Shaun Chamberlin

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Shaun Chamberlin

Goodreads Author


Born
The United Kingdom
Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences

Member Since
September 2012

URL


My writing and activism explore the cultural stories and ‘myths’ that chart the course for our society and, in particular, how we might change direction before we end up where we are headed.

Perhaps my finest contribution towards that end is having shepherded the late David Fleming‘s extraordinary, award-winning Lean Logic and Surviving the Future to posthumous publication. In light of their ever-growing popularity, I taught the ‘Community, Place and Play: A Post-Market Economics‘ course at Schumacher College, was executive producer of 2020 film The Sequel: What Will Follow Our Troubled Civilisation? , and now partner with Vermont’s Sterling College, both as consulting scholar on their EcoGather project and leading the groundbrea
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Shaun Chamberlin I was never an aspiring writer, but I was definitely an aspiring person, and that's what led me to writing. I want to tell a story *with my life* that…moreI was never an aspiring writer, but I was definitely an aspiring person, and that's what led me to writing. I want to tell a story *with my life* that I'll be proud to look back on on my dying day.

And for me that involved facing up to some of our civilisation's great challenges; trying to engage with them in some impactful, positive way. It hurts me to see the state of our world, and the only way I as an individual can feel happier, more content, and more whole is to know that I'm responding as best as I know how.

The one piece of advice I would give to everyone is to remember that you cannot NOT change the world. Whatever you do will change the world. If you take the most default option, you follow the most mainstream, down the line, ‘just keep your head down and get on with what they’re telling you to do’, approach, then that’s the world that you’re helping to create. There is no way that you can not change the world.

And so open yourself to everything that you feel. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. But just ask yourself, “How do I want to respond to this in a way that isn’t shutting me down; that is opening me up; that is helping me be fully who I am.” And that will lead you for the rest of your life.

That process of opening to the pain that we feel at the state of the world; the anger, or dissatisfaction, or sense of injustice, or whatever it might be that we feel when we look at how things are; if we don’t try and face what we feel, and hear the call that it might give to us, then we’re shutting ourselves down. Then we’re becoming less alive.

Oh, and one simple practical tip - learn to live on as little money as possible. If you don't have to earn much you don't have to do what other people tell you much, and you can get on with being who you most deeply want to be. That's been a real key to my past decade, which I'm thrilled and honoured to have lived. Mark Boyle's free book The Moneyless Manifesto (which I edited, unpaid) is a beautiful guide: http://www.moneylessmanifesto.org/why...(less)
Shaun Chamberlin At the moment I'm fully engaged with the book tour for my late mentor David Fleming's posthumous books. It's pretty relentless, but I have the big adv…moreAt the moment I'm fully engaged with the book tour for my late mentor David Fleming's posthumous books. It's pretty relentless, but I have the big advantage that pretty much everyone reads the books seems to become a passionate advocate for them! So hopefully once I give them this little push into the world, word of mouth will spread them from there.

Honestly, it's an honour. 'Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It' is one of my two favourite books of all time, so to be associated with as editor is a real privilege, and bringing these books to the world feels like possibly the most important thing I've done.

Last night I was down at Schumacher College with Rob Hopkins discussing the books, and on Thursday I'm at Global Co-operation House in North London. Here's a recent interview where I talk about the books (and hippos!):
http://www.darkoptimism.org/2016/08/2...(less)
Average rating: 3.99 · 200 ratings · 24 reviews · 6 distinct works
Surviving the Future: Cultu...

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Lean Logic: A Dictionary fo...

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The Transition Timeline: Fo...

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An update on all things Dark Optimism

Hey friends,

It’s been a busy year — not least with building out our thriving Surviving the Future community in its gorgeous new online home — and I’m aware that this blog has been a little neglected lately!

So I wanted to share here the below update sent out to my mailing list, covering that new site, January’s forthcoming Deep

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Published on November 09, 2025 10:54

Shaun’s Recent Updates

Shaun Chamberlin wrote a new blog post

An update on all things Dark Optimism

Hey friends,It’s been a busy year — not least with building out our thriving S Read more of this blog post »
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Quotes by Shaun Chamberlin  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Ultimately, we all have to decide what our own life is for. I will die one day, and, whether my day is near or far, I choose to look back on my time and know that I walked through the doors that inspired me.”
Shaun Chamberlin, The Transition Timeline: For a Local, Resilient Future

“Love is the dissolution of the illusion of separation.”
Shaun Chamberlin
tags: love

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”
Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living

“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
Howard Zinn

“Every civilisation has had its irrational but reassuring myth. Previous civilisations have used their culture to sing about it and tell stories about it. Ours has used its mathematics to prove it.”
David Fleming, Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It

“Forward movement is not helpful if what is needed is a change of direction.”
David Fleming, Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It

“Localisation stands, at best, at the limits of practical possibility, but it has the decisive argument in its favour that there will be no alternative.”
David Fleming, Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It

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