The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community

by David Korten

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New York: Stylus 2006

We are living in a time of tremendous change.  Some of the ongoing shifts are quite disturbing, such as the economic news, and some of them seem quite positive, such as the expansion of sociocultural possibilities.  But we know there are many forces at work, it’s all very complex, and we don’t want to be rushing off in all directions – or to retreat out of fear.  What we need is an explanatory story – to help us understand the forces and direction of the changes, so that we can choose what part we want to play in this great transition. 

David Korten’s The Great Turning offers such a story.  His intention, he says, is “to provide a historically grounded frame for understanding the possibilities of the unique time in which we live and thereby enable us to envision the path to a new era.  Failing such understanding, we will continue to squander valuable time and resources on futile efforts to preserve or mend the cultures and institutions of a system that cannot be fixed and must be replaced.”  Elsewhere he adds, “We can change the human course by changing the framing stories of our dominant culture. The prevailing Empire stories celebrate the individualism, violence and greed that express the pathologies of our collective human immaturity, while denying the potentials for community, love, and nurturing service that define our more mature human nature. The turning from Empire to Earth Community depends on changing these stories through conversations that make public the transformative inner wisdom we possess as individuals. Institutional change will follow naturally.”  (Korten, Web reference)

Danny Glover calls The Great Turning “an epic work,” and Margaret Wheatley says it’s “a stunning and compassionate tour de force, calling on history, science, economics, and our human goodwill.”  Riane Eisler says it’s “a work of amazing scope and depth.”  I would add that, if you’re interested in these issues, you’ll find this a very readable page-turner.  But more than that:  I am delighted and impressed that Korten not only shows that we are leaving both “strict-father” religion and scientific materialism behind, but also speaks deeply to the spiritual understanding of the mystics: we truly are One, and one with our Source – and that understanding must be the basis for the growing “earth community.” 

Putting this in context, he says, “The historic battle between science and religion for cultural hegemony has left us with an untenable choice between a scientific story that denies spirit, intention, meaning, and consciousness and a religious story that denies reason and the evidence of our senses.  We have paid a terrible price for this self-imposed myopia.  A more accurate and holistic vision of Creation is at hand.  Religious sages have been describing it for millennia.  Scientists on the cutting edge of their disciplines have been staring it in the face for nearly a century, and a few have recognized its deep significance” (p. 264). 

To read more – and to be inspired – get this book!

Dr. Korten is co-founder and board chair of Positive Futures Network, which publishes YES! A Journal of Positive Futures, a board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, an associate of the International Forum on Globalization, and a member of the Club of Rome.  His 1995 book, When Corporations Rule the World has become a modern classic, and his most recent book, Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth has long waiting lists at public libraries.  See http://www.davidkorten.org/ for more.

Reviewed by Judy Steele, MTP, who uses powerful energy medicine and energy psychology techniques with her many coaching and counseling clients.  Her goal is to bring about positive changes, whether the client is an individual, a group or organization, or a society.  Learn more at www.schoolforliving.org

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