Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit - Hardcover

Palmer, Parker J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470590807 ISBN 13: 9780470590805

Publisher: Jossey Bass, 2011

Synopsis

Hope for American democracy in an era of deep divisions In Healing the Heart of Democracy, Parker J. Palmer quickens our instinct to seek the common good and gives us the tools to do it. This timely, courageous and practical work intensely personal as well as political is not about them, "those people" in Washington D.C., or in our state capitals, on whom we blame our political problems. It's about us, "We the People," and what we can do in everyday settings like families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations and workplaces to resist divide-and-conquer politics and restore a government "of the people, by the people, for the people." In the same compelling, inspiring prose that has made him a bestselling author, Palmer explores five "habits of the heart" that can help us restore democracy's foundations as we nurture them in ourselves and each other: * An understanding that we are all in this together * An appreciation of the value of "otherness" * An ability to hold tension in life-giving ways * A sense of personal voice and agency * A capacity to create community Healing the Heart of Democracy is an eloquent and empowering call for "We the People" to reclaim our democracy. The online journal Democracy & Education called it "one of the most important books of the early 21st Century." And Publishers Weekly, in a Starred Review, said "This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that will benefit from discussing it."

About this title

Product Description:

Title: Healing the Heart of Democracy( The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit) <>Binding: Hardcover <>Author: ParkerJ.Palmer <>Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Review:

"He bravely takes on the current political climate, and this book provides therapy for the American body politic. His insights are heart-deep: America gains by living with tension and differences; we can help reclaim public life by actions as simple as walking down the street instead of driving. Hope's hardly cheap, but history is made up of what Palmer calls 'a million invisible acts of courage and the incremental gains that came with them.' This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that will benefit from discussing it." ( Publishers Weekly, 8 August 2011) "Healing the Heart of Democracy is a hopeful book that lifts up and hallows the heart as a source of inner sight. Inspired by the efforts to understand and undergird democracy by Abraham Lincoln, Alexis de Tocqueville, Rosa Parks, and others; the author sends us on our way rejoicing with the small portion of hope that he has planted in our minds and souls." (Spirituality & Practice) "There is a deep and disturbing cloud hanging over the United States. It is a malaise that is leading to cynicism and self-centeredness. The antidote is to be found in the healing of the heart of our democracy, so that we might emerge from this private focus to a public one, which recognizes our interdependence. I know of no better guide to discerning the problem and the solutions, than this book by Parker Palmer. It is a prophetic book, one that needs to be taken with all due seriousness, if we are to emerge from our malaise stronger and healthier than before." (Englewood Review of Books, 2011) "[Palmer] has been constantly on the move intellectually and spiritually, a kind of Socratic gadfly in American life... [His] politics is not the politics of despair or...of inevitable progress, but...of people trying to live better lives as they attempt to work together for a better society." (Christian Century) "I recommend this book to absolutely everyone on any side of the political spectrum, and especially to folks like me, who were standing aside, wringing their hands and wishing for a better democracy." (Beliefnet.com) "If you're looking for a way to reclaim the best of democracy to shape our nation's future, this is a book worth spending some time with." (The Cap Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey Bass
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0470590807
• ISBN 13: 9780470590805
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256