A stirring case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction With research and insight, Charles Eisenstein details how the quantification of the natural world leads to a lack of integration and our “fight” mentality. With an entire chapter unpacking the climate change denier’s point of view, he advocates for expanding our exclusive focus on carbon emissions to see the broader picture beyond our short-sighted and incomplete approach. The rivers, forests, and creatures of the natural and material world are sacred and valuable in their own right—not simply for carbon credits or preventing the extinction of one species versus another. After all, when you ask someone why they first became an environmentalist, they’re likely to point to the river they played in, the ocean they visited, the wild animals they observed, or the trees they climbed when they were a kid. This refocusing away from impending catastrophe and our inevitable doom cultivates meaningful emotional and psychological connections and provides real, actionable steps to caring for the earth. Freeing ourselves from a war mentality and seeing the bigger picture of how everything from prison reform to saving the whales can contribute to our planetary ecological health, we resist reflexive postures of solution and blame and reach toward the deep place where commitment lives.
Flipping the script on climate change, Eisenstein makes a case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction
With research and insight, Charles Eisenstein details how the quantification of the natural world leads to a lack of integration and our "fight" mentality. With an entire chapter unpacking the climate change denier's point of view, he advocates for expanding our exclusive focus on carbon emissions to see the broader picture beyond our short-sighted and incomplete approach. The rivers, forests, and creatures of the natural and material world are sacred and valuable in their own right, not simply for carbon credits or preventing the extinction of one species versus another. After all, when you ask someone why they first became an environmentalist, they're likely to point to the river they played in, the ocean they visited, the wild animals they observed, or the trees they climbed when they were a kid. This refocusing away from impending catastrophe and our inevitable doom cultivates meaningful emotional and psychological connections and provides real, actionable steps to caring for the earth. Freeing ourselves from a war mentality and seeing the bigger picture of how everything from prison reform to saving the whales can contribute to our planetary ecological health, we resist reflexive postures of solution and blame and reach toward the deep place where commitment lives.
“What a blast of sanity! Eisenstein's corrective is a bracing piece of work, dazzlingly thought through and eloquent in its articulation. He writes from within an uncannily woke worldview, enacting a full-bodied way of thinking that discerns and feels into the complex entanglement of our lives with every facet of this breathing biosphere. This book is visionary and prophetic, achingly grounded and useful to the max.”
—David Abram, cultural ecologist, geophilosopher, and author of
Becoming Animaland
The Spell of the Sensuous“There is nothing ‘safe’ in these writings; almost every chapter courts controversy. We as readers are the beneficiaries of this bravery. This is a message that must be heard loud and clear as we chart a path toward social and ecological renewal.”
—Helena Norberg-Hodge, author and filmmaker of
Ancient Futures and The Economics of Happiness “This is a groundbreaking book. Eisenstein makes an inspiring, positive, and convincing case for a full and proper understanding of the present human predicament—a radical shift from a utilitarian worldview to an integral world view rooted in a sense of the sacred which recognizes the intrinsic value of nature and life.”
—Satish Kumar, founder of Schumacher College and editor emeritus of
Resurgence & Ecologist “This book is brave enough, vulnerable enough, insightful enough to activate a truth buried deep within all of our hearts: that the planetary crisis we face today can only be transformed by a revolution of love. It calls each of us to break with our patterns of war thinking and realize our interconnectedness with all life on Earth.”
—Jodie Evans, cofounder of Code Pink
“A clarion call to reconnect through love with our living Earth. Eisenstein offers a deeply analyzed and compelling case to collectively move past divisive reductionism, betwixt false Prophets of doom and false Profits of denial, towards a revitalization of reverential relations.”
—Brock Dolman, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, permaculture program, and WATER Institute director
