The Great Turning

The Great Turning

by
Released October 2007
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781576755396

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Book description

David Korten’s classic bestseller When Corporations Rule the World was one of the first books to articulate the destructive and oppressive nature of the global corporate economy. In The Great Turning he argues that corporate consolidation of power is merely one manifestation of what he calls “Empire”: the organization of society through hierarchy and violence that has largely held sway for the past 5,000 years. The Great Turning traces the evolution of Empire from ancient times to the present day but also tells the parallel story of the attempt to develop a democratic alternative to Empire, beginning in Athens and continuing with the founding of the United States of America—although elitists with an imperial agenda have consistently sought to undermine the bold and inspiring “American experiment.” Finally, Korten draws on evidence from sources as varied as evolutionary theory, developmental psychology, and religious teachings to make the case that “Earth Community”—a life-centered, egalitarian, sustainable alternative to Empire based on democratic principles of partnership—is indeed possible. And he outlines a grassroots strategy for beginning the momentous turning toward a future of as-yet-unrealized human potential.

Table of contents

  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. PRAISE FOR THE GREAT TURNING
  5. DEDICATED TO
  6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  7. THE GREAT TURNING
  8. PROLOGUE: IN SEARCH OF THE POSSIBLE
    1. GROWING UP ON A SHRINKING PLANET
    2. THE TRAGEDY OF UNREALIZED POTENTIAL
    3. RESISTING CORPORATE-LED ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
    4. FOR EVERY NO THERE MUST BE A YES
    5. GETTING TO THE GREAT TURNING
    6. SYNOPSIS OF THE ARGUMENT
    7. THE BOOK
  9. PART I: CHOOSING OUR FUTURE
    1. CHAPTER 1: THE CHOICE
      1. HACIENDA SANTA TERESA
      2. DEMONSTRATING POSSIBILITIES
      3. THE DEFINING CHOICE
      4. THE LAST FREEDOM
    2. CHAPTER 2: THE POSSIBILITY
      1. AWAKENING CONSCIOUSNESS
      2. PSYCHOLOGY OF EMPIRE
      3. PSYCHOLOGY OF EARTH COMMUNITY
      4. CULTURAL POLITICS
    3. CHAPTER 3: THE IMPERATIVE
      1. A PLANET UNDER CRIPPLING STRESS
      2. REALITY ATTACK
      3. WARS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION
      4. GOING TO A HIGHER ORBIT
      5. THE GREAT WORK
    4. CHAPTER 4: THE OPPORTUNITY
      1. CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS
      2. SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS
      3. A GLOBAL PHENOMENON
      4. INSTITUTIONAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL MEANS
      5. FROM CONSCIOUSNESS TO ACTION
  10. PART II: SORROWS OF EMPIRE
    1. CHAPTER 5: WHEN GOD WAS A WOMAN
      1. A WELL-KEPT SECRET
      2. IN THE BEGINNING
      3. GODDESS CIVILIZATIONS
      4. TURNING TO EMPIRE: A GENDER PERSPECTIVE
      5. TURNING TO EMPIRE: A SCALE PERSPECTIVE
      6. SMALL AND BALANCED
      7. HIS-STORY
    2. CHAPTER 6: ANCIENT EMPIRE
      1. MESOPOTAMIA
      2. EGYPT
      3. ROME
      4. FEUDAL FIEFDOMS
    3. CHAPTER 7: MODERN EMPIRE
      1. CRIME LORDS AND SYNDICATES
      2. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE
      3. IMPERIAL COUNTERATTACK
      4. MONEY RULES
    4. CHAPTER 8: ATHENIAN EXPERIMENT
      1. ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
      2. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
      3. RESOLVING THE LEADERSHIP DILEMMA
