A book by Santa Barbara author, Carolyn Jabs, is the recipient of a gold Nautilus Award. “Cooperative Wisdom: Bringing People Together When Things Fall Apart” won recognition for illuminating an innovative and high effective approach to conflict resolution.
“We started working on the book in 2008, long before the recent election,” says Jabs. “Today, we find that people are deeply tired of endless conflict. There’s a real hunger for the benefits that come only from cooperation.” The book’s co-author, Dr. Donald Scherer, an ethicist at Bowling Green State University, spent a lifetime studying social systems to understand what makes them sustainable. Cooperative Wisdom distills his research, describing five principles that promote the kind of cooperation that undergirds thriving human communities.
“The book is rooted in rigorous ethical philosophy,” says Jabs, “but the principles are relevant for families, schools, workplaces, non-profit organizations and even governments.” Jabs drew on her own background as an award-winning writer to make challenging ideas more accessible. Cooperative Wisdom is written as a dynamic conversation between a patient teacher and a learner who asks the questions readers want answered. Using lively examples from history, current events and family life, the book guides readers through fifteen practices that will help them master this new way of responding to change and the conflict it so often provokes.
The Nautilus Book Awards recognize books that transcend barriers of culture, gender, race, and class. Now in its 19th year, Nautilus Awards go to books that make exceptional literary contributions to conscious living & green values, high-level wellness, positive social change, and spiritual growth. In keeping with the Nautilus slogan, “better books for a better world,” all the books selected as winners are “potent seeds for the growth, coherence, and healing of our world.” Previous winners of the award include Deepak Chopra, M.D., Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Andrew Weil, M.D., Desmond Tutu and Joan Borysenko.
Cooperative Wisdom was published by Green Wave Books and is available at local bookstores and online from bn.com and Amazon.com. Carolyn is available for interviews about alternate ways to approach conflict. To learn more, visit www.cooperativewisdom.org.
