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Rekindling Community may not blatantly be about conservation of Nature, but has latent messages that are highly relevant. McIntosh speaks in the 1st. person, exemplifying the need to build community out of direct experience and personal relationship. His concern is with our community with nature, with the divine, and with one-another. Book and author take their cues from Schumacher s belief that the grand problems we face are metaphysical, spiritual, ones, needing a response in kind. McIntosh reviews some of the background to this, succinctly linking quotations from western philosophy with a commentary.... Towards the end, he lays out a pivotal question : If everyone walked their lives as you do, what kind of a world might we have? Not easy but important. --Martin Spray, ECOS: Journal of the British Association of Nature Conservationists, Dec 2008.
A gem of a book! These 100 pages are some of the best out there. In my opinion, the best work from this author since his seminal Soil and Soul. Really, there is too much in here to highlight, and all of it rich and important. Anyone interested in how to rebuild community should read this. Anyone teaching an environmental science, ethics, or studies class would do well to assign this to their students. I will definitely revisit this over the coming years so I can be inspired by the wisdom and clarity contained within. --Todd Levasseur, Amazon.com
Full of ideas ... helpfully expressed visually in a series of illustrations ideal for use in discussion groups. It is this emphasis on wholeness which gives the book relevance to a wide range of issues, from healing at individual and societal levels to our care for the environment.... What a refreshing and invigorating way to look at community in all its manifestations. --Philip Bryers, The Friend, 28 Nov 2008.
A gem of a book! These 100 pages are some of the best out there. In my opinion, the best work from this author since his seminal Soil and Soul. Really, there is too much in here to highlight, and all of it rich and important. Anyone interested in how to rebuild community should read this. Anyone teaching an environmental science, ethics, or studies class would do well to assign this to their students. I will definitely revisit this over the coming years so I can be inspired by the wisdom and clarity contained within. --Todd Levasseur, Amazon.com
Full of ideas ... helpfully expressed visually in a series of illustrations ideal for use in discussion groups. It is this emphasis on wholeness which gives the book relevance to a wide range of issues, from healing at individual and societal levels to our care for the environment.... What a refreshing and invigorating way to look at community in all its manifestations. --Philip Bryers, The Friend, 28 Nov 2008.
Review
A gem of a book! These 100 pages are some of the best out there. In my opinion, the best work from this author since his seminal "Soil and Soul." Really, there is too much in here to highlight, and all of it rich and important. Anyone interested in how to rebuild community should read this. Anyone teaching an environmental science, ethics, or studies class would do well to assign this to their students. I will definitely revisit this over the coming years so I can be inspired by the wisdom and clarity contained within.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
This is a beautifully written book in which Alastair draws from both his rich cultural upbringing in the traditional surroundings on the hebridean island of Lewis and latterly with his work with ecological and spiritual groups from around the world.
The book explores the idea that as the accepted western capitalist worldview gathers momentum and crashes headlong over more traditional ways of life, be it on the Gaelic west coast of Scotland or in the Forests of Papua New Guinea, is there something to be learned from the way these traditional societies lived with community at the heart of everything that they did.
The concept that Gaelic society existed in a vertical plane based on community, sprituality and consolodation within the land and Modern Western paradigm which exists on a horizontal plane based on individuality, material and personal gain and expansionism and which are very much at odds with each other, have and still are, the source of much confusion within the Gaelic mindset.
Through Alasdairs work with the Gallgael Trust in Glsagow he demonstrates that community is not just confined to peripheral rural areas but can be the source of much positive work within an urban environment, in this case one of the most deprived areas of Europe and is the cause of much hope.
I would suggest that education of young people especially in the outlying areas is crucial to halt the drift of population to the big cities. Children should be aware the community from which they come is sacred and as such I would recommend this book as essential reading and should be on the curriculum of all Scottish Schools
It is only by returning to community can society give heart to the fire.
The book explores the idea that as the accepted western capitalist worldview gathers momentum and crashes headlong over more traditional ways of life, be it on the Gaelic west coast of Scotland or in the Forests of Papua New Guinea, is there something to be learned from the way these traditional societies lived with community at the heart of everything that they did.
The concept that Gaelic society existed in a vertical plane based on community, sprituality and consolodation within the land and Modern Western paradigm which exists on a horizontal plane based on individuality, material and personal gain and expansionism and which are very much at odds with each other, have and still are, the source of much confusion within the Gaelic mindset.
Through Alasdairs work with the Gallgael Trust in Glsagow he demonstrates that community is not just confined to peripheral rural areas but can be the source of much positive work within an urban environment, in this case one of the most deprived areas of Europe and is the cause of much hope.
I would suggest that education of young people especially in the outlying areas is crucial to halt the drift of population to the big cities. Children should be aware the community from which they come is sacred and as such I would recommend this book as essential reading and should be on the curriculum of all Scottish Schools
It is only by returning to community can society give heart to the fire.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
I read this book at the end of last year and very much enjoyed it. It is a practical and deep tool kit about the art of building and sustaining community. It's good to read a book about community written by a community; though McIntosh is the main voice, brief case studies, written by associates at The Center For Human Ecology appear throughout the book. It's readable and clear. I found the spiritual/psycological aproach very usefull; Mcintosh looks at how we need to pray for strenght to deal with the 'shadow' (our own dark desires) in us and in the world. And to deepen in to the love below.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
This Schumacher Briefing looks at how to connect `people, environment and spirituality'. It draws on psychology, theology and sociology in an unusual blend of cross-disciplinary thinking. It's quite technical, and a little advanced compared to what I normally read, but it did begin to click into place after two or three chapters.
McIntosh's premise is that we are disconnected from each other and from the earth, because our modern world has talked itself out of metaphysics. We don't even have a shared language any more for the soul, the spiritual, the deeper ties that give us our sense of identity and of place. And yet, community is built on three strands: soil, soul, and society. It requires all three, and "the breaking of friendship between any one of these three ruptures the fabric of reality."
In order to restore community, we need to acknowledge the role of the spiritual - what McIntosh refers to as teaching `psycho-spiritual literacy'. Out of this inner work, understanding ourselves better, the outer signs of community can then flow. We can begin to take responsibility for ourselves and for others, learn to share feelings of both joy and sorrow, create and nurture shared values.
Those interested in stimulating community may find this book a little dry, long on theory and short on practice. If you're looking for practical ideas you might need to look elsewhere, but if you enjoy psychology, this is a fascinating and unusual book.
McIntosh's premise is that we are disconnected from each other and from the earth, because our modern world has talked itself out of metaphysics. We don't even have a shared language any more for the soul, the spiritual, the deeper ties that give us our sense of identity and of place. And yet, community is built on three strands: soil, soul, and society. It requires all three, and "the breaking of friendship between any one of these three ruptures the fabric of reality."
In order to restore community, we need to acknowledge the role of the spiritual - what McIntosh refers to as teaching `psycho-spiritual literacy'. Out of this inner work, understanding ourselves better, the outer signs of community can then flow. We can begin to take responsibility for ourselves and for others, learn to share feelings of both joy and sorrow, create and nurture shared values.
Those interested in stimulating community may find this book a little dry, long on theory and short on practice. If you're looking for practical ideas you might need to look elsewhere, but if you enjoy psychology, this is a fascinating and unusual book.
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