Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit by Parker J. Palmer (University of California at Berkeley, CA)
In Healing the Heart of Democracy, Parker J. Palmer quickens our instinct to seek the common good and gives us the tools to do it. This timely, courageous and practical work-intensely personal as well as political-is not about them, those people in Washington D.C., or in our state capitals, on whom we blame our political problems. It's about us, We the People, and what we can do in everyday settings like families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations and workplaces to resist divide-and-conquer politics and restore a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
In the same compelling, inspiring prose that has made him a bestselling author, Palmer explores five habits of the heart that can help us restore democracy's foundations as we nurture them in ourselves and each other:
- An understanding that we are all in this together
- An appreciation of the value of otherness
- An ability to hold tension in life-giving ways
- A sense of personal voice and agency
- A capacity to create community
Healing the Heart of Democracy is an eloquent and empowering call for We the People to reclaim our democracy. The online journal Democracy & Education called it one of the most important books of the early 21st Century. And Publishers Weekly, in a Starred Review, said This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that will benefit from discussing it.