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Book Club 2011-Ideas
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October 2011
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Kirsten
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Jul 16, 2011 08:14PM
Marieke mentioned this in one of the water topics, we should read about water conflict. It's a scare resource, and getting scarcer. There is already a great deal of conflict, and more is projected. This book will be a little more political and less scientific probably. Suggestions?
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i don't know if this one focuses on water conflict, but it definitely deals with conflicts related to climate change: Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. Somewhere i have a book about water conflict...must dig around...
Yeah, that definitely fits! It also doesn't even have to be about war specifically, it could also be about the battles occurring in our own country between the east and the west. Some really crazy things have happened over water in this country.
Kirsten wrote: "Yeah, that definitely fits! It also doesn't even have to be about war specifically, it could also be about the battles occurring in our own country between the east and the west. Some really craz..."Definitely! And that is something I'd like to learn more about.
Water Wars: Pollution, Profits and Privatization immediately comes to mind... one of many by Vandana Shiva I'd like to read.
I have one on my shelf that's a pretty good fit...Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource, though in newer news there's also The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century.
There's also When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century.
Vandana Shiva is definitely some great reading, and quick and short.
Those books look great, but I think what we wanted to do in October was to discuss how diminishing water supplies are leading to conflict...whether it is violent conflict, or not. Earlier this year we discussed the water crisis and these books would have been excellent. Out of that discussion we started touching on conflict.I think we can definitely get back to crisis and include these suggestions. I'm especially interested inAlex Prud'homme's book, in part because I read something else by him and really enjoyed his style, and because I want to see how his book compares with Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale And Why We Bought It
Alexandru wrote: "How about The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society ?"This looks really eye-opening. Have you read it yet?
Marieke wrote: "Alexandru wrote: "How about The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society ?"
This looks really eye-opening. Have you read it yet?"
Unfortunately, no, I didn't read it yet. I'll have to see where I can get my hands on it first. A while ago I found (on waterfootprint.org) a PDF chapter called "The water footprint of food", written by this author and loved the facts presented there (http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports...). This is how I found out about Arjen Y. Hoekstra.
This looks really eye-opening. Have you read it yet?"
Unfortunately, no, I didn't read it yet. I'll have to see where I can get my hands on it first. A while ago I found (on waterfootprint.org) a PDF chapter called "The water footprint of food", written by this author and loved the facts presented there (http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports...). This is how I found out about Arjen Y. Hoekstra.
Hrmm... well my question here then is whether we are more interested in international issues or domestic issues with water conflict? There is ample material looking at management and conflict in the American west and southwest. There is a ton of writing on the tragedy of the commons story that is Los Angeles: Owens Valley Revisited: A Reassessment of the West's First Great Water Transfer.
Otherwise there is also a lot of material examining (for example) the middle east: Power and Water in the Middle East: The Hidden Politics of the Palestinian-Israeli Water Conflict
If we're looking at conflict relating to water, it might be interesting to look at it in the context of natural resources. One book which gives over a few chapters to water, but also hits on other natural resources is Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict With a New Introduction by the Author.
We could do either international or domestic, alana...but "domestic" would be domestic for those of us in the U.S.we have a few active members in Canada and France, for example. I'm very interested in the American West in any case and I've dealt a lot with the Palestine/Israel conflict in other contexts and am very aware of the role of water. i'd love to read/discuss more about it and would be comfortable doing so. all of these books look great!
True true, though in my mind i meant dispute within the borders of a single country, rather than between multiple countries (there's still plenty county/interstate dispute over Los Angeles' water supply).
alana (eHawk) wrote: "True true, though in my mind i meant dispute within the borders of a single country, rather than between multiple countries (there's still plenty county/interstate dispute over Los Angeles' water s...":D
that would be a good way to look at it: micro or macro, local (anywhere in the world) or international?
we could try to decide now-ish and focus our book suggestions on whatever we decide, or we can keep it open and suggest books for either option. i'm in favor of whichever creates discussion.
Just a wild idea. What if more than one book is read by different members and then the group comes together to discuss the conflicts and issues from their reading?
Kirsten, I think the idea came mostly as a result of alana's post #12 and Marieke's #15. Since there are such varied directions to follow (international, domestic, natural resources, conflict) perhaps the group would come up with a list books that fit the topic, from which members would read a selection from the list, and then come back to the group to discuss the topic. Granted, you wouldn't be discussing the book, but would have a conversation, and share what you (the reader) gained/learned from the book read.
Sorry for the poorly written post. I hope it isn't too difficult to read. I'm getting too sleepy to be able to concisely communicate. *zzzzzzz* good night.
Hi Melissa, that is generally what we do. We use this thread to brainstorm and then generate a list of books to make a poll. And then we make the winner our "official" read and encourage participants to read that book. However, sometimes it's hard for some members to get the book but they still want to participate, so it's fine to read a different book. One time recently we had a three-way tie, so we just read whichever we wanted. For September, Kirsten and I dropped the ball so we are going to do a real free for all... I will set up a thread shortly.So basically, this folder is for generating ideas, but once we have settled on our reading choice(s), we move the discussion to a different folder.
I guess I'm not being clear. I was thinking that members might have a list of books to choose from and that they would be reading one of the several at the same time that others would be reading another of the list. Then the group could bring their information together as they read different books at the same time. That way you could discuss the topic from several angles at the same time.If this still isn't clear, I give up on my ability to explain. I'm just throwing out an idea, not emotionally attached to it anyway.
I think we are doing something similar to your idea for September. We are open to doing anything that promotes discussion but is relatively structured. I don't think we want to be approaching things from too many different angles so I think it would be good to settle on either domestic or international conflict, for example. In my reply to above I think I was trying to say that we could skip the poll part and go straight to individually choosing a book from the list we generate. Instead of having a poll for a book we could poll for the angle of the topic. OR maybe this is more closely aligned with what you're saying and could make for good discussion: some members read about water conflict in the American West, others read about the Middle east, India, their home country...and then we discuss the different aspects of the problems and what solutions different locales are looking or using and does it defray or increase conflict? Is it violent conflict?
Is that kind of what you're suggesting, Melissa?
I'm SO excited for this topic. I love me some water issues.
Creating a poll, please vote! Sorry it's so late, October snuck up on me too...
am i missing this? is it hiding somewhere?
alana (eHawk) wrote: "am i missing this? is it hiding somewhere?"to the right of the discussion thread at the top, there are some links and one is "polls."
but i can also link to it directly. :D
alana (eHawk) wrote: "thank you!"no problem! :)
now i have to remember to vote.
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Green Group
Books mentioned in this topic
When the Rivers Run Dry: Water - The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century (other topics)Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict (other topics)
Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource (other topics)
Water Wars: Pollution, Profits and Privatization (other topics)
Owens Valley Revisited: A Reassessment of the West's First Great Water Transfer (other topics)
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