Ancient Futures 3rd Edition

A moving portrait of tradition and change in Ladakh, or "Little Tibet," Ancient Futures is also a scathing critique of the global economy and a rallying call for economic localization. When Helena Norberg-Hodge first visited Ladakh in 1975, she found a pristine environment, a self-reliant economy and a people who exhibited a remarkable joie de vivre. But then came a tidal wave of economic growth and development. Over the last four decades, this remote Himalayan land has been transformed by outside markets and Western notions of "progress." As a direct result, a whole range of problems--from polluted air and water to unemployment, religious conflict, eating disorders and youth suicide--have appeared for the first time. Yet this is far from a story of despair. Social and environmental breakdown, Norberg-Hodge argues, are neither inevitable nor evolutionary, but the products of political and economic decisions--and those decisions can be changed. In a new Preface, she presents a kaleidoscope of projects around the world that are pointing the way for both human and ecological well-being. These initiatives are the manifestation of a rapidly growing localization movement, which works to rebuild place-based cultures--strengthening community and our connection with nature. Ancient Futures challenges us to redefine what a healthy economy means, and to find ways to carry centuries-old wisdom into our future. The book and a related film by the same title have, between them, been translated into more than 40 languages.

Ladakh, or 'Little Tibet', is a wildly beautiful desert land up in the Western Himalayas. It is a place of few resources and an extreme climate. Yet for more than a thousand years, it has been home to a thriving culture. Traditions of frugality and cooperation, coupled with an intimate and location-specific knowledge of the environment, enabled the Ladakhis not only to survive, but to prosper. Everyone had enough to eat; families and communities were strong; the status of women was high. Then came 'development'. Now in the modern sector one finds pollution and divisiveness, inflation and unemployment, intolerance and greed. Centuries of ecological balance and social harmony are under threat from pressures of Western consumerism. Ancient Futures is much more than a book about Ladakh. Passionately argued, it raises important questions about the whole notion of progress, and explores the root causes of the malaise of industrial society. At the same time, the story of Ladakh serves as a source of inspiration for our own future. It shows us that another way is possible, and points to some of the first steps towards kinder, gentler patterns of living.

Introduction -- How do we get to carbon neutrality? -- How do we adapt to the climate crisis? -- How might we create more sustainable economies? -- How can we make affordable, inclusive, and equitable cities? -- How do we reduce spatial inequality? -- How could we get where we need to go more sustainably? -- How do we manage land sustainably? -- How can we design greener cities? -- How do we reduce our ecological footprints? -- How can cities better support human development? -- How might we have more functional democracy? -- How can each of us help lead the move toward sustainable communities? -- Conclusion.

Lean Logic is David Fleming's masterpiece, the product of more than thirty years' work and a testament to the creative brilliance of one of Britain's most important intellectuals. A dictionary unlike any other, it leads readers through Fleming's stimulating exploration of fields as diverse as culture, history, science, art, logic, ethics, myth, economics, and anthropology, being made up of four hundred and four engaging essay-entries covering topics such as Boredom, Community, Debt, Growth, Harmless Lunatics, Land, Lean Thinking, Nanotechnology, Play, Religion, Spirit, Trust, and Utopia. The threads running through every entry are Fleming's deft and original analysis of how our present market-based economy is destroying the very foundations--ecological, economic, and cultural-- on which it depends, and his core focus: a compelling, grounded vision for a cohesive society that might weather the consequences. A society that provides a satisfying, culturally-rich context for lives well lived, in an economy not reliant on the impossible promise of eternal economic growth. A society worth living in. Worth fighting for. Worth contributing to. The beauty of the dictionary format is that it allows Fleming to draw connections without detracting from his in-depth exploration of each topic. Each entry carries intriguing links to other entries, inviting the enchanted reader to break free of the imposed order of a conventional book, starting where she will and following the links in the order of her choosing. In combination with Fleming's refreshing writing style and good-natured humor, it also creates a book perfectly suited to dipping in and out. The decades Fleming spent honing his life's work are evident in the lightness and mastery with which Lean Logic draws on an incredible wealth of cultural and historical learning--from Whitman to Whitefield, Dickens to Daly, Kropotkin to Kafka, Keats to Kuhn, Oakeshott to Ostrom, Jung to Jensen, Machiavelli to Mumford, Mauss to Mandelbrot, Leopold to Lakatos, Polanyi to Putnam, Nietzsche to Næss, Keynes to Kumar, Scruton to Shiva, Thoreau to Toynbee, Rabelais to Rogers, Shakespeare to Schumacher, Locke to Lovelock, Homer to Homer-Dixon--in demonstrating that many of the principles it commends have a track-record of success long pre-dating our current society. Fleming acknowledges, with honesty, the challenges ahead, but rather than inducing despair, Lean Logic is rare in its ability to inspire optimism in the creativity and intelligence of humans to nurse our ecology back to health; to rediscover the importance of place and play, of reciprocity and resilience, and of community and culture. ------ Recognizing that Lean Logic's sheer size and unusual structure could be daunting, Fleming's long-time collaborator Shaun Chamberlin has also selected and edited one of the potential pathways through the dictionary to create a second, stand-alone volume, Surviving the Future: Culture, Carnival and Capital in the Aftermath of the Market Economy. The content, rare insights, and uniquely enjoyable writing style remain Fleming's, but presented at a more accessible paperback-length and in conventional read-it-front-to-back format.

