Livelihood: a new and old idea
As an eco-cultural philosopher (and poet), I’m strongly inclined to believe modern humans have almost entirely lost the sense of the word which became our contemporary word, livelihood. Why?
Editor’s picks
Stories of permafrost
The narrative that permafrost is a material structure separate from earth systems served some purposes but has also led to catastrophe and injustice. It is time to center the voices of people living with permafrost, symmetrically embracing the plurality of perspectives.
A Year of War: An Energy Justice Take on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Putin’s war has exposed the fact that nations that lack access to affordable energy and those that are most dependent on fossil fuels are vulnerable.
From nations to republics: front parlour or front porch?
After liberalism, then, I believe the task is to steer our societies towards a small farm civic republicanism of the front porch and not the front parlour variety. I don’t think that’s going to be easy.
“Rude music,” empathy, and the case for localism
If we want a future different from the one now bearing down on us with a full load of menace, we must fight for it as localists.
Tough Times for Wandering Luddites
But there’s at least one other important thing that gets me out on the rails. In a way that no other kind of transportation does, trainhopping satisfies my Luddite sensibilities.
Hope Amid Climate Chaos: A Conversation with Rebecca Solnit
Can the things that are coming together — which, of course, for me would be the positive things, the climate movement and the changes we’re trying to make — outrun the negative things, which are both climate change and its catastrophes and destruction?
We are all modern now
We can salvage the good things that modernity has brought that can be taken with us. We can mourn the good things that we will lose.
A love letter to a regenerative community
The labour of love that is Camp Habiba Community (Habiba does mean love after all), has risen out of the Sinai sands as a result of elevating and empowering local communities and their collective will to regreen the desert.
Seventh Generation vs. (sigh) ‘Longtermism’
The intention of Seventh Generation thinking, as I see it, is to better relationalize our world – as in recognizing and pouring life into the organic links that connect everything to everything. The intention of longtermism, on the other hand…. Well, I really wonder.
Winter Reflections: Engaging our Children
It wasn’t enough to observe and have a front row seat at issues I felt were important. The students had to care about what they were studying. It had to be relevant to their lives.
Integrating Landscapes and People
Focusing on compassion and personal transformation as a prerequisite for external, wider-world change, Commonland’s use of Theory U processes sets its approach apart from traditional landscape restoration projects, which typically focus on biodiversity alone.