The Foundation for Convivial Living fulfills its mission at the intersection of ideas and practices of people and organizations on the leading edge of change.
Establishing this new foundation coincides with an inflection point for humanity. Rapid biodiversity loss and ecological collapse driven by destructive economic and technological forces that unravel social cohesion including the loss of personal liberty and local governance. The emergence of cascading crises and the failure of governments and institutions to address them, creates an urgent need for holistic responses.
The foundation has a unique place within the mosaic of not-for-profits engaged in the sustainability space. Though, we – along with other pioneers of the movement – wonder what “sustainable” means as it increasingly becomes a way for corporations to cloak themselves in green window dressing about their “net-zero” growth plans. Can anything be deemed sustainable when life itself—in all its myriad forms—is threatened at so many levels? Is it enough to focus on the how-to of “green living” in the face of such overwhelming force, the “shock and awe” of forest and ecosystem destruction, the rampant plundering of the world’s oceans, the terror of GMO contaminated food, and the unintended consequences of biotechnology?
In communities around the world that have been left “behind” and stripped of their resources and cultures, people increasingly feel that they have no choice. To continue to live, they must reclaim, must lay claim to, their ecosystems, their food and water, their land and housing, their health, and gain self-sufficiency. It’s a new kind of politics, what author Suzanna Arundhati Roy calls, “Not the politics of governance, but the politics of resistance. The politics of opposition. The politics of forcing accountability. The politics of slowing things down. The politics of joining hands across the world and preventing certain destruction.” The Foundation for Convivial Living’s principal activities and contributions will inspire hope for the future by asking the pertinent questions of the day, inspiring and supporting resistance in the face of oppression, and engaging broad perspectives in repairing our relationship with one another and the natural world.
The foundation has a unique place within the mosaic of not-for-profits engaged in the sustainability space. Though, we – along with other pioneers of the movement – wonder what “sustainable” means as it increasingly becomes a way for corporations to cloak themselves in green window dressing about their “net-zero” growth plans. Can anything be deemed sustainable when life itself—in all its myriad forms—is threatened at so many levels? Is it enough to focus on the how-to of “green living” in the face of such overwhelming force, the “shock and awe” of forest and ecosystem destruction, the rampant plundering of the world’s oceans, the terror of GMO contaminated food, and the unintended consequences of biotechnology?
In communities around the world that have been left “behind” and stripped of their resources and cultures, people increasingly feel that they have no choice. To continue to live, they must reclaim, must lay claim to, their ecosystems, their food and water, their land and housing, their health, and gain self-sufficiency. It’s a new kind of politics, what author Suzanna Arundhati Roy calls, “Not the politics of governance, but the politics of resistance. The politics of opposition. The politics of forcing accountability. The politics of slowing things down. The politics of joining hands across the world and preventing certain destruction.” The Foundation for Convivial Living’s principal activities and contributions will inspire hope for the future by asking the pertinent questions of the day, inspiring and supporting resistance in the face of oppression, and engaging broad perspectives in repairing our relationship with one another and the natural world.