Radical Middle Newsletter
Idealism Without Illusions

 

ABOUT THE  NEWS- LETTER

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ARCHIVES:

Access All Mark Satin Articles, 2005- 2009

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Access John Avlon Archive, 2004-2006

Satin's 10 Best Writings Ever

RADICAL MIDDLE, THE BOOK:

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OUR  CONGRES- SIONAL SCORECARDS:

109th and 110th Congresses (2005-08)

108th Congress (2003 & 2004)

107th Congress (2001 & 2002)

OUR POLITICAL BOOK AWARD WINNERS:

1980 - 2009, Complete

RESPONSES FROM  OTHERS:

Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2008 - 2009

Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2007

Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2006

Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2005

Feisty Letters to the Editor, 2002-04

Feisty Letters to the Editor, 1999-2001

WHO WE ARE:

About the Editor (In-House Version)

About the Editor (By Marilyn Ferguson)

About Our Wonderful Pledgers

About Our Board of Advisors

About Our Sponsor, the Center for Visionary  Law

 

"Radical centrists acknowledge that good ideas come from both the left and the right. . . .  Radical centrist policy ideas are hatched by thinkers like authors Michael Lind and Ted Halstead, journalist Mark Satin, and philosopher Ken Wilber."
-- Bill Shireman, The Huffington Post, April 5, 2009

  50 Best “Radical Middle”
Political Books of the 2000s

I. INTRODUCTORY NOTE FROM EDITOR MARK SATIN

In our opinion, these are the 50 best radical-middle political books published in the U.S. from 2000 through 2009.

All BLUE links below will take you to that book’s page on Amazon.com.

All MAROON links will take you to the most substantial review or discussion of that book on this website.  By reading our reviews and discussions, you’ll see why we think these books are superior . . . not to mention radical middle.

Books preceded by a plus (+) are general introductions to radical middle politics.  Books preceded by a star (*) have won one of our annual Radical Middle Political Book Awards; see HERE for a list of all winners from 1980 through 2009.

II. THE FIFTY BEST

* Walter Truett Anderson, All Connected Now: Life in the First Global Civilization (2001), discussed by us about two-thirds of the way down HERE

Walter Truett Anderson, The Next Enlightenment: Integrating East and West in a New Vision of Human Evolution (2003), discussed by us HERE

Tom Atlee, The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World that Works for All (2003), mentioned by us HERE

+ / * John Avlon, Independent Nation: How Centrism Can Change American Politics (2004), discussed by us HERE

William Baumol, Robert Litan & Carl Schramm, Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity (2007), discussed by us HERE

Thomas Bender, A Nation Among Nations: America’s Place in World History (2006), discussed by us HERE

Paul Berman, Power and the Idealists; or, the Passion of Joschka Fischer and Its Aftermath (2005), reviewed by us HERE

Stewart Brand, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto (2009)

Marcus Borg, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally (2001), discussed by us HERE

+ / * Lawrence Chickering & James Turner, Voice of the People: The Transpartisan Imperative in American Life (2008), appreciated by us HERE

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Edward Cornish, Futuring: The Exploration of the Future (2004), reviewed by us HERE

Ross Douthat & Reihan Salam, Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream (2008), previewed by us HERE

Gregg Easterbrook, The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse (2003), reviewed by us HERE

Amitai Etzioni, Next: The Road to the Good Society (2001), discussed by us about one-third of the way down HERE

+ Morris Fiorina, Culture War?: The Myth of a Polarized America (2nd ed. 2006), reviewed by us HERE

* Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life (2002), mentioned by us about halfway down HERE

Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (2005), reviewed by us HERE

Robert Fuller, Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (2003), reviewed by us HERE

Mark Gerzon, Leading through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences Into Opportunities (2006), reviewed by us HERE

+ Anthony Giddens, The Third Way and Its Critics (2000), mentioned by us HERE

//////////

Edward Gresser, Freedom from Want: American Liberalism and the Global Economy (2007), discussed by us HERE

+ / * Ted Halstead & Michael Lind, The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics (2001), reviewed by us HERE

+ Ted Halstead, ed., The Real State of the Union: From the Best Minds in America, Bold Solutions to the Problems Politicians Dare Not Address (2004), discussed by us HERE

