Few books I've read over the last decade have educated me about the nature of contemporary society as much as The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David Korten. Korten is an author and leader in the global resistance against corporate globalization. He is well known as the founder of the People-Centered Development Forum and author of the book When Corporations Rule the World.

My every encounter with Korten's work has inspired me, all the more so since I've embraced Cumberland as my home! Nowhere in my prior experience has what he talks about been more self-evident. The actual reality of what he calls The Great Turning, is playing itself out grandly right here in the Comox Valley.

David's own website offers the following concise overview of what his book The Great Turning has to offer:

"Korten argues that corporate consolidation of power is merely a contemporary manifestation of what he calls “Empire”: the organization of society by hierarchies of domination grounded in violent chauvinisms of race, gender, religion, nationality, language, and class. The result has been the same for 5,000 years, fortune for the few and misery for the many. Increasingly destructive of children, family, community, and nature, the way of Empire is leading to environmental and social collapse.

The Great Turning makes the case that we humans are a choicemaking species that at this defining moment faces both the opportunity and the imperative to choose our future as a conscious collective act. We can no longer deny the need nor delay our response. "

I agree wholeheartedly with David's assertion and as part of my own response to the challenge of the moment, I offer the following constellation of related links. We must, after all, educate ourselves about how we got to where we are and what our alternatives are in this moment. These links are helpful in this regard:

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David Korten

David Korten: Author, Lecturer, Engaged Citizen.

David Korten and People-Centered Development.

When Corporations Rule the World.

David Korten on Wikipedia

Money Versus Wealth
by David C. Korten

The Great Turning

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Conventional versus Emergent Alternative Wisdom by David Korten

Thoughts on 'The Great Turning' by Joanna Macy.

VIDEOS OF DAVID KORTEN ON THE INTERNET

David Korten at the 2006 Green Festival in San Francisco

David Korten: The Great Turning (Peak Moment Video)

David Korten, Veteran for Peace

A Defining Moment in History

K.A. Korten