Empowerment on an Unstable Planet: From Seeds of Human Energy to a Scale of Global Change - Hardcover

"This remarkable book, written by three generations of accomplished and engaged members of an extraordinary family, is worth careful scrutiny. Despite half a century of well-meaning global plans and programs, supported by trillions of dollars in foreign assistance, far too many people still live under miserable circumstances, even as our common planet grows increasingly less hospitable. The Taylors provide an alternative path to development-one that they have practiced from China to Afghanistan for most of their lives-scaling up the power and impact of local communities to solve their own problems." -- Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS, Dean Emeritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health "This is a powerful read that goes to the heart of the social, political, and economic change in a part of the world that has witnessed revolution after revolution, even as the nation of Nepal has struggled to catch up with global human advances. It is a history of change that dates back to the colonial era, to freedom, emancipation, and advancement through a combination of human effort with technological gains. This book is sure to enrich all who read it." -- Bhekh B. Thapa, PhD, formerly Nepal's Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, and Ambassador to the United States and India "Beautifully written and quite inspiring." -- Dani Rodrik, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "This book breaks new ground in advancing knowledge for action for the field of international development. The transformative argument offers a field-proven alternative to efforts of the last decades that lost time, money, and human energy. Distinctly different from other approaches on development in the authors' use of complex systems analysis, this book illustrates a practical way to succeed in local settings and take results to scale." -- Patricia L. Rosenfield, PhD, formerly Director, Carnegie Scholars Program, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Since World War II, development projects have invested more than two trillion dollars towards health services, poverty alleviation, education, food security, and environmental initiatives around the world. Despite these efforts, 20% of the world still lives on less than $1.50 a day and the environment within which all live declines dramatically. There are clear limits to what further investments at this rate can achieve. This book advances the thesis that a more effective and universal foundation for social change and environmental restoration is not money, but human energy.

Using this approach Tibet recovered from being nearly deforested to having over 40% of its land area protected under conservation management. Using principles outlined in this book mothers in northeast India implemented a package of life-changing actions that halved child mortality. They parallel the way New York City has created a citywide conservation program over three-and-a-half centuries. Each of these examples is particular to its time and place, yet a shared set of principles is at work in all of them.

Improving the quality of life for a community starts by strengthening successes already operating. It involves local knowledge and a relatively simple set of principles, tasks, and criteria designed to empower communities. This highly readable account demonstrates how a comprehensive process for social change harnesses the energy of a community and scales it up with a rising number of participants becoming invested in increasingly high-quality work. Richly illustrated with photographs and stories of innovative people and programs in communities ranging from Nepal to Afghanistan to the South Bronx, it provides practical, proven guidelines for creating profound and sustained social change that begins in individual communities and grows to scale.