Marilyn Hamilton, Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive (2008), appreciated by us HERE

Lawrence Harrison & Samuel Huntington, eds., Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress (2000), discussed by us about halfway down HERE

* Alanna Hartzok, The Earth Belongs to Everyone: Articles and Essays (2008), appreciated by us HERE

Jason Hill, Becoming a Cosmopolitan: What It Means To Be a Human Being in the New Millennium (2000), discussed by us HERE

Steven Hill, 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy (2006), reviewed by us HERE

* David Hollinger, Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism (rev. 2000), discussed by us HERE

Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), discussed by us about halfway down HERE

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Zachary Karabell, A Visionary Nation: Four Centuries of American Dreams and What Lies Ahead (2001), discussed by us HERE

Robert Karen, The Forgiving Self: The Road from Resentment to Connection (2001), discussed by us HERE

Michael Kinsley et al., Creative Capitalism: A Conversation (2009)

Stephen Kinzer, Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq (2006), reviewed by us HERE

Art Kleiner, The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management (2nd ed. 2008), appreciated by us HERE

* Anatol Lieven & John Hulsman, Ethical Realism: A Vision for America’s Role in the World (2006), reviewed by us HERE

* Steven Lukes, The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat: A Novel of Ideas (2nd ed. 2009), see brief excerpt on our Political Book Awards page HERE

John McWhorter, Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America (2005), reviewed by us HERE

+ / * Matthew Miller, The Two Percent Solution: Fixing America's Problems in Ways Liberals and Conservatives Can Love (2003), discussed by us HERE

Charles Murray, In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State (2006), reviewed by us HERE

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* Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger, Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility (2007), reviewed by us HERE

* George Packer, The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq (2005), reviewed by us HERE

Samantha Power, “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide (2002), mentioned by us HERE

+ Paul Ray & Sherry Anderson, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (2000), reviewed by us HERE

+ Mark Satin, Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now (2004), featured by us HERE

Carmen Sirianni & Lewis Friedland, Civic Innovation in America: Community Empowerment, Public Policy, and the Movement for Civic Renewal (2001), discussed by us about halfway down HERE

Zadie Smith, On Beauty (novel; reviewed by us HERE)

Ken Wilber, A Theory of Everything: An Integral View for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality (2000), described HERE

* Robert Wright, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny (2000), reviewed by us HERE

Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World (2008), appreciated by us HERE

III. STILL NOT SATISFIED?

See our picks of the best visionary political books from the 1990s, HERE; from the 1980s, HERE; from the 1970s, HERE.

 

ABOUT THE RADICAL MIDDLE CONCEPT

WHY "Radical Middle"?

WIKIPEDIA Weighs In

50 Thinkers and Activists DESCRIBE the Radical Middle 

50 Best Radical Middle BOOKS of the '00s

GREAT RADICAL MIDDLE  GROUPS AND BLOGS:

100 Great Radical Centrist GROUPS and  Organizations

25 Great Radical Centrist BLOGS

SOME PRIOR RADICAL MIDDLE INITIATIVES:

Generational Equity and Communitarian platforms 1990s

First U.S. Green Party gatherings, 1987 - 1990

Green Party's "Ten Key Values" statement, 1984

New World Alliance, 1979 - 1983

PDF of  the Alliance's "Transformation Platform," 1981

SOME RADICAL MIDDLE LESSONS:

What the Draft Resistance Movement Taught Me

What the Civil Rights Movement Taught Me

SOME PRIOR  WRITINGS BY MARK SATIN:

New Options Newsletter, 1984-1992 (includes back issue PDFs!)

New Age Politics: Healing Self and Society, 1976,  1978 (includes 1976 text PDF!)

OTHER
PRIOR   RADICAL MIDDLE TEXTS:

50 Best "Third Way" Books of the 1990s

25 Best "Transformational" Books of the 1980s

25 Best "New Age Politics" Books of the 1970s

NOT JUST RADICAL MIDDLE:

10 Best U.S. Political NOVELS

50 Current Political IDEOLOGIES

50 Current Political  MANIFESTOS