Our Limits Transgressed

Is democracy hazardous to the health of the environment?

An unprecedented study of environmentalism, environmental movements, and efforts at "greening" across the globe, written by culturally embedded scholars with both academic expertise and first-hand experience with grassroots advocacy. Protection of our planet, its people, and its natural resources has been a topic of numerous debates in many nations for the past 50 years. Each hemisphere, continent, and country has environmental challenges unique to the region, giving birth to green movements all over the world. Until now, very few resources have compiled the political, scientific, economic, philosophical, and religious viewpoints of these programs in one place. This two-volume work provides a comprehensive collection of the ideas and actions that inform environmentalism, at local, national, and regional levels across the globe. Environmental Movements around the World: Shades of Green in Politics and Culture includes viewpoints from experts in the fields of political science, history, international relations, environmental studies, and sociology that enable readers to compare and contrast different cultures' attitudes and solutions towards environmental issues. Providing both a broad view of international efforts to protect the earth while also spotlighting very specific examples of environmentally motivated strategies, the set explores the political strategies and cultural perspectives behind conservation and environmental activism in countries worldwide.

Wildness is about going beyond what the world conventionally requires, and touching the mythic dimension of life. This selection of reflections on wildness draws on the riches of Western literature as well as the wisdom of the Buddhist tradition.

A record of the speeches of scholars and creative artists who appeared at the Thoreau Festival at Nassau College, each with a special insight and perspective on Thoreau.

“How important is a constant intercourse with nature and the contemplation of natural phenomena to the preservation of moral and intellectual health!” —Henry David Thoreau Since his death in 1862, Henry David Thoreau has left an indelible mark on the American mind. A vocal champion of simple living and social equality, he is revered for his tempered prose, gentle words, and wise observations. His most well-known work, Walden, is still read around the world, cherished for both its beautiful writing style and its timeless musings on life, simple living, and nature. Collected in Thoreau on Nature: Sage Words on Finding Harmony with the Natural World are some of Thoreau’s most impactful musings—drawn from the many writings he completed over his lifetime. His work touched on every aspect of living a harmonious life, from respecting your neighbors, whether human or animal, to the joys of a simplified life, free of clutter and distractions. Thoreau on Nature will undoubtedly be an essential resource for anyone seeking to find peace and balance in life.

Healthcare settings are notoriously complex places where life and death co-exist, and where suffering is an everyday occurrence, giving rise to existential questions. The full range of society's diversity is reflected in patients and staff. Increasing religious and ethnic plurality, alongside decades of secularizing trends, is bringing new attention to how religion and nonreligion are expressed in public spaces. Through critical ethnographic research in Vancouver and London, Prayer as Transgression? reveals how prayer occurs in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and community-based clinics in a variety of forms and circumstances. Prayer occurs quietly on the edges of day-to-day healthcare provision and in designated sacred spaces. Some requests for prayer, however, interrupt and transgress the clinical machinery of a hospital, such as when a patient asks for prayer from the chaplain while the operating room waits. With contributions by researchers, healthcare practitioners, and chaplains, the authors consider how prayer transgresses the clinical priorities that mark healthcare, opening up ways to think differently about institutional norms and social structures. They show how prayer highlights trends of secularization and sacralization in healthcare settings. They also consider the ambivalences about prayer arising from staff and patients' varied views on religion and spirituality, and their associated ethical concerns amidst clinical and workload demands. A window onto religion in the public sphere, Prayer as Transgression? tells much about how people live well together, even in the face of personal crises and fragilities, suffering, diversity, and social change.