Saturday, 30 November 2013

The Resurgence of - Soul Soil Society - in h2cm

On my travels into Manchester for Drupal NW and other monthly meetings I sometimes have time to call at the Cornerhouse. It's an independent cinema and visual arts venue. The shop is open until about 7pm and amongst many interesting publications I discovered Resurgence which is now Resurgence & ECOLOGIST. It is a great read - as per its banner - on the environment, activism, social justice, arts and ethical living. The great read lies not just in the content, but the fact that it challenges your way of life.

The welcome in the latest issue Nov/Dec 2013 by Satish Kumar the editor-in-chief includes mention of two books, one by Satish Kumar himself: Soul Soil Society.

As technology races ahead and governments chase economic growth through capitalist-based socio-economic systems what stands out is the failure of political systems to keep up.

The question is not how soil is created through a natural process that takes time and is itself a vital variable in a complex ecosystem. The question is how hard can we push soil?

What are the global effects of giant excavators that can move mountains, cut swathes of tarmac through rain forests? What is the natural value of soil, of land for individual farmers against synthetic fertilisers, genetically modified seed, land grabs ...? Why do we call the rainforests - rainforests#? The impacts are local, global and glocal as this issue of Resurgence and others highlights.

Below I've transposed the book's title on to Hodges' model:
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

individual
Soul










Soil

Society



What is missing?
group - population

# See also: PHYSICS & THE RAINFOREST, Peter Bunyard, pp.12-14.

Additional book:
Jonathon Porritt, The World We Made

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