Overview

"The world is facing an existential crisis. Looming climate breakdown and ecological collapse could lead to the ""sixth extinction"" event in Earth's history, this time by our own hand, and the massive loss of human life and of many other life-forms with which we share the earth. How did we get here, and how can we transform our ways of thinking and living to avoid catastrophe? And what really sustains us? In a wide-ranging and comprehensive analysis, based on decades of experience as an environmental research scientist, activist and Quaker, Jennie M. Ratcliffe explores the interconnected scientific, technological, economic, religious and psychological causes of our predicament and shows how the ecological crisis is, at its heart, a spiritual and moral crisis. Drawing primarily on Quaker testimonies, on Gandhian, Buddhist, and other wisdom traditions, and the work of Thomas Berry, Arne Naess, E.F. Schumacher and others, she explores the underlying principles by which we-particularly those of us in the wealthiest countries-can radically transform our ways of life. The principles of integrity, reciprocity, nonviolence, simplicity, and equality, rooted in a realization of the unity and interdependence of, and love for, the whole earth community, are the foundation of an integral deep ecology, deep economy, and deep peace. Far from being utopian, they can and are being translated into spiritually-grounded practices around the world, offering transformational paths to the long-term sustainability of a more just and peaceable world for the commonwealth of life and the emergence of a new Ecozoic era. Includes illustrations, comprehensive footnotes, full bibliography, and index."

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9781733660006

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Reviews

At last, a readable book on the looming ecological crisis, one that not only clearly describes the full dimensions of the impending catastrophe, but also plumbs the depth of the cultural, social, economic and spiritual causes of it and marks the path toward practical solutions....The depth and breadth of her exploration of the roots of the problem in the human psyche is remarkable. If you read one book this year, read this one. Rev. Dr. Rollin O. Russell, Conference Minister Emeritus, Southern Conference, U.C.C. ...from the beginning of the book we encounter the difference between Ratcliffe's approach to climate mitigation and that of any other climate change book I've read. Her concern is with root causes and thoroughgoing cures....Ratcliffe sets the climate problem within an understanding of the interactive, interconnected Earth system, and within the emerging view [of the] nature of the universe.... Alice Loyd, Co-editor, The Ecozoic Review. (Full review: https: //www.ecozoicstudies.org/ecozoic-review-september-october-2019/) .I cannot do justice to the depth and breadth of this book in a short review. Jennie Ratcliffe's ability to bring together an amazing amount of research and give such a comprehensive look to where we are and what we must do, is awe-inspiring. Ruah Swennerfelt, Vermont homesteader and author of Rising to the Challenge: The Transition Movement and People of Faith. (Full review: https: //www.quakerearthcare.org/bfc/volume-33-number-1) Jennie Ratcliffe takes on an ambitious project in her quest for an integral approach to the ecological crisis-and succeeds admirably....I can think of no book that better illuminates the larger picture in which the ecological crisis is embedded....I would recommend Nothing Lowly in the Universe for Quaker meeting libraries, for Friends upper schools and colleges, for adult discussion groups, and for all seekers of truth in this time of ecological crisis. Pamela Haines, author of Money and Soul. Full review: https: //www.friendsjournal.org/book/nothing-lowly-in-the-universe-an-integral-approach-to-the-ecological-crisis/ Of the many thousands of books written in the last 15 years about religion and ecology this book is surely in the top ten....This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the entirety of the issues....It's a primer for conversations in faith groups, academic classrooms, public discourses, and private meditation. Read it, change your life and pass it on to others. Revd. Dr.Terry Biddington, Dean of Spiritual Life, University of Winchester, UK and author, Multifaith Spaces, 2020.

At last, a readable book on the looming ecological crisis, one that not only clearly describes the full dimensions of the impending catastrophe, but also plumbs the depth of the cultural, social, economic and spiritual causes of it and marks the path toward practical solutions....The depth and breadth of her exploration of the roots of the problem in the human psyche is remarkable. If you read one book this year, read this one. Rev. Dr. Rollin O. Russell, Conference Minister Emeritus, Southern Conference, U.C.C. ...from the beginning of the book we encounter the difference between Ratcliffe's approach to climate mitigation and that of any other climate change book I've read. Her concern is with root causes and thoroughgoing cures.... What I want from here on is to spend time with people who are saved from despair by their strong sense of connection with the whole of life....To me there doesn't seem to be a better word for this connectedness than love, and if I seem to be turning now to the realm of spirit to name my faith, it is spiritual as Jennie Ratcliffe describes it....as the warming advances, I will increasingly value the writers who speak from that spirit. Alice Loyd, Co-editor, The Ecozoic Review. I'm so impressed with the breadth of this book. It's presented in three sections, the first helping explain how we got to this crisis, the second sharing the principles needed for deep change, and the third laying out the practices necessary for action....it's rare to see it all so compactly expressed in about 300 pages....After such a clear and thorough exploration of our predicament, Jennie explores the principles which create the building blocks of how we can change the current trajectory of human-caused environmental destruction.....I cannot do justice to the depth and breadth of this book in a short review. Jennie Ratcliffe's ability to bring together an amazing amount of research and give such a comprehensive look to where we are and what we must do, is awe-inspiring. Ruah Swennerfelt, Vermont homesteader and author of Rising to the Challenge: The Transition Movement and People of Faith.

Author Information

Jennie M. Ratcliffe is an environmental research epidemiologist, activist, and Quaker. Her lifelong concern has been to make connections between peace, justice and ecological sustainability as interdependent spheres of morality, spirituality and social responsibility; to integrate thinking and practice in science, religion, and ethics; and to join inward contemplation with outward action. After completing a Master's degree in pollution studies at Manchester University, a doctorate in environmental epidemiology and postdoctoral research in toxicology at the University of London in the U.K., she has worked as a research epidemiologist for almost 40 years, including with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and at the Universities of London and North Carolina, and has served as an advisor for the World Health Organization, the European Union and other international bodies. She has also worked with Friends of the Earth, the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science, and Physicians for Social Responsibility, among other organizations, and helped found and participate in numerous local groups advocating for a more peaceable, equitable, and ecologically sustainable world. A long-time member of Durham Friends Meeting in North Carolina, she has been active in peace, social and earthcare concerns within the Quaker community for many years, and was the Henry J. Cadbury Scholar in Quaker Studies at Pendle Hill in 2005-6. She has also traveled widely in the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia and elsewhere to study the impacts of ecological destruction on human societies and the wider natural world, and to learn about ways we can preserve the commonwealth of life, grounding responses in spiritual and moral principles that can be put into practice in diverse cultures and communities.

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