New book by Helena Norberg-Hodge
available now!
We’re delighted to present Helena Norberg-Hodge’s new book, Local is Our Future. This book connects the dots between our social, economic, ecological and spiritual crises, revealing how a systemic shift from global to local can address these seemingly disparate problems simultaneously. Read an excerpt from the first chapter here.
Distilling the wisdom gleaned from four decades of activism and direct experience in both the global North and South, Helena lucidly deconstructs the old narrative of ‘progress’ through technological advance and corporate growth, while presenting a concise and compelling case for economic localization.
Her arguments are supported by real-world examples proving that – beneath the radar of the mainstream media and far from the fetishized techno-utopia of Silicon Valley – healthy and vibrant futures, built upon connection to nature and community, are already in the making.
Published by Local Futures
Local is Our Future is also being published in Spanish!
We’re running a crowdfunding campaign (along with Futuros Locales España and Pol-len Edicions) to cover some of the costs, and we need your help sharing this campaign far and wide, especially in Spain.
Thank you so much for helping us spread the word!
Book club and Discussion Guide
We’d like to encourage readers to discuss the book as part of a book club or other community group – so we’re offering a 30% discount to anyone planning to engage with the book collectively in this way. Please email [email protected] for details.
We’ve also put together a short two-page discussion guide (available in color and black and white) with some suggested questions and recommendations of next steps your community can take after reading the book.
An excerpt from the first chapter of the book has now been translated into seven languages with more on the way. Read the excerpt in English: here.
We are eager to translate Local is Our Future (in full or in part) into as many languages as possible. If you’re interested in volunteering your time to help with translation, please send an email to [email protected].
Praise for Local is Our Future
“There is no more important task than re-localizing our economies – it will help to cure everything from climate change to human sadness. And this book will tell you how it’s done, with testimony from some of the world’s most remarkable pioneers.“
~ Bill McKibben ~
“Globalization is often seen as an aspiration or an inevitability. This book suggests otherwise. With clear, concise reasoning and vivid examples, it offers localization as a potent conceptual lens and action principle to reverse the ruin of culture, nature, and place around the world.“
~ Charles Eisenstein ~
“Local is indeed our future, and Helena Norberg-Hodge shows us how to get there. As she makes clear, it’s all about connection: with each other, with nature, with place. This is an essential guidebook, lighting the way towards economies of human and ecological wellbeing. And as we confront climate change, our very survival.“
~ Judy Wicks ~
“This beautiful new narrative is one of empowerment and active hope.“
~ Joanna Macy ~
“A terrific overview of the problems embedded in a globalized economy, and the ways real people in real places can begin the journey back to prosperity.“
~ Douglas Rushkoff ~
About the Author
Helena Norberg-Hodge – Founder & Director
Author and filmmaker Helena Norberg-Hodge is the founder and director of Local Futures. A pioneer of the ‘new economy’ movement, she has been promoting an economics of personal, social and ecological well-being for more than thirty years.
She is the producer and co-director of the award-winning documentary The Economics of Happiness, and is the author of Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, described as “an inspirational classic”. Her newest book, Local is Our Future, was published in 2019.
Helena has given public lectures in seven languages, and has appeared in broadcast, print, and online media worldwide, including MSNBC, The London Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Guardian.
She was honored with the Right Livelihood Award (or ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’) for her groundbreaking work in Ladakh, and received the 2012 Goi Peace Prize for contributing to “the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.” Read Helena’s full biography here.