Please join us on Friday, May 18th at 7:30 PM for a public talk by Andreas Weber, German biologist and eco-philosopher, at St. James Place in Great Barrington, MA, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Weber will give a talk as part of the Schumacher Center’s Reinventing the Commons Program.
In his talk, titled Aliveness as the Heart of Economics, Ecology and Commoning, Weber will ask a radical question: “Why is our economy still destroying the environment and creating inequality?” He believes that the culprit might rest on an image of life where the strongest wins and fitness grants success. Biological life, however, is never about winning, but rather an endless celebration of reciprocity. Ecosystems are ways to organize giving that allows for the whole system to flourish and for the individuals to take what they need. Weber argues that only when we understand that this desire for mutuality is inherent in the living world will we be able to tailor an economic culture that does not destroy life but that mimics ecology, enacting what may be seen as a practice of love.
Weber is the author of Matter and Desire, amongst other works. His book will be available for sale at the event.
Admission is free. To pre-register, email schumacher@centerforneweconomics.org or call (413) 528-1737.
