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Changing the World
For the past few months I have been visiting used bookstores on Calle Donceles in the heart of Mexico City for an article I am writing about the Centro Historico. "What kind of books are selling best?" I asked. "The New Age," said one owner. "People want to find out what's going to happen in the new millennium."
Consequently, the tables are filled with titles ranging from astrological self-help guides to prophetic visions of the world to come.
It's good to see people looking for the future in stores that sell books from the past. Yet the better titles have yet to be remaindered. So if you're looking for true recommendations, you'll have to look hard for the following titles, that not only provide a glimpse of what the future will bring but offer some practical advice on changing the world for the better. Here's a brief synopsis of some of the most intriguing titles from the past year and decade, featured online Planeta.com.
Ron Mader, Webhost
Planeta.com
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Melissa Everett
Peggy Holman and Tom Devane, editors
The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future, (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999)
Harrison Owen
Open Space Technology: A User's Guide, Berrett-Koehler, 1997
Daniel Quinn
Beyond Civilization, (New York: Harmony Books, 1999)
John Schaeffer
A Place in the Sun, (White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1997)
Some critics have thrashed Quinn for his "romanticism" -- especially about indigenous tribes, suggesting that he
is suggesting an abrupt about-face, perhaps that we return to "living in caves" and "catching dinner on the end of a spear."
Quinn responds: "I've never suggested such a thing or come anywhere close to suggesting such a thing. Given the realities of our situation, going back to hunting-gathering life is as silly an idea as sprouting wings and flying off to heaven. We can walk away from the pyramid, but we can't melt away into the jungle." What option is there? As the title implies, to go Beyond Civilization, which requires the creation and support of tribal enterprises. It's also a matter of changing our perspectives. "Old minds think 'how do we solve these problems?' and new minds think: 'How do we make happen what we want to happen?'" Such questions are the food of thought that might help all us all make a leap into a sustainable future.
The same editorial house also produced this year's The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future, an anthology of similar practices. Oddly, I found some of the texts quite cold -- perhaps because of the number of "copyright" and "trademark" symbols.
That said, this book book will of great use for people in organizations seeking dramatic and sustainable change. The authors review a variety of group methods, including Open Space Technology, Technology of Participation, Future Search, Strategic Forum, Gemba Kaizen and Appreciative Inquiry, among others.
Six criteria were used for including practices in The Change Handbook. The methods must have had at least a five year track record, and provide dramatic results with a moderate amount of people's time and resources. Processes were also required to involve people in a meaningful way and provide a means to discover and share information.
A Place in the Sun matches beautiful prose and photos with an inspiring tale of
how the Real Goods Solar Living Center in California is exemplifies a new way of
doing business that is not harmful to the earth. We've featured this for the past few months online Planeta.com's
"Green Building in Latin America" section -- http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/trade/greenbuilding.html. What I like best about this book is
the way it combines style and substance. It could easily take its place on a coffee table, though it will also be
well-thumbed by anyone who opens it up.
Kudos to all of these publishers!
"NGOs in Latin America"
Ron Mader lives in Mexico City and travels frequently throughout the Americas. He hosts the award-winning Planeta.com website -- http://www.planeta.com -- and is the author of the Mexico: Adventures in Nature guidebook and the Exploring Ecotourism in the Americas resource guide.
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