Holistic Democracy
Resources
Articles/Essays/Op-eds
A Holistic Masterpiece, Wade Lee Hudson
A tour de force by Asoka Bandarage, Sustainability and Well-Being: The Middle Path to Environment, Society and the Economy is in sync with this site’s worldview. This excellent, well-written work presents a holistic framework that addresses both the whole person and the whole world. Published in 2013 this comprehensive essay, as described by its publisher, Palgrave Macmillan UK, offers:
An integrated analysis of the twin challenges of environmental sustainability and human well-being by investigating them as interconnected phenomena requiring a paradigmatic psychosocial transformation. She presents an incisive social science analysis and an alternative philosophical perspective on the needed transition from a worldview of domination to one of partnership.
The Ancient Patterns of Migration, Deborah Barsky.
Today’s hot-button issue is actually as old as the human race…. Since then, peoples of shared inheritance have established strict protocols for assuring their sense of membership in one or another national context. Documents proving birthright guarantee that “outsiders” are kept at a distance and enable strict control by a few chosen authorities, maintaining a stronghold against any possible breach of the system. Members of each social unit are indoctrinated through an elaborate preestablished apprenticeship, institutionally reinforced throughout every facet of life: religious, educational, family, and workplace.
There Is Joy in Struggle, Cornel West.
“What an honor to be here! What a privilege, what a blessing to salute the Class of 2019, Harvard Divinity School.... We know most of human history is a history of domination and oppression and exploitation and degradation. Most of human history is a history of hatred and contempt... As I look at myself, I can see the white supremacy in me. But oh, when I was at Charlottesville, looking in the eyes of those sick, neo-Nazi white brothers, gangsters, thugs, I didn’t lose sight of the gangster in me.”
Towards An Holistic Democracy, Marion Turner-Hawes (2017).
Perhaps we can create not a 'representative' democracy where others speak for us, and where we have to influence them to get our needs met, but instead an holistic democracy where all are heard and we all take part, share and work together, to co-create communities, where we are all valued and we all are able to flourish by cherishing each other. ( Posted by the Citizen Network.)
Philip Woods and Holistic Democracy, Wade Lee Hudson.
“With his systemic analysis, Woods embraces the need for a peaceful 'social order.’ [He writes:] ‘Intersubjective interaction is an important corrective to focusing solely on individual awareness and change... ‘The evolution of values and ideas with enduring validity that transcend narrow interests...also involves co-creation through transforming dialogue and holistic learning’ in a process that is intersubjective and collaborative.
‘There are interests and groups who are marginalised and systematically disadvantaged... Rich democracy addresses systematic social injustices. The full power of democracy, however, is not only as a vehicle for championing the weaker interests and aspiring to inclusive participation. [It counters] a performative and neo-liberal ideology that appears so dominant in many countries…” COMMENT:: The whole thrust of Woods’ work strongly implies he believes all of our systems are interwoven into a single, coherent, dominant social system.’
Reflections on Elizabeth Anderson.
“Anderson’s primary concern is social equality — equality not just in politics and economics but also equality in social relations throughout society — how to treat each other as equals, without trying to dominate, or being willing to submit. She calls this democratic equality.”
What is the Point of Equality?, Elizabeth S. Anderson.
“to create a community in which people stand in relations of equality to others…. People, not nature, are responsible for turning the natural diversity of human beings into oppressive hierarchies…. Egalitarians can take other features of society besides the distribution of goods, such as social norms, as subject to critical scrutiny.”
The Paradox of the Beatitudes, Paul Tillich.
“There is no distinction made in the (Biblical) Beatitudes between spiritual and material want, and there is no distinction made between spiritual and material fulfillment... The Beatitudes praise those who will be fulfilled in their whole being... Perhaps we are right to consider the catastrophe of our present world as a fulfillment of the Woes which Jesus directed against a rich, abundant, laughing, self-congratulating social order.” [NOTE: This link goes to a collection of sermons. Click on The Paradox of the Beatitudes to see this resource.]
America’s Racial Karma, Interview with Larry Ward by Julie Flynn Badal.
