Uprisings for the Earth

Reconnecting Culture with Nature

We face a serious global challenge with over half the world’s population living in urban environments — mostly disconnected from the natural world. This represents a key element of the serious economic, social and environmental crises looming today. Osprey Orielle Lake, a lifelong advocate for the environment and cultural transformation, weaves together history, science, culture, governance, spirituality, and the arts to map out an integrated approach to working in partnership with nature while creating a more just and sustainable future. Lake argues that “a culture or civilization bereft of its connection to nature will not be sustainable — the decades since Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring have clearly shown us this. We will need to reconnect with the rhythms of the natural world in contemporary society to generate inner and outer resilience, and to move through the uncertain times ahead.”
Lake offers a frank inquiry into a variety of causes leading to our current global peril and also provides a deep well of hope and profound insight. Each chapter poetically emerges from a specific geographical region and, with the lively tone of place-based literature, creates a tapestry composed of personal experiences, nature writing, environmental awareness and cultural criticism. Incorporating historical and contemporary voices from many fields of endeavor, Lake encourages people to understand the legacy of information we already possess.
Uprisings delves into a new kinship with nature while acknowledging the treasures of urban life and the unique and valuable stake each person has in resolving critical and timely challenges. Whether you are a parent, an activist, a health care professional, a newcomer to recycling, a politician, a lover of nature writing, an historian, or searching for recovery from apathy or hopelessness, consider this book required reading!