Sandra Swafford has narrated 6 audiobooks on Listento.it by 5 authors, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 1 ratings. The most-rated is The Great Turning.
The Great Turning
Summary
In his classic international best seller, When Corporations Rule the World, David Korten exposed the destructive and oppressive nature of the global corporate economy and helped spark a global resistance movement. Now, he shows that the problem runs deeper than corporate domination with far greater consequences. Korten argues that global corporate consolidation of power is but one manifestation of what he calls "Empire", the organization of society by hierarchies of dominance that have held sway for the past 5,000 years. Empire has always resulted in misery for the many and fortune for the few. Now it threatens the very future of humanity. The Great Turning traces the ancient roots of Empire and charts its long evolution from monarchies to the transnational institutions of the global economy. Empire is not inevitable, not the natural order of things, Korten argues. He draws on evidence from sources as varied as evolutionary theory, developmental psychology, and religious teachings to make the case that "Earth Community", a life-centered, egalitarian, sustainable way of ordering human society based on democratic principles of partnership, is indeed possible. He details a practical strategy for advancing a turning toward a future of as-yet-unrealized human potential.
©2006 People-Centered Development Forum (P)2006 Polity Audio LLC
The Real Wealth of Nations
Summary
Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations provided the first, most influential and lasting explanation of the workings of modern economics. But with his focus on "the market" as the best mechanism for producing and distributing the necessities of life, Smith's concepts only told part of the story, leading to flawed economic models that devalue activities that fall outside of the market's parameters of buying and selling. The real wealth of nations, Riane Eisler argues, is not merely financial, but includes the contributions of people and our natural environment. Here, Eisler goes beyond the market to reexamine economics from a larger perspective - and shows that we must give visibility and value to the socially and economically essential work of caring for people and the planet if we are to meet the enormous challenges we face. Eisler proposes a new "caring economics" that takes into account the full spectrum of economic activities - from the life-sustaining activities of the household, to the life-enriching activities of caregivers and communities, to the life-supporting processes of nature. She shows how our values are distorted by the economic double standard that devalues anything stereotypically associated with women and femininity; reveals how current economic models are based on a deep-seated culture of domination; and shows how human needs would be better served by economic models based on caring. Most importantly, she provides practical proposals for new economic inventions - new measures, policies, rules, and practices - to bring about a caring economics that fulfills human needs. Like her classic The Chalice and the Blade, The Real Wealth of Nations is a bold and insightful look at how to create a society in which each of us can achieve the full measure of our humanity.
©2007 Riane Eisler (P)2007 Polity Audio LLC
The Conservative Nanny State
Summary
In his new book, economist Dean Baker debunks the myth that conservatives favor the market over government intervention. In fact, conservatives rely on a range of "nanny state" policies that ensure the rich get richer while leaving most Americans worse off. It's time for the rules to change. Sound economic policy should harness the market in ways that produce desirable social outcomes: decent wages, good jobs, and affordable health care.
©2006 Dean Baker (P)2006 Polity Audio LLC and Creative Commons
The Real Wealth of Nations
Summary
The great problems of our time - such as poverty, inequality, war, terrorism, and environmental degradation - are due in part to our flawed economic models that set the wrong priorities and misallocate resources. Conventional economic measures, policies, and practices fail to give visibility and value to the most essential human work - the work of caring and caregiving.This powerful book proposes that we need a radical reformulation of economics, one that supports caring and caregiving at the individual, organizational, societal, and environmental levels. This "caring economics" takes into account the full spectrum of economic activities - from the life-sustaining activities of the household, to the life-enriching activities of caregivers and communities of all types, to the life-supporting processes of nature. Eisler exposes the economic double standard that devalues anything stereotypically associated with women and femininity and shows how this distorts our values and our lives.
©2007 Riane Eisler (P)2007 Polity Audio LLC
How Democratic Is the American Constitution?
Summary
In this fascinating book, the author begins by looking at the ways in which the framers of our Constitution were hampered in their work. They could not know about developments in democratic procedures that hadn't yet been devised, and they had no model of the democracy they were attempting to structure, which could have guided them in their deliberations. The Constitution written by these talented but fallible men is seen by many as a sacred icon, but Robert A. Dahl examines what have turned out to be some of its less democratic features. He compares the functioning of our country with that of other advanced democracies who do some things quite differently and possibly more democratically. What can we learn from them and do we want to adopt some of the measures that make these other democracies often work so well? Changes have been made in our Constitution since 1787. It can be altered and has been many times. For example, when citizens became convinced that slavery should not be allowed to continue, the Constitution was amended to repeal it. When 50 percent of the population, women, were recognized as citizens who deserved equality, they were given the franchise. Dahl wonders if other important changes in our national document are possible. Could changes in the unequal representation of two senators from every state, regardless of population, ever win approval in the Senate or enough popular support in the small states to result in an amendment that required the number of senators in each state to reflect the population of that state? Or could we alter the way in which our presidents are selected by an electoral college, resulting in several elections, including that of 2000, in which presidents have been chosen who did not win a majority of popular votes? The author discusses the likelihood of success in making the changes just mentioned, and suggests that short of that, there are helpful alterations that could be made in the "unwritten" constitution.
©2003 Yale University (P)2009 Polity Audio LLC
The Genius of Impeachment
Summary
When leaders assume inappropriate powers for themselves or their administrations, impeachment is the tool necessary for restraining them. This book provides a history of the use of impeachment in many countries and the beneficial effects to be had for democracy when elected officials are held to account with what Nichols calls "the truest corrective".
©2006 John Nichols (P)2008 Polity Audio LLC