Clarity and Hope
in a Time of Cultural Sea Change
Introduction by the Author
Jim Kenney
Thriving in the Crosscurrent
Hope and Clarity in a Time of Cultural Sea Change
May 2010 • ISBN 978-0-8356-0876-3 • $16.95 pb • 6x 9 • 254 pages
http://www.seachanges.net
Sea Change is shaped by two simple but profoundly important ideas. The first is that rare periods of dramatically accelerated cultural evolution (“sea changes”) bring about sweeping, positive transformations of our values, assumptions, and behaviors. The second is that ours is just such a time and that real understanding of sea change in the early 21st century can be a powerful source of clarity, hope, and constructive action to build a better world.
While oscillations between good times and bad have always existed, the book argues that history is not an endless pendulum swing. The great sea changes (the book describes three past and the one currently underway) are genuine evolutionary advances that have shaped the history of values in an ascending spiral. In other words, “progress” is real and not just in the sense of technological improvement. A sea change is a genuine evolution of the dominant values of a culture toward a closer fit with the changing realities of life, the human community, and the Earth.
People don’t view this change optimistically, however, because on the surface things seem to be going to hell in a handbasket. From terrorism to environmental disasters, events conspire to make us pessimistic. As director and/or trustee of organizations such as Common Ground, the Interreligious Engagement Project, the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the International Peace Council, I frequently speak to people in the U.S. and abroad, and I often ask the following question:
Do you believe that we’re living in an age of moral growth or moral decay?
Invariably, the naysayers outnumber those who read the signs positively. They point to lower-level symptoms such as road rage and a disrespectful younger generation and to higher-level indicators such as global violence and religious fanaticism. As a result, people become fatalists and cynics. They go through life confused, unhappy and apathetic. Or worse, they become angry, militant, and even violent.
The good news – and the focus of this book – is that what we see is not what we get. We misperceive the state of the world because we’re smack in the middle of a period of accelerated cultural evolution. The last time the world changed in such a dramatic way was over 300 years ago, and so we may not grasp that we’re going through another sea change. The following graphic illustrates the process:
You'll find more information, links, and chapter excerpts from Thriving in the Crosscurrent.
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Out of Jim Kenney's own lifetime work with grassroots communities and interfaith / intercultural movements has come this inspirational book, which will excite and energize its readers. His articulation and affirmation of humanity's growing new consciousness of our interdependence, and our cultural evolution from old ways into new values – based on justice, nonkilling, nonviolence, and peace – will give hope to the human family.
– Mairead Maguire, 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate; author of The Vision of Peace: Faith and Hope in Northern Ireland
Here's hoping we're in for a sea change of the kind Jim Kenney describes – it will take real shifts if we're to deal with the problems bearing down on us, climate change most of all. And those shifts will, as he says, have their roots in our understanding of who we are.
– Bill McKibben, educator, environmentalist, founder of the international climate campaign 350.org; author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
Jim Kenney believes that we are living in an exciting time of cultural evolutionary sea change. He draws on his broad experience at the cutting-edge of work for peace and justice and offers a compelling vision of human possibility.
– Riane Eisler, author of
The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations
It is a welcome surprise to read a book that proclaims 'things are getting better.' Most people only see and bewail the decay of traditional values. It takes a person with Jim Kenney's wide historical perspective, awareness of contemporary innovative thinking, and prophetic vision, to discern the emerging new values, which are global rather than parochial, and which will, I pray, provide the moral and spiritual basis for a more peaceful and caring civilization, which treasures the sacredness of all life.
– Marcus Braybrooke, President, World Congress of Faiths; author of A Heart for the World and Beacons of Light
Thriving in the Crosscurrent.
As you can see, long-dominant cultural values are declining while new values are rising. The older values—patriarchy, the inevitability of war, materialism, exploiting natural resources, class and racial divisions—are being replaced by newer ones such as gender equality, non-violence, spirituality, ecology, and the importance of human rights. This period of crossing is confusing and upsetting.
For instance, some look at the decline in good will towards America, bewildering diversity, and same-sex marriages and declare, “Things are changing for the worse.” Others point hopefully to the rise of concern for the economically disadvantaged and for the earth as signs that things may be moving in a positive direction. In fact, our moral certainties are changing, and it’s an uncomfortable process. The new values have not been around long enough to generate cultural rhythms with which we’re completely at ease. But understanding the nature of the change can make a tremendous difference. I often say that your attitude toward life is partly determined by whether you feel you’re riding the older wave out or the newer one in.