Why Poverty

This is from Eve Purdew, in France:

Take a look at the BBC program called World Debate on WHY POVERTY -from last Sunday -http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-20401822

Best wishes

Eve

Interesting talk on "Plenitude: The Emerging New Economy"

Greetings all!

Molly Freeman (Cohort D) wrote in to share this monograph of a radio presentation called "Plenitude:  The Emerging New Economy" by Juliet Schor, a very interesting sociologist with a background in economics and women's studies, now on the faculty at Boston College.

As Molly says, it has very interesting resonances with the Caring Economy framework, and is quite thought provoking in its own right.

Enjoy - and thanks for the resource Molly!

Not too late to join the Alumni Gathering!

If you haven't yet signed up to attend the 2012 CELP Alumni Gathering on November 30th... It is not too late!

Just sign up today and you'll get all the links and numbers you need to join.

Riane will join us to share updates on the Campaign, Kimberly Otis will tell us about developments in the policy development side of things, and we'll hear stories from our CLs around the world about what they've been up to.  We'll also ask for your feedback on some exciting ideas for the future of this program.

Clock here to see the complete roster of Conversation Leaders worldwide.

I look forward to seeing you there!

- Sara

Great piece on Women and Healthcare by our own Ginger Garner

The lovely Ginger Garner (Cohort L) has written in to share a wonderful article she wrote on women and the health care system, in which she mentions the Caring Economy Campaign.  What a great example of conversation leading through social media!  Thanks for all you do, Ginger.

(I'm thinking that our cadre of nurses now in Cohort O and P may find some helpful data here for your practicum work!)

Ginger writes:

"Just wanted to share my post today, featured on Modern Mom: http://www.modernmom.com/blogs/ginger-garner/how-america-s-broken-health-care-system-affects-women
It very makes the case for Caring Health Care = Caring Economics.
Grace and Peace,
Ginger"

Ann Amberg
I found this one in the New Yorker--

Call for Cartoons

Hi Everyone,

So, in Cohort O the other day we were talking about ice breakers and the use of humor as a powerful part of the Conversation Leader's toolkit.

Which prompted Joyce Johnson to ask the excellent question "do you have any cartoons that we could share?"

We don't, but would love to!

So, please keep your eyes out for jokes, cartoons, and other humor-full ways to introduce the caring economy or partnership frameworks - and send them in!!!

You can pass them along to either Ann or Sara - or leave a comment on this post.

We can't wait to see what you come up with!  We'll share them here on the CLIC and in the toolkit.

Thought Provoking Resources from our CL in Wales

Hi Everyone, 

The always-active Paul Swann wrote in some time ago to share what he's up to in Wales (sorry to be slow to share, Paul!)

Paul writes:  "I was preparing for a presentation, having been invited to speak about caring economics at a meeting on "co-production" next month. But as I dug deeper I ended up disappearing down the rabbit hole!

Having shared the outline for part 1 of the presentation with the organiser, we agreed that I should delay presenting until the following meeting when I'll have more time to open up a conversation afterwards (there was only 15 minutes available next month). Working title is "Capitalism, Class and the Crisis of Civilisation".

When I've compiled a list of resources I'll forward it to you...but in the meantime I do suggest you check out Susan Rosenthal's book "Power & Powerlessness" which is available for free download here:

http://susanrosenthal.com/power-and-powerlessness

There's also an audio recording of the book here:

http://susanrosenthal.com/audio-books-power-and-powerlessness

Another fantastic free resource is the documentary movie "The Crisis of Civilisation", based on a book of the same name by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed:

http://crisisofcivilization.com/

As you'll see, the first chapter of the book (on climate change) can be downloaded, as can the documentary itself, either as a torrent or from youtube: http://youtu.be/pMgOTQ7D_lk

More in due course..."

Thanks so much for the resources Paul - and do let us know how the conversation went when it finally occurred!

- Sara

New Slide Presentation Available in the CL Toolkit!

Dear Conversation Leaders, 

I’m so happy to tell you that the new version of the presentation is now available in the CL Toolkit!  It is called “The Path to Real Prosperity:  Creating a Caring Economy.”  (Many thanks to Janet Sager [Cohort P] for the title suggestion!)

Here’s a direct link to the toolkit:  https://sites.google.com/site/celpmaterials/

You’ll see that I’ve provided the slides in .ppt format, and the script in a range of formats, including .doc, .docx, and .pdf – so you should be able to find a format that works on your computer!

About the presentation:

This "Path to Real Prosperity" presentation is designed in a "modular" fashion to allow you to more easily adjust the presentation for different audiences and different time frames. You will see the presentation is organized in 4 different parts:

1. Making Sense of Caring + Economy.   A brief, broad overview of the big picture caring economy framework.

2. Going Deep: Exploring the Cultural Roots of Our Economy.   A dive into the underlying domination/partnership continuum with an emphasis on the implications for economics.

3. What a Caring Economy Looks Like: Three Areas for Action.  Looks at the three key focus points for change.

4. How You Can Join the Movement. This short section offers 4 ways people can interact with the Caring Economy Campaign.

The first three parts are designed so that each can stand alone, or be combined in different ways. In a limited timeframe, for example, you might share just part 1 and part 4. With a different group, you might focus in on Part 2 only. Or, you might skip the deep history and go from part 1 to part 3... Hopefully you will find this more flexible than the earlier version of the presentation.

I hope you will find this useful in your upcoming presentations and look forward to hearing your feedback on how you use it and how it works for you!

Best wishes to each of you and thank you for your continuing leadership!

-          Sara

FREE Starter Course webinar tomorrow - send your friends and colleagues!

Tomorrow, November 15th, Riane Eisler, Kimberly Otis (Caring Economy Campaign Director) and I will be hosting another of our free webinars to introduce the Caring Economy Framework.

The webinar is just 50 minutes long and happens around lunchtime so it is accessible for most people.  (11:00 PST; 2:00 EST)

If you have friends or colleagues who might be interested in the Caring Economy framework, or in joining the Caring Economy movement, please send them our way!

Sign up here it is a quick and easy form and then you'll get the link to join the webinar.

Thanks!

The Australian Care Economy

Greetings All - 

Many of you are seeking examples of countries outside of the Nordic nations where serious efforts are being made to acknowledge and value the care economy.  This report, called "Counting on the Care Economy" from an Australian group called "Economic Security 4 Women" offers a great picture of the Australian care economy.

Here are just a few of their findings:

• In 2009-2010 the Australian care economy[1] was worth an estimated $762.5 billion.
• Paid care was worth $112.4 billion – 8.8 per cent of GDP – providing nearly 20 per cent of all paid employment
• Unpaid care was imputed at $650.1 billion – equivalent to 50.6 per cent of GDP –and 11.1 million FTE workers; 1.2 times the total Australian full time employed work force
• Women contributed 60 per cent of these 21.4 billion hours of unpaid care work undertaken across Australia in this period.

"The research highlights the primacy of women in the care economy and its significance to Australia. Women are bearing the bulk of the care load and it is having a significant negative impact on their incomes and retirement savings."

If you aren't up for studying the whole report - there's also a much shorter, high-level policy report to look at.

Enjoy!