An Introduction: This Book In A Nutshell

This is a bitesized book about rediscovering each other. It explores how cultivating new types of community can bring untold fulfilment into our lives, and puts forward the idea that a globally synchronised burst of grass roots community engagement may have the potential to radically transform our inner and outer worlds.

The book is composed of four parts:

• Part I briefly explores the nature of our modern day alienation and suggests that without major structural changes our whole civilisation may soon be headed for collapse.

• Part II outlines the grand overarching narratives that helped bring us to this point, and explores some of the alternatives that are emerging in response.

• Part III introduces the idea of the Conscious Change Collective, a new form of mutual aid community that is intended to increase our felt sense of belonging, create new opportunities for us to give and receive support and empower us to become more effective agents of change. This section of the book also explores how such Collectives may be the perfect vehicles for beginning to prototype and live out the new kinds of societal narratives that are starting to emerge.

• And finally, Part IV explores the many personal benefits, challenges and opportunities that await us as individuals when we begin to participate in such mutual aid communities.

So let’s begin by first taking a brief look at one of the most insidious threats that we currently face as a species, that of our gradual descent into a culture of Alienated Hyper-individuality.

Next - The Age Of Alienation: Becoming Hyper-Individuals