Sowing the Seeds of Change
New Perennials is premised on the hypothesis that how we grow food and feed ourselves is deeply connected to the way we think about and organize ourselves as human beings in a crowded world. Thoughts matter, and they have been shaping and altering the planet for millenia, from large-scale agriculture to massive structures and cities to electric lights illuminating the night skies as seen from space. The “New” of New Perennials suggests that we can imagine and think differently about our human nature and our relationships with others, and this new thinking might surprise us.
New Perennials publishes books, anthologies, pamphlets, podcasts, videos, and teaching materials that are free for educational and community use. The publications, available to read online and also formatted for easy printing, are designed for students, teachers, and citizens who want to explore new ways of thinking about the social and ecological challenges of our time. Our authors are these very same students, teachers, and citizens, as well as activists, academics, poets, and artists.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
SHAMANIC JOURNEY INTO EARTH’S WISDOM
Humans may be, as Thomas Berry feared, “the affliction of the world,” but the other side of the coin is that we can also be a blessing. The Sisters of Earth Community (both sisters and laywomen) are generators of the latter. Impressive in their reach and impact, they invite us in this volume to explore the power of art as sacred activism; the mystical dimensions of the life source and creator; United Nations work and the global impact of transnational agreements; holistic, Earth-centered approaches to educational curricula; and so much more. — Sarah McFarland Taylor
the Urban Wanderer: A Reimagining of Thoreau’s Walking
Using the language and metaphors of Thoreau’s famous essay, the author transplants Thoreau’s saunterer to the city.
“I wish to make an extreme statement, if only to make an emphatic one: we can all be champions of the city as civilization—workers, keepers of cultures, stewards of Nature. But who will speak for the city as Wildness? Who will say that to walk its streets is to move through a living landscape, where we are not just citizens but also creatures, attuned to the tides, the hush of night?”
Trees Need Roots, Houses Need Foundations, and the World Needs
Mixing a story about a boy on a college campus falling in love, with reasoned and clear philosophical arguments, this pamphlet demonstrates that the lasting impacts of one’s sustainability choices and actions cannot occur without deep-rooted awareness, appreciation, and love of the natural world.
“To make a sustainable world, we really need sustainable people, a sustainable mindset, a sustainable philosophy, and sustainable values. Even if we could manage to implement these grand sustainable systems across the globe, if the people using them aren’t sustainable deep down in their values and mindsets, it’s hard to see that much deep and lasting sustainability will result.”