Chapter 10

MCQs

Annotated Bibliography

  1. Beck, Ulrich, 2001, ‘A Life of One’s Own in a Runaway World…’ in Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim, 2001, Individualization: Institutionalized Individualism and its Social and Political Consequences, London: Sage, pp 22-29.

    According to Scott Lash, Ulrich Beck’s work on the ways in which individuals have been left to fend for themselves in a world of global change and flux is the neglected complement to his work on the ‘risk society’. This books seeks to bring the work Beck has done with his wife on this topic to English language audiences, and the implications are probably best summed up in the chapter by Ulrich Beck.

  2. Berry, Thomas and Brian Swimme, 1992, The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era, San Francisco: Harper Collins.

    Theologian Thomas Berry and mathematician/cosmologist Brian Swimme spent 10 years developing their joint account of the evolution of the Universe and life on Planet Earth. From this ‘big history’ perspective, they argue that humans should think of all other forms of life as ‘kin’, replacing any sense of human superiority with an understanding that we dwell within a wider community of subjective beings.

  3. Giddens, Anthony, 1994, ‘Living in a Post-Traditional Society’ in Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens and Scott Lash (eds) Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics of the Modern Social Order, Cambridge: Polity Press, pp 56-109.

    In collaborating on the book with Scott Lash, Giddens and Beck discovered that they had very similar ideas about changing relationships between self and society in a world of global change. In this chapter, Giddens outlines his views on what Beck has called ‘individualisation’.

  4. Hawken, Paul, 2007, The Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice and Beauty to the World, New York: Penguin.

    US-based environmental writer and activist Paul Hawken was best known for his work on possibilities for greening the economy before he wrote this book about the ‘biggest social movement in the history of the world’.  The very scale of the gathering ecological crisis is bringing forth a bewildering array of community-based organisations that are determined to remake relationships between humans and non-human beings, Hawken argues.

  5. Mulligan, Martin and Pia Smith, 2011, ‘Art, governance and the turn to community: Lessons from a national action research project on community art and local government in Australia,’ Journal of Arts and Communities, 2(1), pp 27-40.

    This paper provides a short summary of research that the textbook author conducted with fellow RMIT researcher Pia Smith on the role that community art can play in helping local government authorities in Australia build stronger and more inclusive communities.

  6. Phipps, Carter, 2012, Evolutionaries: Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Science’s Greatest Idea, New York: Harper Collins.

    From the work of microbiologist Lynn Margulis to ‘big picture’ accounts of the story of the universe, Phipps argues that the concept of evolution has ushered in a revolution in our thinking about life on Planet Earth, even if the full implications of that revolution are yet to be felt.

Annotated Links to Further Web Resources

  1. Alain de Botton official website

    http://alaindebotton.com/

    This website promotes the publications of London-based Swiss essayists on what can be termed the search for the ‘good life’.

  2. New Epicurean

    http://newepicurean.com

    This is a website promoting the contemporary relevance of the work of Greek philosopher Epicurus.

  3. 350.org

    http://350.org

    This is the official website of the international climate change activist network initiated by Bill McKibben, aimed at taking advantage of new communication technologies. It includes a list of resources that can facilitate climate change activism.

  4. Learning-theories.com

    http://www.learning-theories.com

    This website situates the Lave and Wenger work on ‘communities of practice’ in the context of a range of theories and practices on ‘constructist’ learning.

  5. International Slow Food Movement

    http://www.slowfood.com

    This is the website of the International Slow Food movement, providing links to Slow Food groups in a wide range of countries. The website provides access to publications produced by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity.

  6. Thomas Berry Foundation

    http://www.thomasberry.org

    This is a website dedicated to the life and work of Thomas Berry.

  7. Center for the Story of the Universe

    http://www.storyoftheuniverse.org

    This website provides access to a range of videos that feature Brian Swimme’s account of the universe story, acknowledging the influence of Thomas Berry.

Annotated Links to Video Clips

  1. Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawken

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW8BytViI54

    Duration: 5:54

    An inspiring short speech that Paul Hawken gave in April 2007 at a Bioneers Conference, to promote his book The Blessed Unrest. It includes reference to a mammoth list of community-based organisations working to bring about environmental sustainability across the planet.

  2. Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtSE4rglxbY

    Duration: 16:51

    Why ideas about status get in the way of a more satisfying way of living.

  3. Slow Food and Terra Madre, Carlo Petrini

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqdzvQ2wpO0

    Duration: 4:01

    The founder of the International Slow Food Movement speaks about the history and aims of the movement.

  4. What is a Community of Practice?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63rQ3S8EHoA

    Duration: 4:28

    Co-creator of the concept of ‘communities of practice’, Etienne Wenger speaks about what the concept means.