by Bob Garfield (Isbn-13: 9780984065103)

What happens when the old world order collapses and the Brave New World is unprepared to replace it as an ad medium, as a news source, as a political soapbox, a channel for new episodes of Lost? Welcome to The Chaos Scenario. It’s here, and Bob Garfield saw it coming. In his roles as Advertising Age editor-at-large and as co-host of NPR’s On the Media, Bob Garfield long ago connected dots that many in media and marketing refused even to acknowledge. In this fascinating, terrifying, instructive and…

by Stephen Chan (Isbn-13: 9781848133044)

This is a magical realist book on world politics. Stephen Chan takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride through how we can establish a new kind of international relations and construct a common future for the planet.  The book’s main argument is that international politics has failed because the certainties of singular traditions of philosophy fail to help us in understanding power shifts and struggles in an endlessly diverse world.  Chan argues that fusing different strands of Western, Eastern,…

by Ted Striphas (Isbn-13: 9780231148146)

Ted Striphas argues that, although the production and propagation of books have undoubtedly entered a new phase, printed works are still very much a part of our everyday lives. With examples from trade journals, news media, films, advertisements, and a host of other commercial and scholarly materials, Striphas tells a story of modern publishing that proves, even in a rapidly digitizing world, books are anything but dead. From the rise of retail superstores to Oprah’s phenomenal reach, Striphas tracks…

by Jonathan Friedman

Although the United States is currently the world’s only military and economic superpower, the nation’s superpower status may not last. The possible futures of the global system and the role of U.S. power are illuminated by careful study of the past. This book addresses the problems of conceptualizing and assessing hegemonic rise and decline in comparative and historical perspective. Several chapters are devoted to the study of hegemony in premodern world-systems. And several chapters scrutinize…

by Susan Strange
3 customers reviewed this article averaging 5.0

Isbn-13: 9780472066933

The world’s financial system is crazier and even more out of control than it was ten years ago. Mad Money analyzes the erratic nature of change and innovation in financial business in recent years and discusses the weak points–political as well as economic and technical–of a system driven more by volatile markets than by governments. The central issue is global finance; “mad money” is how Susan Strange characterizes the alternately rampant and depressed financial markets of recent years. She sets…

by Marilyn Hamilton (Isbn-13: 9780865716292)

Evolving city intelligences mesh, multiply and integrate all city capacities. This book makes courageous placemaking connections, opens up new relationship pathways, brings hope for solving intractable problems and shows how cities are learning. Integral City takes an evolutionary perspective for city resilience. Chapters explore:• 4 meta-maps for city wholeness• Bio-psycho-cultural-social intelligences for city change• 12 appreciative inquiries for evolutionary direction• Meshworking strategies…

This books is almost a showcase of what is ‘wrong’ with the system of today, applied to Food. It shows that the economic-crisis is maybe all wa talk about, but a underlying food-crisis is everything but over. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” These simple words go to the heart of Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. Humans used to know how to eat well, Pollan argues. But the balanced dietary lessons that were once passed down through generations have been confused, complicated, and distorted by globalization, government, scientification, dislocation etc…

Creating Better Futures: Scenario Planning As a Tool for A Better Tomorrow
by James A. Ogilvy
6 customers reviewed this article averaging 4.5

Isbn-13: 9780195146110

As a founder and managing director of Global Business Network, James Ogilvy helped develop the technique of scenario planning, which has become an integral part of strategic thinking in both business and government. Now Ogilvy shows how we can use this cutting-edge method for social change in our own neighborhoods. In Creating Better Futures, Ogilvy presents a profound new vision of how the world is changing–and how it can be changed for the better. Ogilvy argues that self-defined communities,…

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
by Richard H. Thaler
52 customers reviewed this article averaging 4.0

Isbn-13: 9780300122237

Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we all are susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes make us poorer and less healthy; we often make bad decisions involving education, personal finance, health care, mortgages and credit cards, the family, and even the planet itself. Thaler…