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ONLINE NEWSLETTER: Selected E-mails to the Editor ARCHIVES: The Very Best of Radical Middle Access All Mark Satin Articles, 2005- 2009 Access All Mark Satin Articles, 1999- 2004 Access John Avlon Articles, 2004-2006 RADICAL MIDDLE, THE BOOK: RESPOND TO OUR ARTICLES AND VIEW OTHERS' RESPONSES: Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2008 - 2009 Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2007 Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2006 Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2005 Feisty Letters to the Editor, 2002-04 Feisty Letters to the Editor, 1999-2001 WHO WE ARE: About the Editor (In-House Version) About the Editor (By Marilyn Ferguson) About Our Sponsor, the Center for Visionary Law RADICAL MIDDLE CONGRES- SIONAL SCORECARDS: 109th and 110th Congresses (2005-08) RADICAL MIDDLE POLITICAL BOOK AWARD WINNERS: SOME PRIOR RADICAL MIDDLE BOOKS: 50 Best "Third Way" Books of the 1990s 25 Best "Transformational" Books of the 1980s 25 Best "New Age Politics" Books of the 1970s SOME PRIOR BOOKS BY MARK SATIN: New Options for America (book drawn from New Options News- letter, 1983-92) |
Excerpts from 35 reviews of New Age Politics 1. Fairweather Press (1976) edition “Some surprisingly ordered thinking has been
going on in the counter-culture. The evidence at hand is a book called New Age
Politics by Mark Satin. . . . In 60,000 words Satin has made a comprehensive
critique of North American society and outlined a utopian society to replace it.
. . . At 30 he’s already miles ahead of the academics and intellectuals who
cling to the Marxist vision.” “[S]timulating and inspirational." “[S]urprisingly practical . . . not at all the
usual dogmatic sophistry of the pamphleteer.” “[A]n excellent book of the new spiritual
consciousness that has created a new coherent worldview.” “[T]he cogent political analysis we’d been
seeking. . . . [T]he most intelligent effort we’ve seen to date that describes
the politics emerging out of the union of power and innocence.” “[I]nteresting and useful.” “Starting in an easy and pungent
conversational style, dealing with the confusions and stances of outlooks which
characterize our times, and doing it with a telling clarity that moves toward
the rosewood centre of things, Mark Satin develops not only a mental but also an
emotional analysis of the present situation in its fullness. . . . Altogether
the book is an event that purely and simply draws out my gratitude.” “Satin’s may be the most important book yet
of this genre; he has gathered many complicated, widespread thoughts into a
concise, very approachable treatise. . . . [A] landmark publication. . . . Satin
has done those who are interested in a new way a great service. This book marks
him as one of this era’s most important new philosophers.” "[A] significant breakthrough in New Age social thought . . . Anarcho-Pacifism
taken to an altogether new level." “The author . . . writes in an engaging,
personal vein and raises stimulating questions.” “A thoughtful analysis from an aware,
well-read person.” "[A]rgues [that] feminism, men's liberation, ruralism, ecology,
humanism, non-traditional education, A.T., and neo-pacifism are melding into a
new alternative to both Marxism and Liberalism." “[T]ries to wrench . . . readers out of their
ideological security.” “[E]xtraordinary value and significance. . . .
Many young people have gone the route Mark Satin describes: liberal to SDS
activist to . . . an inner search, to renewed activism with a different
perspective and set of values. But none ha[s] articulated the philosophic basis
for their post-ideological politics in a way which bridges the student revolt of
the 60’s with the self-development, transformational politics now emerging.” “[A] fresh viewpoint to help us see out of the
present impasse.” “[I]mportant. . . . [Suggests] an evolutionary
political process which just might work.” “[I]ntelligent attempt -- in the tradition of
such writers as Theodore Roszak -- to synthesize a number of current trends.” “A very positive and workable approach to
politics!” “It is clear that feminism has made a deep
impact on the thinking which went into New Age Politics.” “[An] intelligent political analysis of an
extremely meaningful alternative.” [Argh! Clipping is missing - ed.] 2. Whitecap Books (1978) edition “Satin is one of the few profound political
thinkers of our day who has grasped the significance of both spiritual practice
and psycho-spiritual growth. . . . New Age Politics is one of the few books I
consider essential reading for those on a genuine spiritual path.” “I wasn’t sure there was a connection
between what I was doing with my life and my love of feminism. This book gave me
that connection.” "New Age Politics . . .
