Atleest booksellers - Leiden - Netherlands

Robert N. Bellah 2011. Hardback, 784 pages, 235 x 162 mm. Deploying the latest findings in biology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology, he traces the expansion of these cultural capacities from the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (roughly, the first millennium BCE), when individuals and groups in the Old World challenged the norms and beliefs of class societies ruled by kings and aristocracies. These religious prophets and renouncers never succeeded in founding their alternative utopias, but they left a heritage of criticism that would not be quenched. Bellah's treatment of the four great civilizations of the Axial Age--in ancient Israel, Greece, China, and India--shows all existing religions, both prophetic and mystic, to be rooted in the evolutionary story he tells.

Paperback, 502 pages, Photographs, figures, tables, boxes, index, 276 x 219 mm. The book is designed for professionals and people involved in practical co-management processes, and distills a wealth of experience and innovative approaches 'learned by doing'. It begins by offering a variety of vistas, from historical analyses to a clear grasp of key concepts. Illustrated in detail is the understanding accumulated in recent decades on starting points for co-management, conditions and methods for successful negotiations, ideas to manage conflicts and types of agreements and co-management institutions emerging from the negotiation tables. Simple tools, such as checklists distilled from different situations and contexts, are offered throughout. Examples and insights from experience highlight the importance of participatory democracy - the enabling contexts where 'sharing power' is ultimately possible and successful. It is published with IIED and IUCN.