Harryman is Warming to Slavoj Zizek…

From Integral Options Café:

Another festival of Slavoj Zizek articles appeared this weekend, all of it from Europe, where people actually read philosophy. Oh yeah, he's a Marxist, sort of - with a heavy dose of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Hegelian philosophy - so that explains why no one on this continent is paying any attention to him.

Apparently Zizek's 'the world's hippest philosopher,' as the Telegraph UK suggests - or as Der Spiegel claims, 'The Most Dangerous Philosopher in the West.' I get the sense that the person who wrote the Der Speigel article is not a fan…

So, from what I can tell (I really need to read some of his books/articles), Zizek is a social constructionist, and a constructivist - but the construction of self is an empty space, with identity always located somewhere else. And knowing this, as many postmodernists do, their deconstructions and "critiques" of capitalism and society are simply another commodity in the marketplace of ideas.

Anyway, all three articles are in support of Zizek's newest book, Living in the End Times.

Read/Watch the Entire Post: Here

The Climate for International Solidarity

From the United Nations:

Impacts of Climate Change Coming Faster and Sooner: New Science Report Underlines Urgency for Governments to Seal the Deal in Copenhagen

September 24, 2009 -The pace and scale of climate change may now be outstripping even the most sobering predictions of the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC).

An analysis of the very latest, peer-reviewed science indicates that many predictions at the upper end of the IPCC's forecasts are becoming ever more likely.

Meanwhile, the newly emerging science points to some events thought likely to occur in longer-term time horizons, as already happening or set to happen far sooner than had previously been thought.

Researchers have become increasingly concerned about ocean acidification linked with the absorption of carbon dioxide in seawater and the impact on shellfish and coral reefs.

Water that can corrode a shell-making substance called aragonite is already welling up along the California coast?decades earlier than existing models predict. Losses from glaciers, ice-sheets and the Polar Regions appear to be happening faster than anticipated, with the Greenland ice sheet, for example, recently seeing melting some 60 percent higher than the previous record of 1998.

Some scientists are now warning that sea levels could rise by up to two metres by 2100 and five to ten times that over following centuries.

There is also growing concern among some scientists that thresholds or tipping points may now be reached in a matter of years or a few decades including dramatic changes to the Indian sub-continent's monsoon, the Sahara and West Africa monsoons, and climate systems affecting a critical ecosystem like the Amazon rainforest.

The report also underlines concern by scientists that the planet is now committed to some damaging and irreversible impacts as a result of the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere.

Read More: Here

Integral Capital the Global Commons

In the following podcast host John D. Schmidt continues his wide-ranging exploration of the strengths and limitations of our current economic/financial system. His aim: a comprehensive understanding of current socioeconomic realities on the way to realizing desirable and sustainable futures.

His guest and co-explorer in this project is James Quilligan - an analyst and administra­tor in the field of international development since 1975. Quilligan has served as policy advisor to many international politicians and leaders, including Pierre Trudeau, François Mitterrand and Jimmy Carter. He has also served as an advisor for several United Nations programs and international development organizations.

Quilligan has recently been applying an integral approach as an economic consultant to government agencies in 26 countries, including the United States. In this podcast Quilligan introduces a view of the future built upon expanded perspectives of the global commons and what he calls "integral capital". Integral capital, Quilligan explains, includes explicit recognition of private capital, public capital, commons capital, and personal capital—and how they come together as a platform for future transformation.

The dialogue between these leaders intentionally showcases the intricate relationships between systems, structures, and behaviors (the exterior forms of life) and the many dimensions of culture and mindsets (the inner nature of life) that inform them.

Listen to the Podcast Here:
Transformation: The Commons and Integral Capital

JOHN D. SCHMIT is the founder and CEO of Avastone Consulting, an international consultancy committed to the vitality and sustainability of client organizations and the larger global community. He serves as advisor to global corporations and nongovernmental enterprises, and is a thinker, designer, and practitioner in integral approaches to complex challenges and human development.

An Integral View on Money and Finance

An Integral View on Money and Financial Crashes

By Bernard Lietaer

There are many ways to approach as complex a topic as money or a financial crash. An integral view would require it to be approached from both the inner and the outer viewpoints. Such inner and outer dimensions of reality are synthetically summarized in Ken Wilber’s classical four quadrant analysis.

All fields of knowledge are classified by distinguishing between the Interior (the domains where the aim is the interpretation of meaning) vs. the Exterior dimensions (where the purpose is description of behavior). This approach is completed by distinguishing between the Individual vs. the Collective aspects.

Read More (PDF): Here

BERNARD LIETAER is an economist, author and college professor at Naropa University. His work on monetary systems and currency is recognized internationally. Bernard is the author of The Future of Money: Beyond Greed and Scarcity and cofounder of GaiaCorp - one of the largest and most successful currency management firms in the world. Business Week named him “the world’s top currency trader” in 1992. Lietaer currently lives in Boulder, Colorado.

The Financial Crisis, Climate Change and Energy

In January 2007, The London School of Economics launched its first public podcasting project: 'Public lectures and events: podcasts'. Those interested can browse the podcasts by year and month – or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Here is one of many interesting lectures offered by their website:

LSE Podcast: The Financial Crisis, Climate Change and Energy

Speaker: Prof. Anthony Giddens

Political action and intervention, on local, national and international levels, is going to have a decisive effect on whether or not we can limit global warming, as well as how we adapt to that already occurring. At the moment, however, Anthony Giddens argues controversially, we do not have a systematic politics of climate change.

This event was recorded on 28 February 2009 in Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building.

Available as: mp3 (approx 75 minutes)
Event Posting: The Financial Crisis, Climate Change and Energy