The Power of the Talking Stick : Indigenous Politics and the World Ecological Crisis

The Power of the Talking Stick makes the case that, reaching back to the beginning of the nation-state and all through the current period of corporate-led globalisation, our governments and social institutions have been engaged in activities that will ultimately extinguish the world’s ecological life support systems. This book offers an alternative, listening to indigenous leaders and others whose voices often go unheard in the din of contemporary culture. Their warning is stark, but their insights are firmly grounded in traditional knowledge and provide a way to see past the politics and rescue the earth.

• Provides a unique understanding of how nation-states operate within a capitalist economic structure to maintain their power from imperialism to globalisation.
• Shows how this power structure favors elite Western corporations and their allied countries over the welfare of poor countries and ecological integrity.
• Presents an alternative vision from indigenous leaders—“Today, our Mother Earth is wounded and the future of humanity is in danger”—and posits that social values must change to reflect a living Earth.

Featured in the 7 April 2014New Zealand newsletter.
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