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The Fold Book Group
The idea for the Fold Book Group is to bring together a small group of like-minded people to read and discuss books with a green, eco, local food, health, scientific, spiritual, sustainability theme.
Sign up
If you’d like to come along to the next meeting, on Tuesday 13th September 2011 at 7.30pm please email info@thefold.org.uk
New to book clubs?
If you haven’t been involved in a reading group before, they take many shapes and forms, based largely on the interests and characteristics of the members. So as it kicks off, there are no real rules and no agenda. We will meet, discuss the book and at the end of the meeting decide when to meet next and what to read. If one of the group has become particularly fired up by their reading they may bring along reviews, articles or discussion questions to kick off the discussion – but there’s never usually a shortage of ideas and opinions!
It’s always a good idea to come along with some ideas for the next book and one of the joys of a book group is that other people suggest books which you may never thought of reading.
Our informal bookclub had its 33rd meeting on December 16th. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 24th January 2012 at 7.30pm in the ecoCafé and the bar will be open for tea and coffee and a range of local beer, cider, perry and wine so we can drink while we chat.
Upcoming Books for the Book Group
After Capitalism by David Schweickart - Meeting on 24th January
Review by an Independent Reviewer
After Capitalism makes the clearest case I have seen that capitalism leads nowhere but to moral, social, and environmental catastrophe. Yet it inspires hope by describing a realistic and sensible way to put our productive lives in our own hands instead of at the service of capital accumulation. Schweickart's accessible book will enlighten students and political activists about how the world works while opening new paths for its transformation.--Clayton Morgareidge
Book Description
Liberal, democratic capitalism as the end of history? Not necessarily. This work argues that there are forces developing in the world that might constitute a "counterproject" to the project of globalizing capitalism. At present, however, this movement lacks a coherent vision of a viable, desirable alternative. This text attempts to fill this lacuna by articulating, as a successor-system to capitalism, a model of "economic democracy", an economic system that preserves the efficiency strengths of a market economy, while extending democracy to the workplace and to the structures of investment finance. This model, which derives from both theoretical and empirical research, is shown to be efficient, dynamic and superior to capitalism among a range of values. The model allows us to see how the interconnected problems of global poverty and environmental degradation might be fruitfully addressed. It seeks to make sense of the vast number of large-scale economic "experiments" that have taken place in the past century, and is suggestive of a reform agenda that can and must be purchased in order to make a successful transition from capitalism to something much better.Das Kapital by Karl Marx - Meeting on 28th February
Independent Book review
Karl Marx’s Das Kapital a critical analysis of capitalism and its practical economic application and also a critique of other related theories. Today it is considered one of the most famous books ever written. Here, Marx’s text is interpreted for the modern day world of business and economics.
Karl Marx set about to analyse the development of capital, the components of capital and the modern day application of capital. As a political economy scientist he outlined the key human ingredient; the concept of the 'surplus value of labour'. This concept is the most difficult to understand of the three essential elements of what we now call Marxism, but it is the most important. As well, this work is the most important contribution of Marx to the world of political economy. Regardless of one's political and economic views it is necessary to comprehend what is put forward by Karl Marx's Das Kapital in order to have knowledge of how capital is created and used in the production of all goods and services.
What’s Mine is Yours: How Collaborative Consumption is Changing the Way We Live by Rachel Botsman & Roo Rogers - Meeting on 27th March
Independent Reviews
“People are normally trustworthy and generous, and the Internet brings the good out far more than the bad. That’s the big observation from my day job, customer service, for fifteen years. We’re seeing an explosion of modest businesses where people help each other out via the Net, and What’s Mine is Yours tells you what’s going on, and inspires more of the same.” – Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist
“What can the next wave of collaborative marketplaces look like? Botsman and Rogers answer this question in a highly readable and persuasive way. Anyone interested in the business opportunities and social power of collaboration should consider reading this book.” – Tony Hsieh, author of Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.
“After listening to a thousand tirades against the excesses and waste of consumer society, What’s Mine Is Yours offers us something genuinely new and invigorating: a way out. Anyone interested in the emerging economics of collaboration will want to read this profoundly hopeful book.” – Steven Johnson, author of The Invention of Air and The Ghost Map.
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A letter from Tom
Dear Friend of the Fold Book Group,
It is time for a re-launch of the group which was first announced three years ago next week. We have read 27 great books as a result. My thanks to Dympna, Karyn, Jeff and Ced who have contributed to this over the past week or so.
To give a bit more certainty and time to potential readers we will now select a short season of books (probably three or four) with a theme. The first season will be a summer season with meetings in May, June and July with the theme being novels with a Foldish angle. The Autumn Season will start in early September and we will choose a theme and books for that before the end of the summer season.
I have revamped the poster/flyer. Which is great for display in the Fold café and for display elsewhere (e.g. libraries and book shops), if you would like a copy to display on our behalf please contact us. Note the dates for meetings are now agreed but the books are provisional so if any of you have alternative suggestions please let me know.
We will probably purchase a few copies of each of the books in advance of each season for sale in the café and I will prepare a separate poster that will include reviews of each book. We will add these reviews to The Fold website as well.
Regards Tom
