Wheatley Margaret J - Walk out, walk on : a learning journey into communities daring to live the future now

If this world does not have a place for us,
then another world must be made.

Zapatista saying

This book is dedicated to
the people of the Berkana Exchange,
who are making another world.

If there is any hope for us it lies in rediscovering and recreating communitybringing forth our DNA as social animals into todays world. Do not doubt that this is possible. Do not doubt that the resilience of life-creating conditions is present among us. Indeed, this is exactly what is happening in increasingly diverse social settings. Read Walk Out Walk On and see for yourselfand see your self.

Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline and coauthor of Presence and The Necessary Revolution

Exuberant and galvanizing, this book takes us to where the future is happening. And that is not in the corridors of power but on the grassroots level where a trans-local movement is unleashing human creativity and smarts.

Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self and other books

This book makes an outstanding contribution to the study of resilience and resilient communities in a world that is increasingly devoid of confidence and trust, one that desperately needs to be reassured that people have the power to claim their right to live and learn. This book will help inspire those warriors without weapons in tackling the issues of food security, education, health, justice, and the sustainability of our environment across the diverse communities that make up our planet Earth.

Jim Varghese, Executive Director, Springfield Land Corporation; former Director-General, Government of Queensland; and Member, Order of Australia

A well-told tale of a journey of discovery of the arts of living. Read it with an open heart and it will take you to a soul place far beyond your normal experience. It should be read by everyone who feels an impulse to go abroad to fix the worlds poor.

David Korten, author of Agenda for a New Economy, The Great Turning, and When Corporations Rule the World

This is a masterpiece, lucid and illuminating. The authors narrate seven great stories of true transformation, inspiration, and leadership.

Satish Kumar, cofounder, Schumacher College; editor, Resurgence magazine; and author of No Destination, You Are Therefore I Am, and other books

We desperately need a new approach to resist prevailing destructive systems and to renew the fabric of community and ecological health. The experiments profiled in this important book embody such visions. I hope their inspiration travels far and wide.

Helena Norberg-Hodge, author of Ancient Futures

This book gives insight and beauty to what is becoming the new, new worldthe world beyond consumerism and all of its side effects. It is an intimate journey through communities and citizens who are creating a future with their own hearts, hands, and relationships. Written with poetic and reflective grace, it moves forward the movement toward communities and economies of gifts, generosity, local control, and care.

Peter Block, author of Community and coauthor of The Abundant Community

This is one of the most poetic, provocative, and powerful books on community-based societal change and coevolution I have read in more than forty years of working with social movements and community development, as well as with large-scale systems change in corporate settings. Deborah and Meg provide unerring conceptual clarityinviting us to see and sense the deeper dynamics and principles that we can each call on as resources for work in our own local communities and organizations.

Juanita Brown, cofounder, The World Caf, and coauthor of The World Caf

The book is a jewel for everyone working to create a better world. Walk out of what youve been doing and walk on to these stories and experiences made rich by reflection. Walk on to deep truths acknowledged here. Walk on to wisdom shared.

Angela Blanchard, CEO, Neighborhood Centers Inc., Houston

WALK OUT
WALK ON

Other books by Margaret Wheatley

Leadership and the New Science
A Simpler Way (with Myron Kellner-Rogers)
Turning to One Another
Finding Our Way
Perseverance

A LEARNING JOURNEY INTO COMMUNITIES
DARING TO LIVE THE FUTURE NOW

MARGARET WHEATLEY
DEBORAH FRIEZE

Walk Out Walk On

Copyright 2011 by Margaret J. Wheatley and Deborah Frieze
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Ordering information for print editions
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First Edition
Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-60509-731-2
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-732-9
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-733-6

2011-1

Production management: Michael Bass Associates
Book and cover designer: Canace Pulfer
Cover photograph: Aeron Miller
Other photograpy credits may be found in Credits and Sources in the back of the book.

The whole globe is shook up, so what are you going to do when things are falling apart?

Youre either going to become more fundamentalist and try to hold things together,

or youre going to forsake the old ambitions and goals and live life as an experiment,

making it up as you go along.

Pema Chdrn
Buddhist Teacher