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  • The Great Turning

  • From Empire to Earth Community
  • By: David C. Korten
  • Narrated by: Sandra Swafford
  • Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (14 ratings)
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The Great Turning

By: David C. Korten
Narrated by: Sandra Swafford
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Summary

In his classic international best seller, When Corporations Rule the World, David Korten exposed the destructive and oppressive nature of the global corporate economy and helped spark a global resistance movement. Now, he shows that the problem runs deeper than corporate domination with far greater consequences.

Korten argues that global corporate consolidation of power is but one manifestation of what he calls "Empire", the organization of society by hierarchies of dominance that have held sway for the past 5,000 years. Empire has always resulted in misery for the many and fortune for the few. Now it threatens the very future of humanity.

The Great Turning traces the ancient roots of Empire and charts its long evolution from monarchies to the transnational institutions of the global economy. Empire is not inevitable, not the natural order of things, Korten argues. He draws on evidence from sources as varied as evolutionary theory, developmental psychology, and religious teachings to make the case that "Earth Community", a life-centered, egalitarian, sustainable way of ordering human society based on democratic principles of partnership, is indeed possible. He details a practical strategy for advancing a turning toward a future of as-yet-unrealized human potential.

©2006 People-Centered Development Forum (P)2006 Polity Audio LLC

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very Very interesting

If you are a curious type, and ever have wondered about the nature of huge multinational corps, how they came to be, and wondered about their reason for existence, and their relationship with the state...this is a book for you, the sheer scope of this book is amazing, Korten draws analogies from ancient 'empire' based societies from Greece, Persia, Rome...and shows that human motivations and actions have changed little over 5000 years, although initially a depressing view of the human condition, Korton suggests (persuasively in my opinion) that humans now have the ability and the information, to change human society, from the empire based, money driven, consumerist environmentally damaging lifestyle, to a more sustainable future of 'earth community'...surely we all know something will have to give ??
There is a huge amount of solid historical information in this book, from the formation of the Roman Empire, to the declaration of independance of the USA,...even if you reject some of Kortens analyasis, the story of human history contained is brilliant
Well read and very very well written, its not an easy an easy ride but I shall listen to it at least twice....excellent, I only wish that I could get his previous book 'when corporations rule the world' in audio format.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

The great (trouble) turning (the page)

The sentimental, open-university, sandal wearing, beard sporting, vegan living, side-burn touting, cauliflower cheese chomping brigade will probably be delighted at the style of this book, but I found it nauseating. It's the first audiobook I haven't got to the end of - I just couldn't take any more.



The chapter on how they screwed up the earth summit with their voluminous language and sanctified inclusivity, just sums up the whole book for me, and the reason why the ideal has failed to engage the public properly. The author may have a point, but he needs to spend some time with normal people and then write about it again.



Brothers and collegiate sisters of the mother earth, I suggest you look elsewhere. Something about the Venus Project, which is more in the realms of practicality, should suffice.

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