I spent the past week in the company of an inspiring group of individuals who are committed to building a sustainable world. Organized by University of Michigan Human Genetics professor Charles Sing and Senior Program Manager at Pacific Gas and Electric Lucas Patzek, the group included a number of long time writers such as Wendell Berry and Fred Kirschenmann, as well as younger entrepreneurs like Sarah Red-Laird (founder of the nonprofit Bee Girl) and Eric Sannerud (co-founder of Mighty Axe Hops).
Discussions ranged widely from how to build community to the best way to attract grant money. Yet in every conversation speakers mentioned books that inspired them to pursue their unconventional career. In the midst of the meeting, I passed around a sheet of paper and asked participants to share the books that most inspired them. Doubtless some will be familiar to the philosophical community (if not the reading community at large), but there are more than a few that are unknown to me, and which I look forward to reading. If you are interested in understanding how we can best change the existing world into one that is sustainable, I encourage you to open the following:
- Charles Eisenstein, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible
- Robert Wolff, Original Wisdom
- Adam Kahane, Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change
- Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
- Terry WIlliams, An Unspoken Hunger
- Paul Goodman, Growing Up Absurd: Problems of Youth in the Organized Society
- Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer
- Barry Lopez (ed), The Future of Nature
- Ellen Davis, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States
- Maya Angelou, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- David Duncan, The Brothers K
- Wallace Stegner, Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs
- David Orr, Earth in Mind
- Stuart Firestein, Ignorance and Failure
- bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress
- Andre Lorde, Sister Outsider
- Shannon Elizabeth Bell, Our Roots Run Deep as Ironweed
- Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate
- Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems
- Masanobu Fukuoka, One Straw Revolution
- Barbara Tuchman, The Proud Tower
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