“Karma is a theory of action and consequence that describes how good deeds generate good results and more good deeds in a positive feedback loop, while bad deeds do the opposite... It’s just a cycle of action, a pattern that lives inside of us. It’s wired into us neurologically, but also economically, politically, and culturally.
We’re all traumatized by the karma of racism...and the structures that shape our present day,... We’re built for the sublime. But we’ve organized our lives up to this point as fools... The colonial model deprives empathy...
The issues we have in the world today are about hearts and minds trapped in patterns that are no longer adequate. Our systems come out of these patterns. So we have to do the inner work at the same time as outer work. Otherwise, we’re just rearranging furniture on the deck of the Titanic.”
Optimizing Globalization Will Become Possible with a New Paradigm, Hector E Garcia.
“Most societies adapted, in varying degrees, to the management of the economy and technology within globalization, because these sectors are tangible and susceptible to measurement and consensus. Yet, interconnectedness of only the concrete will produce limited synergies and lead to zero-sum games, which mainly allow for either/or, win/lose options of binary logic instead of win/win potentialities…
Humanity has a great capacity to unleash physical forces of global impact, but we have put the cart of progress before the horse of idealism and human agency. Now we need to see reality and ourselves from a broader perspective and think more maturely in order to learn how to harness and direct reality more effectively towards those ideals. The paradoxes and crises of globalization are calling for a shift from the stagnant paradigm of either/or reductionism to a synergistic paradigm of Cultural Complementarity”
Lessons in Constructive Solitude from Thoreau, Holland Cotter.
“…...The education further entailed a total immersion in Nature — in plants, in seasons, in stars, in all creatures four-legged, winged and scaled. For Thoreau, Nature was a communicating consciousness, and he wanted to make himself available to it, antennas raised. Full receptivity required removal from ego-driven clamor, which was how, in his most stressed moments, he viewed human discourse...
Finally, he used his set-aside time at Walden to clarify his political thinking. For Thoreau, revolution began at home, one person at a time. ‘We must first succeed alone,’ he wrote, ‘that we may enjoy our success together.’ In his view, purposeful solitude and justice-minded community were codependent, the source of long-term social health. He knew what his view was up against: among other things, America’s antsy addiction to distraction and its led-by-the-nose, corporation-fed faith in utopian technology.”
Holistic Democracy and Physical Public Space, John Parksinson (2009).
My starting point for this discussion is a holistic, deliberative view of democratic societies and the various actions and roles that are expected of democratic citizens. It recognizes the importance of creative spaces for action in the “informal” public sphere and in the “formal” public sphere of representative institutions, with a range of mediating institutions in between.
Books
Sustainability and Well-Being: The Middle Path to Environment, Society and the Economy, Asoka Banaarage.
A tour de force by Asoka Bandarage, Sustainability and Well-Being: The Middle Path to Environment, Society and the Economy is in sync with this site’s worldview. This excellent, well-written work presents a holistic framework that addresses both the whole person and the whole world. Published in 2013 this comprehensive essay, as described by its publisher, Palgrave Macmillan UK, offers:
An integrated analysis of the twin challenges of environmental sustainability and human well-being by investigating them as interconnected phenomena requiring a paradigmatic psychosocial transformation. She presents an incisive social science analysis and an alternative philosophical perspective on the needed transition from a worldview of domination to one of partnership.
Human Dignity and World Order: The Holistic Foundations of Global Democracy (2024), Glen T. Martin.
“We must establish our world order on the principles of human dignity if we want a credible future for humanity. This book shows how and why this is so. It investigates the meaning of human dignity in relation to current scholarly work as well as in terms of the depths of our subjective lives from which the concept of dignity arises. It contrasts the concept of dignity with our current world system engulfed in endless wars, immense inequality, systems of economic injustice, and on-going environmental destruction. It shows the relationship between dignity, human rights, and global moral principles and lays out ten fundamental principles for a planetary ethics. The book contrasts the holistic paradigm uncovered by 20th century science with the fragmented paradigm that persists at the heart of the present world system, showing how and why a conversion to holism and dignity is both necessary and possible.
