An essential introduction to the visionary, beyond-left-and-right political activism of the last 60 years, and a deeply honest insider account of why those activists haveâso farâfallen short.
âI appreciate that Satin is willing to be so candid. It helps us all learn. And he writes in a way that touches the soul.â âChrista Slaton, First platform coordinator for the U.S. Green Party movement, and co-editor of the book Transformational Politics: Theory, Study, and Practice
In a gripping first-person narrative that reads like a novel, using his own experiences as a lens, Mark Satin tells the story of three generations of thinkers and activists who triedâand are still tryingâto create a post-socialist, post-conservative, visionary and healing new politics for the U.S.
In this book, Satin shows that the increasingly militant movements of the Sixties drove many young people awayâand into a search for a political system and world that could work for everyone. He looks at initiatives and organizations that over the next 30 years tried to further that search, such as the New World Alliance and the early U.S. Green Party movement. Then he illuminates the 21st century turn to âradical centristâ and âtranspartisanâ political initiatives.
Each chapter begins with a brief, context-setting introduction. Throughout the book are intense, blow-by-blow accounts of organization- and movement-building, as well as brief glimpses at over 40 often underappreciated visionary books. And always there are deeply honest accounts of Satinâs and other activistsâ often shaky relationships with colleagues, family, and loversâbecause getting healing politics right cannot be divorced from getting personal and interpersonal behavior right.
You will enjoy watching Satinâs encounters with civil rights militant Hardy Frye, Weather Underground terrorist Mark Rudd, environmental activist Paul Hawken, âbeyond GNPâ economic thinker Hazel Henderson, futurists John Naisbitt and Alvin Toffler, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Gene Sharp, Aquarian Conspiracy author Marilyn Ferguson, critical race theory co-creator Derrick Bell, radical centrist author John Avlon, and more. Nobody, least of all Satin, comes across as all-wise here, and long before this subtle and courageous book ends you will realize that a truly visionary and healing politics can only be built if weâre willing to address all the behavioral, intellectual, organizational, and attitudinal issues this book raises.