Praise for
The Resilience Imperative
At last, a comprehensive, hands-on guide to all the viable cooperative community-building options inherent in the great transition to cleaner, greener, more equitable economies.
Hazel Henderson, D.Sc. Hon., FRSA, author, futurist, and president, Ethical Markets Media
Resilience is the watchword for our dawning era of economic and environmental instability. The Resilience Imperative is exactly whats needed to get us moving in the right direction.
Richard Heinberg, author, The End of Growth, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute
Exceptionally valuablein vision, in strategic understanding, in concrete ways to build forward. A handbook for a morally meaningful and sustainable future!
Gar Alperovitz, author of America Beyond Capitalism, and Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy, University of Maryland
There are books that describe the desirability of a good society and others the feasibility The Resilience Imperative is unique in that it achieves both. It does so by unifying means and ends. Its a book you should read and then go away and do.
Neal Lawson, Chair of Compass UK and author of All Consuming
The Resilience Imperative tells us that it is ok to dream in the daytime. The authors are practical pioneers with an unrivalled track record of co-operative innovation. In this book, they show how they have done it.
Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK
This book is a beacon of hope. It sets out so clearly why business as usual is disastrous for both us and the planet, and spells out the necessary solutions. It then goes much further by demonstrating brilliantly the many positive changes that are already happening and which point the way to a resilient, fair and flourishing future. It ends by challenging each of us to look at what we are going to do personally to advance the Great Transition. This is a primer for life and how to live it.
Stewart Wallis, Executive Director, new economics foundation UK
The Resilience Imperative offers practical innovations for individuals and communities to help transition to a more humane steady-state economy. Realistic, accessible and uplifting, it is an important contribution to contemporary debates about our global future.
Ann Pettifor, Director of PRIME Economics and author of The Coming First World Debt Crisis
The Resilience Imperative is one of the most compelling books available in pointing the way to a necessary, new way of living with respect in Creation. If there is one book to read, this is it.
Very Rev. Dr. Bill Phipps, moderator, United Church of Canada 1997-2000, chair of Faith and the Common Good
A remarkable book, as far-ranging as it is deep, informed both by historical precedents and emerging innovations. Those of us working in nonprofit finance in the United States will benefit enormously from [the authors] perspective.
Clifford Rosenthal, President and CEO, National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions USA
Lewis and Conaty chart, with practical examples, the robust alternative of co-operative forms of enterprise which work for the benefit of all rather than the enrichment of the few.it is an essential read.
David A Rodgers, President, International Co-operative Alliance Housing Sector Organisation
If you, like me, are searching for something practical and inspiring to counter and replace the social and economic destruction towards which this world seems rushing. The Resilience Imperative is your book. Grab it, read it, think about how you and your friends can use it.
Stewart E. Perry, author Communities on the Way: Rebuilding Local Economies in the United States and Canada
What is exceptional about The Resilience Imperative is that the persuasiveness of its arguments is enhanced by the incredible range of practical examples which show both what needs to be done, and the arguments and policies required to ensure these beacons can be replicated to become the norm. It will be an invaluable resource and Im sure much used by countless activists to put illustrative flesh on their campaign goals.
Colin Hines, Convener UK Green New Deal group
The Resilience Imperative is a most welcome and timely contribution to the field of sustainability studies, offering both policy makers and practitioners a wealth of ideas to guide the rethinking and reforming of the capitalist paradigm.
John Restakis, Executive Director, BC Co-operative Association, and author of Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the Age of Capital
[The authors] practical solutions to enhance democracy are signposts for a cultural shift to solidarity, co-operation and sufficiency, offering a future rich with possibilities. The challenge shared by all of us is to build momentum for that shift. The Resilience Imperative makes a vital contribution to those urgent efforts.
Michael Toye, Executive Director, Canadian Community Economic Development Network
Copyright 2012 by Mike Lewis and Pat Conaty.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
New Society Publishers acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.
Ebook ISBN 978-1-55092-505-0
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Resilience Imperative should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America)
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Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
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P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada (250) 247-9737
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Lewis, Mike, 1952
The resilience imperative : cooperative transitions to a steady-state economy / Michael Lewis and Pat Conaty.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55092-505-0
1. Sustainable development. 2. Sustainable development--Case studies. 3. Cooperative societies--Case studies. 4. Environmental economics. 5. Social change--Economic aspects. I. Conaty, Pat II. Title.
HC79.E5L49 2012338.927C2012-901825-2
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Contents
F IRST AND FOREMOST WE WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE that our efforts have been inspired and informed by the brilliance and thoughtfulness of many, many people who have grappled with how to shape a more fair, just and sustainable human civilization. We have had the privilege of internalizing some of their profound insights and wisdom as we wrote this book. You will see their names and citations throughout.
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