combines the experiences of [Satin's Sixties] life with everything he has
learned in the Seventies. . . . [T]he reader gets a wealth of ideas on
each page." “Satin has brought together a million threads
and woven a coherent message -- and he’s no utopian. . . . [P]owerful insights
into the current transformations of self and society.” “[A] good book to know about . . . a
gathering, a centering, a vast summary, gentle, conscious, confident, loving,
high . . . a creative digestion of many people’s thoughts, works and
struggle.” "Clearly, what Satin espouses in both his talks and his book -- a
politics of personal responsibility and reconciliation -- is striking a
responsive chord with a rapidly expanding audience." “In this brilliant, cogently organized
review of . . . what has slowly been brewing in the seemingly 'quiet' times of
the latter '70s . . . Satin captures the flavor of a changing
political paradigm as no other author has. [The book] immediately bypasses
the twin rocks of liberalism and Marxism . . . though it might be properly
called their joint descendant. It has the further infusion, however, of a
distinctly spiritual element.” 3. Dell Publishing Co. edition (Nov., 1979) “[A] useful formulation of a number of related
and converging ideas that have been around for a long time, but have gained
increasing currency. . . . [A] compelling work, drawing on an impressive number
of sources. . . . [O]utstanding work of synthesis.” “[A]n attractive work of synthesis and
summary. . . . Satin pulls together the many strands of thought, feeling,
consciousness, and political-culture definition that create a New Age Politics.
. . . [Includes a] first-rate resource guide.” “[A]n important achievement, important enough
that one can fairly recommend [it] as the indispensible introduction to what is
now being called ‘new age thought.’ . . . [M]akes an extremely valuable
contribution to contemporary political dialogue.” “Satin is steadfastly upbeat, open-armed,
self-effacing, and earnest toward friend and foe alike . . . and may move many
readers to new or greater efforts to build the better place we all long for.” “One can assume from [New Age
Politics] that
the ‘Americans who dissent’ . . . have become somewhat more numerous and
articulate. . . . The wealth of the material . . . is likely to make the reader
dizzy!” “[A] plain-spoken, pragmatic vision of a new
politics that transcends the old political ‘isms.’” “[A] major achievement. . . . Libertarians
would do well to listen to New Agers about ecology and people’s spiritual
aspects. What both have in common is the desire to see people set free from
impersonal, institutional forces that inhibit their aspirations.” "The themes of New Age politics were first
articulated in the late 1970s by Mark Satin. . . . Drawing on decentralist
and feminist theories of the early 1970s, Satin's New Age Politics called
for an escape from the 'six-sided prison': patriarchism, egocentricity,
scientism, bureaucracy, nationalism and urbanism. In its place Satin advocated a
'third force' which would transcend the traditional divisions between Marxism
and capitalism, liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans." |
THE RADICAL MIDDLE CONCEPT: 50 Thinkers and Activists DESCRIBE the Radical Middle 50 Best Radical Middle BOOKS of the '00s 10 Best Radical Middle MAGAZINES 25 Arguably Radical Middle POLITICIANS GREAT RADICAL MIDDLE GROUPS AND BLOGS: Over 250 Great Radical Centrist GROUPS and Organizations 50 Great Radical Centrist BLOGS NOT JUST RADICAL MIDDLE: 50 Current Political IDEOLOGIES Organizations REFLECTING 50 Political Ideologies 50 Current Political MANIFESTOS Fiction and Memoirs ABOUT Ideologies 25 RED- HOT RADICAL MIDDLE INITIATIVES: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Future 500 [corporations & NGOs] Information Technology & Innovation Foundation Institute for Alternative Futures Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies International Network on Therapeutic Jurisprudence National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation Republican Main Street Partnership SOME PRIOR RADICAL MIDDLE INITIATIVES: Generational Equity and Communitarian platforms,1990s U.S. Green Party's "Ten Key Values" statement, 1980s Civil Rights Movement, 1960s (your editor is HERE, 6th from bottom) |