my books will support your efforts to build community, resilience and healthy cooperative culture— walking next to you as a companion on the journey.
building belonging: Your guide to starting a residential intentional community
Building Belonging is both a practical guide for how to start a residential intentional community and a collective framework for addressing the racial, social, ecological and economic disparities affecting all aspects of the living experience for humans, land, and its co-inhabitants.
It offers an unprecedented perspective to creating intentional community that speaks directly to the reader who wants collective answers and who sees the deep benefit of community living as a key piece to addressing systemic issues.
What people are saying about Building Belonging:
“While the historically flagrant wounds of settler-colonialism and white supremacy continue to have negative impacts on Indigenous Peoples, their byproducts of globalization, ecological destruction, hyper-individualism and emotional depression have resulted in suffering among all peoples. A resurgence of community living is imperative in yielding our collective liberation and healing for both humans and all other living beings.
Without being prescriptive, Yana Ludwig combines her broad experience, holistic perspective, commitment to justice, and sheer brilliance to provide a comprehensive guide to the very real considerations integral to assembling an intentional community.
Even if you’re not currently thinking about starting an intentional community, you may very well be inspired to begin envisioning one after reading this book.”
Marcus Briggs-Cloud, co-founder, Ekvn-Yefolecv Maskoke Ecovillage
“Starting an intentional community in the colonized world presents what seems to be an endless supply of ethical dilemmas. How do we rebuild place based culture amidst rampant oppression, wealth disparity and cultural amnesia? Our western minds want solutions and formulas, and yet the task of creating community is mostly filled with questions.
Yana has lived most of her adult life in intentional communities at different stages of maturity. She has experienced the range of beauty and shadow that this life path offers, and has continually learned and contributed to the collective learning through decades of movement activism.
This book is readable, down to earth, and full of real talk about what it takes to start and nurture the growth of an intentional community. With Yana’s support, your intentional community can also become a learning ground and rather than be a haven for the privileged, become a seed garden for the much needed change we need in the world.”
Cassandra Lynn Ferrera, The Center for Ethical Land Transition
the cooperative culture Handbook: a social change manual to dismantle toxic culture AND build connection
The US is the most individualistic culture in the world, and one of the most competitive and isolating. This book does several things:
it offers a clear articulation about that cultural paradigm, plus two others: the counter culture that formed as a reaction against the worst of mainstream culture, and the now emergent and dynamic cooperative culture that emphasizes interdependence, solidarity and genuine valuing of diversity
it gives you 52 exercises to practice, plus conversation prompts
most importantly, it offers grounded hope for accelerating culture change in the direction of justice and resilience
The Cooperative Culture Handbook was written with intentional communities, worker owned co-ops, Agile businesses and social change groups in mind. It distills 25 years of mywork with cooperative groups into an accessible, nuanced and practical guidebook for anyone really committed to change, with the bonus of Karen Gimnig’s depth of experience working with couples and Agile groups.
This guide has been used by facilitators to help plan powerful meetings, by families to heal old hurts, and by individuals trying to make sense of cultural changes happening around them.
STAY TUNED! I will be starting a cooperative culture weekly study group on May 11th that will use The Cooperative Culture Handbook as our study text. Join me for a great peer learning opportunity!
What people are saying about the Handbook:
“The Cooperative Culture Handbook offers a clear and compelling alternative to the competitive society it seeks to replace. Written in simple and direct style, this book contributes to the emerging vision of a new society and inspires readers to join it. It should be read by anyone looking forward to the emergence of a cooperative culture in which everyone is equal and everyone thrives.”
Harville Hendrix, Ph. D. and Helen LaKelly Hunt, Ph. D, authors of Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couplesand co-founders of Safe Conversations, A Social Movement
“Yana and Karen describe practical exercises to help groups engage authentically and create a positive culture. This handbook addresses social justice in a way that will challenge even the most progressive community.”
Crystal Byrd Farmer, author of The Token: Common Sense Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Your Organization and FIC Board Member
together resilient: Building Community in the Age of climate disruption
Do you believe that genuine sustainable living is possible in North America? I do! I’ve lived it and this book is my best attempt to share it. It includes case studies of two residential communities (Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and Twin Oaks Community), lots of examples of how the lessons of these communities can be exported to urban areas and other non-residential contexts, and a full legal and economic reform platform to make sustainability easier for everyone.
Together Resilient: Building Community in the Age of Climate Disruption (published prior to my name change, and thus as Ma'ikwe Ludwig) won the 2017 Communal Studies Association Book of the Year Award, recognizing the valuable contribution of this book to our collective thinking about the power of community for practical responses to ecological crises.
Together Resilient looks at the current state of our economy and culture in relation to climate disruption, and also at the many practical examples of what is being done to address it, without waiting for government approval or everyone agreeing that climate disruption is even a real thing. With my usual humor, compassion and frank approach, this book brings the best of my knowledge and creativity to the table to help us all think about what's next.
What people are saying about Together Resilient:
When people ask me where to move to escape climate change, I tell them there's no escape and that the thing to look for is a strong community. This book explains how to build that kind of community anywhere--it's a manual for the future.”
Bill McKibben, author Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
"Is it possible to jettison our current system of exploitation and environmental destruction, and create a new system, on a national scale, that is not only sustainable but affords us a comfortable and fulfilling life? The answer is a resounding yes.
Ma'ikwe Ludwig eloquently reminds us how the way is fraught with challenges and shows us how to conquer them. This is a must read for anyone who cares about the future of the human race."
Dr. Chong Kee Tan, founder of Bay Bucks