Dear GTN,
In May, we introduced a new format for the bimonthly GTN discussions. Rather than focus on a formal essay, we asked you to comment on a broad theme (the climate movement) and a structured set of associated topics. This revised approach got
a thumbs up from many of you, so let’s stick with it.
Our July forum—THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY?—will zoom in from a global panorama to the local scale in order to explore the scope for community action to drive a Great Transition. Please organize your comments as responses to one or more of the following topics: The Promise and Pitfalls of Localism
Can bottom-up action and communitarian sensibility anchor a global movement? Or is localism inherently limited by granularity, particularity, and insularity?
Theories of Transformation
What conceptual frameworks provide effective guidance for a consequential glocalism?
Scaling Sideways and Up
What prefigurative approaches are advancing replicable change in the interstices of the dominant system? What new organizing initiatives and coordinating structures are needed to catalyze a transformational movement of local movements?
Brian Tokar, a writer-activist in the social ecology tradition, leads off with his responses to each of these topics, available
here
(also coming soon to your inbox). What are yours? We welcome both succinct and extended comments (up to c. 1,200 words).
The internal GTN discussion will go through Thursday, JULY 31. Then we will publish a curated selection of comments that samples a range of perspectives.
Over to you,
Paul