Human Dignity and World Order shows that we have not yet fully understood our human existential situation as temporal beings oriented toward the future who possess the largely untapped power of a liberating “utopian imagination.” Through examining our fundamental human condition, it unveils our vast potential for self-transcendence and transformation…”
Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson.
“The human impulse to create hierarchies runs across societies and cultures, predates the idea of race, and thus is farther reaching, deeper, and older than raw racism and the comparatively new division of humans by skin color.
In a world without caste, instead of a false swagger over our own tribe... we would look upon all of humanity with wonderment… Being male or female, light or dark, immigrant or native-born, would have no bearing on what anyone was perceived as being capable of… We would all be invested in the well-being of others in our species if only for our own survival, and recognize that we are in need of one another more than we have been led to believe. We would join forces with indigenous people around the world raising the alarm as fires rage and glaciers melt. We would see that, when others suffer, the collective human body is set back from the progression of our species.
A world without caste would set everyone free. [read more]
Creating a World That Works for All, Sharif Abdullah.
“The Mender Pledge: I believe in inclusivity. I believe that our lives are inextricably linked one to another. We cannot wage war against anyone without waging war against ourselves. Therefore, I will practice inclusivity with myself, my family, my community, the natural world, and all others. I will actively work toward the goal of an inclusive society, a world that works for all. I know that we are One. Therefore, I will give to you what I want for me. I know there is enough for all. I want everyone to win. Therefore, I will work to resolve all conflicts to every party’s satisfaction. I want acceptance, Therefore, I will accept myself for who and what I am. I will accept you for who and what you are, and I will accept all others for who and what they are. Even if I resist your behavior, I will accept you as a Child of God, a part of the Divine. I want no harm. Therefore, I will not harm myself or you or any others, by thought, word, or deed. I want forgiveness. Therefore, I will forgive myself, I will forgive you, and I will forgive all others. I want to be free. Therefore, I will not let others dominate, control, or manipulate me. And I will not dominate, control, or manipulate you or others. I want peace. Therefore, I will be peaceful with myself, with you, and with others. I want love. Therefore, I will love myself, I will love you and I will love all others. [See Donald Trump: The Triumph of Frustration, The Failure Of Vision, Shariff M. Abdullah.]
The Spiritual Activist: Practices to Transform Your Life, Your Work, and Your World (2002), Claudia Horwitz.
Citing the pervasiveness of burnout in such trades as social work, teaching, non-profit administration, volunteerism, and art, a guide for readers seeking to make a difference in the world cites the importance of faith and spiritual practice in social activism and offers advice on slowing down, reinforcing relationships, and balancing work and a personal life.
Clash or Complement of Cultures? Peace and Productivity in the New Global Reality, Hector E, Garcia.
“This book recommends a balance between cooperation and competition in intercultural/international relations, with more emphasis on the former. To make this possible, it describes a paradigm shift and demonstrates why it is logical and how it can be attained — thus going beyond traditional legal and moral compliance. Compliance has been insufficient because morality has been significantly dismissed as a “soft value,” and civil rights laws have been circumvented and frequently ineffective.
The book proposes that revolutionary changes caused by globalization require an equivalent paradigm. Interdependence inherent to globalization will not function if winning-is-the-only-thing mindset continues to prevail in the U.S. and the West.
Cultural Complementarity is validated through respected principles and practices in quantum physics, education, business, and economics. End chapters focus on national and international applications of the paradigm. Appendices have data and suggested programs to test and implement the theory.”
New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World—and How to Make It Work for You, Jeremy Heiman & Henry Timms.
They make a strong case for dynamics that are “open, participatory, and peer driven.” Yet they also write: ”As we see with ISIS and the growing hordes of white supremacists,... the tools that bring us closer together can also drive us further apart.” Heimans and Timms argue we can avoid this danger by creating “a world in which all major social and economic institutions are designed so that [all] people can more meaningfully shape every aspect of their lives.” (see review)
NEXT: Systemic