Monday, February 17, 2020

5 Things You Should Know About Reframing Poverty by Eric Meade @reframingpvrty #5Things

by thewriterslife on February 17, 2020

Eric Meade is a futurist, speaker, and consultant serving nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies. He teaches graduate courses on strategic planning and social innovation at American University’s School of International Service in Washington, DC. He lives in Superior, CO.

Website → http://www.ericmeade.com

Twitter → http://www.twitter.com/reframingpvrty

Facebook → http://www.facebook.com/reframingpovrty

5 Things You Should Know About Reframing Poverty by Eric Meade

1. The book reflects 10 years of thinking (esp. through my consulting to nonprofits and foundations), four years of testing ideas (through my graduate-level teaching), and a year of writing.

2. Reframing Poverty has won its category in the Colorado Independent Publishers Association’s 2019 EVVY Awards and in the “Best Book” Awards sponsored by American Book Fest.

3. The book is truly a “build.” Reading it is both an emotional and cognitive experience. For this reason, when I do book talks, I can really only discuss the first half of the book!

4. My favorite comment about the book is that it doesn’t try to be the last word in the conversation. It wants to be the first word in a new conversation.

5. The book incorporates many seemingly opposed opinions about poverty. What I’ve found interesting is that when I tell people the title of the book, they often say something like, “I’m so glad you wrote that book, since…” and then they go on to expound their particular opinion of poverty, just assuming that that is the opinion presented by the book. Aren’t they in for a surprise!

inside the book

We typically view poverty as a technical problem we can solve with more money, more technology, and more volunteers. But there is an adaptive side to the problem of poverty as well. Reframing Poverty directs our attention to the emotional and often unconscious mindsets we bring to this issue. Meade’s approach is as unique as it is challenging. Rather than trite tips or tricks, he offers a series of nested insights from diverse fields like political science, physics, complexity theory, and psychology. Most importantly, he provides a path of self-exploration for those eager to become the kind of people who can successfully navigate the tensions of a world in need.