The Land Institute’s Ecosphere Studies team and collaborators share their foundational knowledge and perennial inquiry in a new educational collection that is freely available to the public. The Perennial Turn: Contemporary Essays from the Field includes a dozen essays by scholars and activists that emphasize the need for long-term, perennial thinking in agriculture and culture.
Contributors come from backgrounds in history, philosophy, literature, genetics, biology, theology, agricultural science, and public policy. Along with essays by Wes Jackson, Aubrey Streit Krug, and Stan Cox, the book includes the work of artists—including Terry Evans and Rena Detrixhe—who focus on the interaction between people, societies, and the larger living world.
Bill Vitek—a philosopher, educator, and Land Institute collaborator for three decades—edited the book as the first release in a new open-access publishing project that will focus on ecological sustainability and social justice. “The perspectives in the book are eclectic by design, and help deepen our analysis of history while focusing on the radical shifts that are necessary, and inevitable, in affluent cultures,” Vitek said.
The Land Institute’s Ecosphere Studies research program develops intergenerational learning practices, accessible educational materials, and collaborative partnerships that share emerging knowledge about diverse, perennial grain agricultures and that empower people to courageously move toward a perennial future.
The Perennial Turn: Contemporary Essays from the Field can be downloaded for free at www.newperennialspublishing.org.