1) Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas by Seth Godin. Business Week called Seth Godin “the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age”, and this book is the latest in a growing string of hits for the marketing guru and coveted public speaker. He’s hot, savvy, wired, and relevant, and not without good reason. As with his other books, there is something for everyone in his latest, and we highly recommend a visit to his blog to learn more and view a couple of his videos, or download an e-book or two. Who knows, you may be the next person to create a “purple cow”.Â

2) The Internet in China. Unlocking and Containing in the Public Sphere by Johan Lagerkvist of the University in Lund. (Via a “weblog…of the news on the emerging civil society in China, from the quirky perspective of internet entrepreneur, new media advisor and China-consultant Fons TuinstraIt.) “It deals with the – almost ideological – views on how the internet in China is developing, on one hand offering a much wide freedom to much of its citizens, on the other hand is becoming more sophisticated in containing the freewheeling discussions. Lagerkvist’s two questions: 1. How can Internet use contribute to an unlocking of the public sphere, making it more unfettered and independent from party-state control? 2. While generally promoting Internet use throughout the country how are agents of the Chinese part-state explicating containment of this use, for themselves and to the larger population, as part of their efforts to maintain control over politics in a locked-in publis sphere?”

3) Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View by Richard Tarnas. (From the author’s website.) With The Passion of the Western Mind, Richard Tarnas gave the world what many scholars, from Joseph Campbell to Huston Smith, regarded as one of the finest histories of the Western mind and spirit ever written. Now, Cosmos and Psyche challenges the basic assumptions of the modern world view with an extraordinary body of evidence that points towards a profound new understanding of the human role in the cosmos.
Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View shines new light on the unfolding drama of human history and our own critical age. It also suggests a new possibility for reuniting religion and science, soul and intellect, ancient wisdom and modern reason in the quest to understand the past and create the future.
For more information, see Wikipedia.

4) Knowing Knowledge by George Siemens. (Via the author’s website.) “Knowledge is changing. It develops faster, it changes more quickly, and it is more central to organizational success than in any other time in history.
Our schools, universities, corporations, and non-profit organizations, need to adapt. We need to change the spaces and structures of our society to align with the new context and characteristics of knowledge.
How we market, how we learn, how we build, how we collaborate – these are all changing. Most organizations are not prepared for the sea change washing ashore. We are conducting business in a manner that is no longer reflective of the market, or society as a whole.
Knowing Knowledge is an exploration of knowledge – what it is, how it is changing, and what it means to our organizations and society.” Knowing Knowledge is available for purchase (or download) from the website above.

5) Democracy’s Edge by Frances Moore Lappé. Democracy’s Edge is the completion of a trilogy which began in 2002 with Hope’s Edge, written with her daughter Anna Lappé. It is the 30th anniversary sequel to Lappé’s first book. Jane Goodall said of Hope’s Edge: “Absolutely one of the most important books as we enter the 21st century.â€? Second in the trilogy is You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear, written with Jeffrey Perkins.
Frances and Anna Lappé lead the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute, a collaborative network for research and popular education to bring democracy to life. Together they founded the Small Planet Fund which solicits and channels resources to democratic social movements, especially those featured in Hope’s Edge.