Go back to: General discussion
Our second week's materials focus on two important ways that sustainability becomes infused into a community: through grassroots activism and codification by governmental action (ordinances, laws, and so on). Both grassroots and government have their role and limitations. Your assignment asks you to contemplate these and to write about them from your own experiences/perspectives.
The conventional wisdom, at least in the United States, is that social movements begin OUTSIDE of institutions, such as governments, and with time these become more widely adopted by the populace, become more mainstream and become essential to the identity of a community/city/state/nation.
As you interact with the materials and write your post, keep these questions in the back of your mind about sustainability: Is it inherently democratic? Is it still on the "outside" or has it become mainstream where you live?
From the materials--especially those about Grand Rapids--see how the grassroots-types versus the government-types describe why sustainabilty matters to their efforts. What are the differences? Are they significant?
You don't need to answer any of these questions in what you respond but they're just to give you more to think about as you do your work.
Thanks.
John
Grassroots and Government
Our second week's materials focus on two important ways that sustainability becomes infused into a community: through grassroots activism and codification by governmental action (ordinances, laws, and so on). Both grassroots and government have their role and limitations. Your assignment asks you to contemplate these and to write about them from your own experiences/perspectives.
The conventional wisdom, at least in the United States, is that social movements begin OUTSIDE of institutions, such as governments, and with time these become more widely adopted by the populace, become more mainstream and become essential to the identity of a community/city/state/nation.
As you interact with the materials and write your post, keep these questions in the back of your mind about sustainability: Is it inherently democratic? Is it still on the "outside" or has it become mainstream where you live?
From the materials--especially those about Grand Rapids--see how the grassroots-types versus the government-types describe why sustainabilty matters to their efforts. What are the differences? Are they significant?
You don't need to answer any of these questions in what you respond but they're just to give you more to think about as you do your work.
Thanks.
John