Transforming Ourselves/Transforming the World

An Open Conspiracy for Social Change

Brian K. Murphy

We live in an age where unprecedented numbers of people have joined organizations and involved themselves in social action. Yet many of us are pessimistic when confronted by the powerful forces of big corporations and big government. This book is for all those community workers, adult educators, and social activists of every kind who want to overcome pessimism and play a part in changing society in the direction of peace, justice and dignity for all human beings. Murphy explains the social and personal dilemmas which hold people back from social engagement. He argues that the various constraints we face can be overcome. Human beings are open-ended ‘possibilities in process’–the missing link between a deterministic past and an intentional and conscious future.

“This is a book filled with hope. Far from accepting the myth of inevitability, Brian Murphy dares us to imagine a just future in which ordinary people accept the mantle of ‘intentional citizenship’ and create a moral alternative to economic globalization. Read this wonderful book”–Maude Barlow, Chairperson, Council of Canadians

”This is such a hopeful, liberating book. One feels inspired to imagine something more transforming in our individual and collective lives as activists. It takes us to the edge of what we do not know. What an affirming place to arrive at.”–Lance Evoy, Institute in Management and Community Development, Concordia University, Montreal

”Brian Murphy’s Transforming Ourselves, Transforming the World is a wake-up call for the human spirit. For those lulled into inaction by hopelessness and fatalism, Murphy implores us to break out of our self-imposed limitations and recognize our vast potential for growth and change. Readers will undoubtedly be inspired to accept his enticing invitation to ‘subvert and conspire’ in the name of social justice.”–Medea Benjamin, Co-Director of Global Exchange and author of Bridging the Global Gap