This book presents an in-depth phenomenological and deconstructive analysis of the automobility imaginary, which is none other than the mundane automobility reality within which we dwell in everyday life. A successful transition to a post-automobility future will require new ways of thinking about and conceptualizing automobility, one of the most significant and powerful imaginaries of contemporary neo-liberalism. This book offers such a view by reconceptualizing automobility in its entirety as both an imaginary and a dreamscape. In order to address the challenges, externalities and tragedies that automobility has brought upon us, automobility, we argue, must end as we know it.

This interdisciplinary collection of readings pertaining to schooling, higher education, adult and community development education, indigenous education and social movement learning in the African and Asian regions is a contribution to anti/critical colonial scholarship in comparative/international education and the sociology of education. The political and analytical standpoint that weaves through the text considers the imbrications of the colonial and imperial projects currently referenced as neoliberal globalization (globalization of capitalism) and development (compulsory Eurocentric-modernization) and their attendant and mutual implications for education, social reproduction and hegemony. Counter/anti-hegemonic and indigenous education projects and pre/existing alternatives are registered in the critique. At last, a remarkable collection of essays written by a range of scholars, mostly originating from Asia and Africa, demonstrating with admirable clarity how policies and practices of neo-liberal globalization in those regions cannot be adequately understood without appreciating how they are a product of the exploitative histories of colonialism. Written with conceptual sophistication, personal knowledge and deep conviction, these essays represent a major scholarly intervention in contemporary debates about globalization and education.??Fazal Rizvi, Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia & Professor-Emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. This intriguing and provocative volume deals with crucial intersections between global forces and national initiatives with respect to the most crucial agency of transformation: education. The cumulative efforts of this assembly of committed intellectuals reveal the forces that retard progress in the two largest continents and offers compelling suggestions on how to redefine the boundaries of power, the contents of knowledge, and the use of critical thinking to create alternative spaces of autonomy, freedom, liberation and empowerment. Toyin Falola, University Distinguished Professor & Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor, University of Texas at Austin. This volume, well crafted by Dip Kapoor, one of the finest scholars in the postcolonial education field, brings together writers who examine processes of learning and education more broadly within the context of the dominant discourses of globalisation and 'development’. They unveil the underlying neocolonial, neoliberal tenets of these processes strongly echoing what Hardt and Negri would call 'Empire.’ In short, another important reading resource provided by Dip Kapoor and colleagues. Peter Mayo, Professor & Chair, Educational Studies, University of Malta. Finally, a much awaited intervention on neoliberal globalization from Asian and African perspectives! This book makes a compelling case for a historically grounded, regionally specific analysis of globalization. The contributions are extraordinary for their textured and embedded analysis of neoliberal globalization. One of those rare books that deserve to be read across the social sciences. Sangeeta Kamat, Associate Professor, International Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.

Taking the revival of civic republicanism as his point of departure, the author examines the relationship between property, civic virtue, and democracy in post-socialist political thought, and outlines a theory of democratic stakeholding in which citizens have rights of inhabitation in their commonwealth.

This book suggests how the internationalisation of teaching and learning for sustainability can be a vehicle for a two-way flow of knowledge across national, cultural and theoretical boundaries. Establishing links between the internationalisation of education and the ideal of global sustainability, the author presents innovative alternative solutions to address the pressing social, environmental and ethical problems of our age, a global priority demanding an educational response. By engaging with the Hindi concept of tri-vid, the three-in-one unification of knowledge, the author reassesses the very nature of knowledge through the intellectual agency of both students and educators. Once opportunities for alternatives not available in dominant Western knowledge traditions are recognised, the development of an innovative alternative perspective becomes possible. This pioneering book will be of interest to students and scholars of international education, sustainability education and globalisation.