Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots [Paperback]

Kevin Danaher (Author), Shannon Biggs (Author), Jason Mark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2007

After centuries of economic activity based on extraction, exploitation, and depletion, we now face undeniable environmental threats. New business models that save or restore natural resources are critical. But how can we translate that insight into more sustainable practices?

Building the Green Economy shows how community groups, families, and individual citizens have taken action to protect their food and water, clean up their neighborhoods, and strengthen their local economies. Their unlikely victories—over polluters, unresponsive bureaucracies, and unexamined routines—dramatize the opportunities and challenges facing the local green economy movement.

Drawing on their extensive experience at Global Exchange and elsewhere, the authors also:

Lay out strategies for a more successful green movement
Describe how communities have protected their victories from legal and political challenges
Provide key resources for local activists
Include conversations with Rocky Anderson, Lois Gibbs, Anuradha Mittal, David Morris, Michael Shuman, and other activists and leaders.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Described by The New York Times as the “Paul Revere of globalization’s woes,” Dr. Kevin Danaher is a cofounder of Global Exchange, Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center, and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals in San Francisco, Washington, DC, Chicago and Seattle. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including Ten Reasons to Abolish the IMF and World Bank (Seven Stories Press), and (with Jason Mark) Insurrection: Citizen Challenges to Corporate Power(Routledge).

Shannon Biggs directs the Local Economy project at Global Exchange. As a former senior staffer at the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) she wrote for and edited IFG publications, and was a lecturer on International Relations at San Francisco State University. She holds a Masters degree from the London School of Economics in economics, empire and post-colonialism.

Dubbed a “rebel with a cause” by TIME magazine, Jason Mark is an author-activist who helped launch the national Freedom from Oil campaign. His writings have appeared in Orion, The Nation, Grist, Alternet, and E, among other publications. He lives in San Francisco, where he co-manages an urban organic farm (www.alemanyfarm.org) and edits the environmental quarterly Earth Island Journal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Paradigm Publishers (September 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977825361
• ISBN-13: 978-0977825363
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book July 31, 2008

By Paula A.

Format:Paperback

This book was an excellent compendium of stories and interviews that provide a baseline of hope for the Green movement. But it is more -- it illustrates the limits of our current political system and shows how the needs of our citizens are constantly sacrificed for the benefit of multi-national corporations. Although the subtitle is "success stories from the grassroots", it really is as much a call to grassroots political activism as it is a celebration of it. Basically, the message is that people have to get to work, starting in their own neighborhoods and working outward and upward because positive change is very unlikely to come down to us from the top.

One of the most significant issues this book addresses is the fact that corporations have become entities that enjoy all the benefits that "people" do, but have none of the burdens of accountability that people have. Corporations were originally entities formed on a temporary basis and their charters had to be reviewed and re-approved, and would get "re-approval" if what they did benefited their communities. Now corporations operate like armies without countries, able to impose their laws on cities, states and nations. Thus companies are free to poison our ground, water and air, and in some cases literally kill people, with impunity. As a result, cities, towns and so on around the nation have been amending their charters to assert their sovereignity over their own communities. The lesson there is that many efforts need to be multi-pronged - the political problem needs to be addressed before the environmental problem can be solved.

Also of note is the theme of empowerment - teaching citizens that they can effect change, and how they can do it.

There was really a lot packed into this book and I highly recommend it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Empowering and exciting January 6, 2008

By Dew Drop

Format:Paperback

This was one of my favorite books of 2007. The book offers a variety of accessible, engaging tales from the front lines. From worm poop to the Boston Tea Party, the authors do a great job of telling stories that leave the reader feeling refreshed, educated, and heartened. Whether you're a seasoned activist or just getting involved, this book offers a variety of resources and success stories. It's time that we start celebrating what works in our communities, and this book shows how.