organizations represented something enormous -- maybe greatest movement of hope in world history. And perhaps this mushrooming movement was gonna be the greatest story of his life. Though the well over 1,000,000 activist groups he found were focused on many different issues, there were some things tying them together:

"Just as ecology is the study of relationship between living beings and their environment, human ecology examines the relationship between human systems and their environment. Concerns about worker health, living wages, equity, education and basic human rights are inseparable from concerns about water, climate, soil and biodiversity. The cri de coeur of environmentalists in {Rachael} Carson's time was the same as that of the Lancashire weavers, the same as in the time of Emerson, the same as in the time of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathi of Kenya. It can be summed up in a single word: life. Life is the most fundamental human right, and all of the movements within the movement are dedicated to creating the conditions for life, conditions that include livelihood, food, security, peace, a stable environment, and freedom from external tyranny. Whenever and wherever that right is violated, human beings rise up. Today they are rising up in record numbers, and in a collective body that is often as not more sophisticated than the corporate and governmental bodies they address" (p 67-68)

According to Hawken, the first recorded organization devoted to the welfare of more than its own members was a small anti-slavery group which started meeting in London during the late 1700s. And from the Abolitionist movement he sketches a partial lineage of thinkers and leaders including Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi, Rachael Carson, Chico Mendes, Vandana Shiva, Muhammad Yunus ...

Keeping his balance, Hawken often writes most passionately about wrongs to be changed, such as Chevron's record of abuse for lands and native cultures in Ecuador. But later he gets lost in amazement at the magnitude and diversity of humanity's rising immune-system response: Keeper groups like the Waterkeeper Alliance, watch organizations like the Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Coalitions like the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women or the India Alliance for Child Rights, or friends organizations like the Friends of North Kent Marshes:

"The incongruity of anarchists, billionaire funders, street clowns, scientists, youthful activists, indigenous and native people, diplomats, computer geeks, writers, strategists, peasants and students all working toward common goals is a testament to human impulses that are unstoppable and eternal." (p.163)

Capping his fragmentary account, Hawken gives a 102-page appendix as a mere introduction to the swelling database of activists and innovators, which he and his colleagues at the Natural Capital Institute have launched. Their Wikipedia-like database is called WiserEarth (with "Wiser" standing for World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility). It is arranged both alphabetically and by a taxonomy of services, which allows updating by user organizations, networking, collaborative fundraising, sharing of innovations or job searches. It is also multisectoral -- including far more than just non-government or non-profit efforts. To enable application of insight in every type of organization, the database has several linked URLs:

wiserearth.org

wiserbusiness.org

wisergovernment.org

naturalcapital.org

Maybe this is the real gift of Hawken's work, which could help you find the network or vocation of your dreams. (less)

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Hannah Brislin

Sep 24, 2019Hannah Brislin rated it it was amazing

This book covers the history of Environmentalism as a movement like no other movement. Certain highlights I took from this book:

-Although the movement to end Climate Change is different from other social justice movements, it can still be riddled with the common issues found in activism that ends up harming or ruining movements. The common issues in activism are self-righteousness associated with the savior complex. Cliques, gossiping, and backbiting that harms movements but is very prevalent. Vandalism and other illegal activity which can deter away from the movement's mission and cause, and over-saturation of media focus on the illegal activity (vandalism and violence) associated with movements, rather than the real issues the movements are trying to bring into focus.

-Environmentalism and Conservation were created by indigenous populations around the world. They are the communities fighting against climate change the most and they are the communities that are victims of climate change as well as the most common victims of the negligence of the corporations that perpetuate climate change such as the fossil fuel industry.

-The exploitation and victimizing of indigenous people, impoverished populations, and people of color is not only left to the industries perpetuating Climate Change but also wealthy "activists" who use and exploit these communities as a way to bring attention to Climate Change. They do this by not raising the voices of these communities but rather stealing their experience and using it as their own and then using them as a way to garner further financial support and popularity.

- Climate change is a direct result of Greed, White Supremecy, and Toxic Masculinity. (less)

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Summer Kartchner Olsen

May 03, 2016Summer Kartchner Olsen rated it liked it

Shelves: science-and-environment, non-fiction

I don't know why it took me so long to read this one. There were a lot of opinions and assumptions in the book that I disagreed with, but there were also a lot of really great ideas and reading this book has definitely impacted me for the better.

My two biggest complaints: 1) The author seemed to attack Christianity a lot, but then later on would include Christians in "the movement". I know that Christians have committed great atrocities throughout history, but if they have done it in the name of religion they are not truly followers of Christ. He seems to think that Christianity is purely a belief rather than a call to action (with the action being to love others as you love yourself). 2) The chapter about indigenous people took the stance that all native cultures are inherently good and right. I found this annoying and simplistic. Yes, I believe that we should protect native cultures and give native peoples the same rights as others, but that doesn't mean that they always have the right answers or that they always did the right thing historically.

I loved the chapter about the history of the environmental movement and I loved the overall positive tone of the book on a topic that can often be presented in a rather depressing light. I think the Paul Hawken is a great voice in the environmental movement because he doesn't alienate the business world, but rather invites anyone who wants to to join in. Because ultimately how we treat our environment and each other affects us all. (less)