Accion suave / Gentle Action: Alternativas innovadoras para un mundo en crisis / Bringing Creative Change to a Turbulent World

Arguing that many traditional forms of action--aid programs, government policies, social interventions--are often ineffective and even socially disruptive, this treatise proposes a movement toward ＂gentle＂ actions: those that take into account the fragile ecology of an organization, a city, or a group of people. Whether exploring micro-lending, cattle donations, trade training, or even community gardens, the book provides numerous examples in which knee-jerk reactions can be eschewed in favor of carefully considered and locally sensitive strategies, often to great effect. Each chapter concludes with a series of questions and challenges that encourage the reader to undergo a period of ＂creative suspension＂--a time during which he should resist the temptation of immediate action and instead contemplate the details and complexities of the situation--prior to proceeding.

F. David Peat is a physicist and the author of ＂Blackfoot Physics＂ and ＂Synchronicity: The Bridge Between Matter and Mind.＂ He is also the founder of the Pari Center for New Learning, an institution that seeks to provide opportunities to explore ideas and promote new skills in the areas of interpersonal relations, psychology, and science.