Beyond Individualism: Challenge of Inclusive Communities

by George Rupp

Overview

In many places around the world, relations between ethnic and religious groups that for long periods coexisted more or less amicably are now fraught with aggression and violence. This trend has profound international implications, threatening efforts to narrow the gap between rich and poor. Underscoring the need for sustained action, George Rupp urges the secular West to reckon with the continuing power of religious conviction and embrace the full extent of the world's diversity.

While individualism is a powerful force in Western cultures and a cornerstone of Western foreign policy, it elicits strong resistance in traditional communities. Drawing on decades of research and experience, Rupp pushes modern individualism beyond its foundational beliefs to recognize the place of communal practice in our world. Affirming the value of communities and the productive role religion plays in many lives, he advocates new solutions to such global challenges as conflicts in the developing world, income inequality, climate change, and mass migration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231174282
Publisher:	Ingram Publisher Services
Publication date:	09/28/2015
Series:	The Order of the Shamrock , #29
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.61(h) x 0.76(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

George Rupp has served as dean of Harvard Divinity School and as president of Rice University, Columbia University, and the International Rescue Committee. As an activist and educator, he is committed to shaping fair institutions and building inclusive communities in both the developed and the developing worlds. His articles have appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and he is the author of five books, most recently Globalization Challenged: Conviction, Conflict, Community.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Passionate Conviction and Inclusive Community
Part 1. Education as a Resource
2. The Challenges of American Provincialism
3. Religion and the Academy—A Lover's Quarrel
4. Universities in the Search for Strategic Responses to Global Challenges
5. What Is the Good Life?
6. More Words for Students
Part 2. Action for Inclusion
7. Local Conflicts as a Global Challenge
8. People on the Move
9. Enhancing Local Capacity Globally
10. Religious Communities as a Resource for Conflict Resolution
11. Religion and Ecology
12. Why Community?
Conclusion
Index

Editorial Reviews

10/05/2015
Activist and educator Rupp (Globalization Challenged) argues that Western individualism must reaffirm the pivotal role of community. Modifying and repurposing content from past speaking engagements, he draws on his experience as dean of Harvard Divinity School and president of Rice University, Columbia University, and the International Rescue Committee to explore the ways in which individualism perpetuates a system skewed toward private interests over public goods. He contends that without a focus on communities we will maintain policies that favor the privileged few and exacerbate wealth disparity, armed conflict, and the earth's destruction. While Rupp's definition of community is expansive, he focuses largely on religious groups, asserting that secularism cannot continue to ignore the way religious beliefs influence public policies. He also explores the relationship between religion and the humanities, urging educational institutions to provide opportunities to study religion, in part because it plays a crucial role in engagement with non-Western traditions. Ultimately, Rupp argues that when we shift our focus from valuing individualism to elevatomg inclusive communities, we can conceptualize new possibilities for global issues. "A hybrid of memoir and systematic reflections," Rupp offers an accessible and well-reasoned contribution to debates on the role of religion and community. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Rupp writes with great clarity and wisdom, and also with unmistakable moral conviction about issues with which he has direct personal engagement. Beyond Individualism is a book of passionate advocacy.

David N. Hempton

Rupp brings a lifetime of thought and action to this passionate exploration of one of the biggest challenges faced by countries both large and small. The issues he raises are for all of us to ponder and act upon.

David Miliband

George Rupp's vision comes in the nick of time for a world crowded with competing cultures. His philosophical scholarship combines with hard experience as an international humanitarian to reveal how our differences can be our salvation on a path to a just and inclusive future.

Scott Pelley

Essential reading for leadership and citizenship in today's complex world of religious and cultural difference. As scholar, administrator, and activist, Rupp has seen the crisis of community first-hand, and offers readers a timely proposal for ethical, informed leadership in a global context.

Diana Eck

Beyond Individualism is a wonderfully accessible and personal meditation on the human desire to be part of something greater than oneself. Rupp's own experiences at places ranging from educational institutions to post-conflict communities around the world are a wonderful backdrop for examining how we can embrace diversity within communities of conviction

Helene D. Gayle

A powerful yet simple message emanates from this philosophical book.

Times Higher Education - Donald Daniel Leslie

In this slim volume [Rupp] offers insights about the increasingly interconnected yet individualistic world, and concludes that greater inclusion can be pragmatic and does not require homogeneity, a principle that can be embraced by both the religious and secularists.

YaleGlobal - Susan Froetschel