pdotb reviewed Transformative Learning by Satish Kumar
A decidedly mixed experience
2 stars
I started reading this as I thought Schumacher College sounded somewhat interesting (perhaps in part because I'd conflated it with CAT) and the book includes contributions from Ann Pettifor and Kate Raworth, among (many) others. As it's a celebration of 30 years of the college, though, practically every essay starts with a lengthy bit of praise for the college which, if I'm honest, starts to wear after a while. I have to confess to some misgivings about the content, too. While I can see the value in a more spiritual connection with the natural world, and can also see how that might be of value in forming/supporting an ecological outlook, the book felt far more apolitical than I really feel comfortable with. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it also felt dangerously much like it was heading into pseudoscience at some points (and, to be honest, I …
I started reading this as I thought Schumacher College sounded somewhat interesting (perhaps in part because I'd conflated it with CAT) and the book includes contributions from Ann Pettifor and Kate Raworth, among (many) others. As it's a celebration of 30 years of the college, though, practically every essay starts with a lengthy bit of praise for the college which, if I'm honest, starts to wear after a while. I have to confess to some misgivings about the content, too. While I can see the value in a more spiritual connection with the natural world, and can also see how that might be of value in forming/supporting an ecological outlook, the book felt far more apolitical than I really feel comfortable with. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it also felt dangerously much like it was heading into pseudoscience at some points (and, to be honest, I can't really be bothered with going back to re-read it and find the bits that made my uncomfortable). So, all in all, can't recommend. Still, I at least discovered that Dartington is in Devon -- previously my brain had auto-corrected that to Darlington, which is in County Durham. :)