We look at the latest book by Chris Smaje. See more about Finding Lights in a Dark Age, Sharing Land, Work and Craft here.
Finding Lights in a Dark Age, Sharing Land, Work and Craft, reviewed
This is perhaps a curate’s egg of a book. We have read and reviewed previous books by Smaje, and they are intelligently written, advocating interesting and thoughtful points of view. You can say the same for this book, or perhaps parts of it. Naturally if you are going to tackle the future, and inevitably the possible dystopias that could lie in wait for us there, then you are going to go to some dark places. Which is directly acknowledged in the title of the book, so no one can feel surprised about where the book ends up. Sort of. Thing is, and it is an interesting concept, for the final chapter of the book we have arguably gone to somewhere 28 months later perhaps, just without the zombies. All fine in a, ‘I see a darkness falling across the land’ kinda way, but it is perhaps too short, too brief, and too undeveloped to really give much insight. It is of course plausible that Bristol has broken away from the London way of rolling, and you could also include the other two BR bastions of alternative living, namely Brighton and and Bradford too, who might wish to do the same too.
This future mind game is of course interesting, and does build on the trends and themes covered in the previous sections of the book. However at times it felt like it needed a stronger narrative to stitch all of these ideas, fears, and observations together. At times, apart from a justified sense of an all too possible future of bad times, it was hard to really gather clear takeaways about what Smaje wanted to say, and how he felt it might all play out. Naturally there are very good reasons for this too, we are talking about the future after all, and also particularly chaotic times, with numerous bad actors. Perhaps it is unfair to hold Smaje to an impossible standard, foolish perhaps to expect greater clarity or a coherent vision of what is coming down the line when so many of the key positions of power are held by simplistic, vengeful, capricious people.
A thought provoking book, the trouble is, there might just be no good options for us, humanity inc, down the road.
More about the book
In Finding Lights in a Dark Age, his latest book, renowned agrarian thinker Chris Smaje explains that society and government are still asking what our countries can yield, and in what quantity. They do so because we continue to live in conquest-based, abundance-for-some societies.
In this thought-provoking book, Chris discusses how we can meet the challenges of our age by moving away from the political and economic philosophies of both the left and right, to a more equitable re-organization of society, economy, land and food production. To survive and even thrive, Chris proposes the adoption of new models of political organization, where land and capital are seen as a common good that involves widespread and secure distribution. Work and production should rest on commitments struck in a community rather than on deals in a global market. Ultimately, we should build a sense of future possibility around local societies dedicated to human and environmental wellbeing.
Chris explores a world where we live slower lives, more immersed in local ecologies, and generate livelihoods locally in households and communities rather than ones orchestrated through centralised governments or corporations: in other words, communities that work from the bottom up rather than the top down. In Finding Lights in a Dark Age, Chris discusses what this society and landscape might look like in the near future and the longer term. As increasing numbers of people seek a rural, more local and self-sufficient lifestyle, the ideas in this important book will reach a new, eager audience.
More about the author
Chris Smaje has co-worked a small farm in Somerset for the last twenty years. Previously, he was a university-based social scientist, working in the department of sociology at the University of Surrey and the department of anthropology at Goldsmiths College. Since switching focus to the practice and politics of agroecology, he has written for publications such as The Land, Dark Mountain, Permaculture magazine and Stats & Data Science Views, as well as academic journals including Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and the Journal of Consumer Culture. Chris is the author of A Small Farm Future and Saying No to a Farm-free Future (both published by Chelsea Green), writes the Small Farm Future blog at https:// chrissmaje.com/blog and is a featured author at www.resilience.org.
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