      4. THE ENLIGHTENMENT
  11. PART III: AMERICA, THE UNFINISHED PROJECT
    1. CHAPTER 9: INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNING
      1. PLUTOCRACY
      2. THEOCRACY
      3. GENOCIDE
      4. SLAVERY
    2. CHAPTER 10: PEOPLE POWER REBELLION
      1. FORCES OF PLURALISM
      2. A REBELLIOUS AND ITINERANT SPIRIT
      3. WALKING AWAY FROM THE KING
      4. ELITE TAKEOVER
    3. CHAPTER 11: EMPIRE’S VICTORY
      1. WHO WILL RULE? A NATION BY, FOR, AND OF WHITE MEN OF PROPERTY
      2. CONSTITUTIONAL PLUTOCRACY
      3. THE FEDERALIST PROGRAM
      4. THE JEFFERSONIAN PROGRAM
      5. WESTWARD EXPANSION
      6. IMPERIAL CORPORATIONS
      7. GOING GLOBAL
      8. DRIVE TO IMPERIAL HEGEMONY
    4. CHAPTER 12: STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE
      1. WORDS THAT REFUSE TO DIE
      2. STRUGGLES OF THE MIDDLE AND WORKING CLASSES
      3. A NEW DEAL
    5. CHAPTER 13: WAKE-UP CALL
      1. CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES TO EMPIRE
      2. STEALTH POLITICS
      3. PLUTOCRACY AS A BIPARTISAN CAUSE
      4. WAKE-UP CALL
      5. VISION OF PAX AMERICANA
    6. CHAPTER 14: PRISONS OF THE MIND
      1. IMPERIAL PROSPERITY STORY
      2. IMPERIAL SECURITY STORY
      3. IMPERIAL MEANING STORIES
      4. NARROWING THE DEBATE
  12. PART IV: THE GREAT TURNING
    1. CHAPTER 15: BEYOND STRICT FATHER VERSUS AGING CLOCK
      1. GRAND CONFRONTATION
      2. TELL ME YOUR IMAGE OF GOD
      3. SCIENCE OF A LIVING COSMOS
      4. STEP TO MATURITY
    2. CHAPTER 16: CREATION’S EPIC JOURNEY
      1. A CONTEMPORARY CREATION STORY
      2. LIFE IS THE POWER TO CHOOSE
      3. LIFE IS STRUGGLE
      4. LIFE IS MUTUAL EMPOWERMENT
      5. LESSONS FROM A FOREST ECOSYSTEM
      6. LESSONS FROM THE HUMAN BODY
    3. CHAPTER 17: JOYS OF EARTH COMMUNITY
      1. HARDWIRED TO CONNECT
      2. THE INVISIBLE CURRICULUM
      3. NATURE AS TEACHER
      4. EARTH COMMUNITY
      5. HAPPINESS IS A CARING COMMUNITY
    4. CHAPTER 18: STORIES FOR A NEW ERA
      1. EARTH COMMUNITY PROSPERITY STORY
      2. EARTH COMMUNITY SECURITY STORY
      3. EARTH COMMUNITY MEANING STORY
      4. DISCOVERING AND SHARING STORIES OF THE POSSIBLE
  13. PART V: BIRTHING EARTH COMMUNITY
    1. CHAPTER 19: LEADING FROM BELOW
      1. THE STRATEGY
      2. ECONOMIC TURNING
      3. POLITICAL TURNING
      4. CULTURAL TURNING
    2. CHAPTER 20: BUILDING A POLITICAL MAJORITY
      1. CULTURAL POLITICS
      2. FOUNDATIONS OF A POLITICAL CONSENSUS
      3. FOR THE CHILDREN
      4. A CONSERVATIVE-LIBERAL ALLIANCE
    3. CHAPTER 21: LIBERATING CREATIVE POTENTIAL
      1. LIVING ECONOMIES
      2. LIVING POLITICS
      3. LIVING CULTURES
    4. CHAPTER 22: CHANGE THE STORY, CHANGE THE FUTURE
      1. TO CHANGE THE FUTURE
      2. FINDING OUR PLACE
      3. RESPONDING TO THE CALL
  14. NOTES
    1. THE GREAT TURNING
    2. Prologue: In Search of the Possible
    3. PART I: CHOOSING OUR FUTURE
    4. PART II: SORROWS OF EMPIRE
    5. PART III: AMERICA, THE UNFINISHED PROJECT
    6. PART IV: THE GREAT TURNING
    7. PART V: BIRTHING EARTH COMMUNITY
  15. INDEX
  16. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  17. ALSO FROM KUMARIAN PRESS…
    1. CIVIL SOCIETY AND GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
    2. NEW AND FORTHCOMING KUMARIAN PRESS TITLES
  18. ABOUT BERRETT-KOEHLER PUBLISHERS
    1. A BK CURRENTS TITLE
    2. SELECTED BK CURRENTS TITLES FROM BERRETT-KOEHLER PUBLISHERS
    3. BE CONNECTED

Product information

  • Title: The Great Turning
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: October 2007
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781576755396