Search results for ""Local Futures""

In recent decades, globalization has transformed rural societies and economies across the world. Much has been written by social scientists about the actors and structures underpinning these transformations and the effects on particular social groups, organizations and industries. Yet, to date much less attention has been given to the specific global processes that are fundamental to contemporary rural change. Rural Change and Global Processes provides a systematic analysis of the key global processes transforming rural spaces in the early 21st century – financialization; standardization; consumption, and commodification. Through detailed case studies, the book examines why these processes are important, how they work in practice, and the challenges they raise as well as opportunities created. The book will be of particular relevance to researchers, graduate students, and policy-makers interested in the implications of global processes for rural people and livelihoods.

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From a renowned pioneer of the anti-globalization movement, a primer on working towards a localized world From disappearing livelihoods to financial instability, from climate chaos to an epidemic of depression, we face crises on a number of seemingly unrelated fronts. This well-referenced book traces the common roots of these problems in a globalized economy that is incompatible with life on a finite planet. But Local is Our Future does more than just describe the problem: it describes the policy shifts and grassroots steps – many of them already underway around the world – that can move us towards the local and, thereby, towards a better world.

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From a renowned pioneer of the localization movement, an anthology of essays challenging the narrative that technological progress and an increasingly globalized economy will lead us to a better world This collection of essays has been selected from 30 years of published articles, book chapters and blog posts by the staff of Local Futures, internationally known as pioneers of the emerging localization movement. Some of these writings involve a fundamental rethinking of our most basic assumptions—about progress, poverty, and happiness—while others seek the root causes of our multiple crises, from climate change and income inequality to the erosion of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism. All of them point towards the most strategic steps we can take to confront these problems and bring a healthier, happier world into being. Several of these prescient essays were written decades ago, but they have become even more relevant today as our crises deepen, and the need for systemic change becomes more apparent.

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A moving portrait of tradition and change in Ladakh, or “Little Tibet,” Ancient Futures is also a scathing critique of the global economy and a rallying call for economic localization. When Helena Norberg-Hodge first visited Ladakh in 1975, she found a pristine environment, a self-reliant economy and a people who exhibited a remarkable joie de vivre. But then came a tidal wave of economic growth and development. Over the last four decades, this remote Himalayan land has been transformed by outside markets and Western notions of “progress.” As a direct result, a whole range of problems—from polluted air and water to unemployment, religious conflict, eating disorders and youth suicide—have appeared for the first time. Yet this is far from a story of despair. Social and environmental breakdown, Norberg-Hodge argues, are neither inevitable nor evolutionary, but the products of political and economic decisions—and those decisions can be changed. In a new Preface, she presents a kaleidoscope of projects around the world that are pointing the way for both human and ecological well-being. These initiatives are the manifestation of a rapidly growing localization movement, which works to rebuild place-based cultures—strengthening community and our connection with nature. Ancient Futures challenges us to redefine what a healthy economy means, and to find ways to carry centuries-old wisdom into our future. The book and a related film by the same title have, between them, been translated into more than 40 languages.

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