Counterculture green : the Whole earth catalog and American environmentalism
For many, it was more than a publication: it was a way of life. The Whole Earth Catalog billed itself as "Access to Tools," and it grew from a Bay Area blip to a national phenomenon catering to hippies, do-it-yourselfers, and anyone interested in self-sufficiency independent of mainstream America (now known as "living off the grid"). In recovering the history of the Catalog's unique brand of environmentalism, historian Kirk recounts how Stewart Brand and the Point Foundation promoted a philosophy of pragmatic environmentalism that celebrated technological achievement, human ingenuity, and sustainable living. Kirk shows us that Whole Earth was more than a mere counterculture fad. At a time when many of these ideas were seen as heretical to a predominantly wilderness-based movement, it became a critical forum for environmental alternatives and a model for how complicated ecological ideas could be presented in a hopeful and even humorous way.--From publisher description
Print Book, English, ©2007
University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan., ©2007
History
xiii, 303 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
9780700615452, 9780700618217, 0700615458, 070061821X
153580066
Introduction: one highly evolved tool box
Environmental heresies
Thing-makers, tool freaks, and prototypers
Bailing wire hippies
On point
The final frontier
Free minds, free markets
Epilogue: What happened to appropriate technology?