Winner! – Network Book Prize 2020 – The 2020 Network Book Prize for the most significant book published by a Member during the year has been awarded to Colin Tudge for his book The Great Re-Think: A 21st Century Renaissance.
Convivial Societies in a Flourishing Biosphere
All too plausibly, it seems, popes and scientists are warning us of impending collapse—yet humanity and our fellow creatures could still be looking forward to a long and glorious future: at least a million years of peace and personal fulfilment, with abundant and diverse wildlife. But to achieve this we need to re-think everything that we do and take for granted, from the day-to-day mundanities of growing and cooking, to the economy and methods of governance, to the most arcane reaches of science and metaphysics. It all amounts to nothing less than a Renaissance—a re-birth—and the Renaissance to come must be driven and led by us, ordinary Joes and Jos, because the oligarchy of governments, corporates, financiers, and their attendant intellectuals who now dominate the world have largely lost touch with the moral and ecological realities of life.
The transformation won’t be easy but—the good news!—millions of grassroots initiatives of all kinds the world over are already moving in the right directions.
Reviews
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Endorsements
Colin Tudge excels in cracking open deadly belief systems so that we can see the new emerging—which is precisely what the world needs now.
Frances Moore Lappé, Diet for a Small Planet, and a Right Livelihood Laureate
Only the most unthinking farmer, citizen or cook can support the madness of modern farming and the food industry it supplies. The future of our planet and our children depends on an urgent re-evaluation of practices from seed to plate and the science, economy, beliefs and philosophy that have driven us to the edge of self-destruction. Colin Tudge, one of our great rural thinkers, argues with eloquence, love and an extraordinary depth of knowledge for a better path, and, with inspirational hope, asserts that such a renaissance is do-able. Let’s get on and do it.
Guy Singh-Watson, organic farmer, Founder-creator of Riverford Organic Farmers
The Great Re-think is more than a book. It is a beautiful blueprint for a new renaissance. Colin Tudge has written a simple, succinct and clear guide book for durable and regenerative culture for now and for the future generations. It is a book of profound wisdom as well as a practical roadmap. At the time when humanity is confronted with multiple crises, such as loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, climate catastrophe and narrow nationalism we need to head to the insights of this timely book.
Satish Kumar, Founder of Schumacher College, Editor Emeritus, Resurgence & Ecologist
As governments the world over seek to put profit before both people and planet Colin Tudge offers us a realistic, just and humane alternative which could deliver a secure and convivial future. Here is a programme for survival which we can and should all sign up to. Excellent, as always!
Tim Gorringe, Emeritus Professor of Theology, Exeter University and smallholder
To rethink how as society we restoratively feed ourselves is to examine and reimagine how we think, act and interact with all of life. What Colin has served us is a potential roadmap into the future, a positive legacy to adopt and a call to action.
Rebecca Hosking MBE, former television producer turned farmer
Hope is rare. Clear-sighted, exhaustively audited hope, presented as an immensely accessible, congenial conversation, is unheard of outside the covers of The Great Re-Think. A vital, compelling and urgent read for everyone who wants to stave off despair, who wants to be useful, and who knows that the future is far too important to be left to the politicians.
Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast and Visiting Professor of the Oxford University Law Faculty
This is remarkable book that invites us to think in a radically holistic way about food, farming and our relationship with the Earth. A provocative and stimulating read about regeneration and transformation for social and environmental justice.
Michel Pimbert is Professor of Agroecology and Food Politics and Director of the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University
Colin Tudge offers a fresh way of thinking, being and doing to shape hopeful, viable, and humane futures. Read to survive.
Ziauddin Sardar, writer, renowned futurist and editor of Critical Muslim