Counterculture Green
Subtitle: The Whole Earth Catalog and American Environmentalism (CultureAmerica)
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: October 27, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 303
ISBN-13: 9780700615452
Subjects: Conservation of the environment; Cultural studies; Environmentalist thought & ideology; History; History - U.S; Nature; History: American; USA; Environmental Conservation & Protection - General; Media Studies - Print Media; Popular Culture - Counter Culture; United States - 20th Century; 20th century; California; Counterculture; Environmentalism; San Francisco; United States
Description: 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.