The anarchist bookshop next to the pier in Seattle never fails to yield gem-like titles - although nowadays, even the most grassrootsy titles are often to be found on Amazon, too. I'm enjoying a book by Jim Diers called Neighbor Power: Building Community The Seattle Way. In the 1990s, Jim Diers helped Seattle neighborhoods face challenges ranging from gang violence to urban growth. Many of the stories he tells here concern small, local Tipping Point-like actions. Diers describes as 'asset-based' often-modest actions that enable communities to exploit resources - such as time, skills, or relationships - that would be too small or scattered to interest a global company.
1 minute read
