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This blog post will conclude the ‘Resources I wish I knew about in my MSW’ series featuring resources that have been shaping my thinking about social work and our role in advancing ecological justice. This final set of resources includes: fiction, non-fiction, essays, and poetry by authors outside of social work.
This is perhaps a more unconventional set of resources in comparison to the previous ones in Part 1 and Part 2 of the series, however reading works outside of the typical social work sphere have been helpful for me in creating space to think about futures that I want to contribute to (and ones that I want to fight against). These types of resources have significantly impacted my thinking about inclusive and transformative change thus far, and I wish that they were encouraged more during social work training.
Even though many of the works of fiction are set in universes that have features different to our own world, they have provided me an opportunity to think about larger themes and issues relevant to social work in a less academic and more imagination-driven way (which does not always come naturally to me). Poetry, essays, and non-fiction have also been helpful in hearing a variety of perspectives through personal stories and lived experience that demonstrate the strength, vulnerability, and resilience of people and planet.
Let us know what you are reading, and what books have been impactful for you in your studies and/or work. We will gladly add them to the list to share with other community members! Happy reading!
Fiction:
The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin
Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Octavia’s Brood edited by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha
Grievers by adrienne maree brown
After the Flood by Kassandra Montag
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Non-Fiction:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown
A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta
The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb
Full-Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical Future by Bob Johansen
Poetry & Essays:
Lifting Hearts Off the Ground: Declaring Indigenous Rights in Poetry by Lyla June Johnston and Joy De Vito
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson
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