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The Empowerment Manual Advance Praise for The EMPOWERMENT MANUAL It’s not easy to meld a sweeping vision with practical steps on how to implement it, but Starhawk has succeeded brilliantly in The Empowerment Manual. Filled with case histories, illustrative stories, and, most importantly, clearly written exercises for honing your collaborative skills, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in building community and truly empowering themselves and others. — Toby Hemenway, author, Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture True social change is a collaborative art. Here’s a trove of tips, guidelines, deft strategies and open secrets, that will speed and ease our capacity to work together. It comes to us with Starhawk’s signature blend of vast experience, wit, and love for life. — Joanna Macy, author, The Work that Reconnects and co-author, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy This new book, The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, is Starhawk at her best — wise woman elder, articulate thinker and witty writer, experienced leader and fierce guardian of the planet. This is the how-to we’ve been needing, an eloquent and thoughtful handbook of intelligent advice detailing exactly how to bring the principles of cooperation, caring, and demo- cratic sustainability fully into living practice. Extremely well done! — Vicki Noble, co-creator of Motherpeace, author of Shakti Woman and The Double Goddess The Empowerment Manualis truly a guide to ensure the survival of those of us who us who are struggling to work collaboratively. It sheds a light on those dark corners of group dynamics that can leave us confused and disheartened. Starhawk gives us the tools to be the change we want to bring to the world. — Donna Read, documentary filmmaker. www.belili.org A “must have” for everyone who lives in an ecovillage or intentional community (or who would like to), The Empowerment Manual offers real-life examples, effective process exercises, and relevant, practical advice on group dynamics arising from Starhawk’s years of experience in collaborative groups. I especially loved the right-on examination of earned and un-earned social power, balancing the power-sharing with fairly rewarding leadership, and Starhawk’s often hilarious account of the invented but oh-so-real Rootbound Ecovillage. I’m giving a copy to everyone who takes my workshops! — Diana Leafe Christian, author, Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities and Finding Community, and publisher, Ecovillages newsletter A vitally important manual for those of us stepping forward to build resilient communities together. Starhawk’s book should be kept close at hand and referred to before meetings, group decisions and when dealing with difficult people. Rich in how-to’s and real life experience, this book will make the novice proficient as its methods are put into practice. — Carolyne Stayton, Executive Director, Transition US www.transitionus.org With The Empowerment ManualStarhawk has delivered a work of timely vision with instant practical impact. Good people, leaders, communitarians, and activists of every kind have been needing the help that this work brings just in time. For too long we have been hitting our heads against the wall, trying to find ways to be more effective, as various external and internal challenges have often unmade our successes. This manual will help us refocus, grow together, and be best prepared. — Mark Lakeman, Founder, The City Repair Project Copyright © 2011 by Starhawk. All rights reserved. Cover design by Diane McIntosh. © iStock (Spectral-Design); Table illustration, © iStock (Vizualbyte) Printed in Canada. First printing September 2011. Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86571-697-1 eISBN: 978-1-55092-484-8 Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Empowerment Manual should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to: New Society Publishers P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada (250) 247-9737 Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Starhawk The empowerment manual : a guide for collaborative groups / Starhawk. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-86571-697-1 1. Social groups. 2. Leadership. 3. Community power. I. Title. HM716.S73 2011 302.3 C2011-905863-4 New Society Publishers’ mission is to publish books that contribute in funda- mental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. Our printed, bound books are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-certified acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled (100% old growth forest-free), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable- based, low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC-certified stock. New Society also works to reduce its carbon footprint, and purchases carbon off- sets based on an annual audit to ensure a carbon neutral footprint. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com This book is dedicated to Margo Adair, who devoted her life to bringing together spirit and action in the pursuit of social justice. Join the Conversation Visit our online book club at NewSociety.com to share your thoughts about The Empowerment Manual.Exchange ideas with other readers, post questions for the author, respond to one of the sample questions or start your own discussion topics. See you there! Contents Acknowledgments ......................................................................................... xv Chapter 1: A New Era of Empowerment ........................................................1 What are collaborative groups? Why this book is needed. How the book is structured. Leading exercises and meditations. Chapter 2: RootBound Ecovillage and ........................................................15 the Talisman of Healthy Community Introduction to our exemplary — or not so — ecovillage and its problems. Chapter 3: The Circle of Vision ....................................................................25 Finding a group vision, core values, intentions goals and governance. Chapter 4: The Axis of Action — Power and Responsibility .......................43 Different kinds of power, rules and norms, earned and unearned social power, privilege and entitlement, balancing power and responsibility. Chapter 5: The Axis of Learning — Communication and Trust .................77 Communication norms, functional and dysfunctional. Basic skills for good communication in groups. Accountability and building trust. ix x | THE EMPOWERMENT MANUAL Chapter 6: Leadership Roles for Leaderless Groups ..................................123 Group roles and different types of leadership. How to be an empowering leader. Empowerment to the midline. Accountability. Chapter 7: Group Conflict .........................................................................153 Embracing conflict and learning to constructively disagree. Types of conflict. Strategies for mediation.W rongdoing and due process. Chapter 8: Dealing with Difficult People ..................................................197 What makes people “difficult?”T rauma and internalized authority. Borderline personalities and victimhood. Clashing styles and norms. Patterns of reaction. Problems too big for the group. Hidden agendas. Chapter 9: Groups that Work .....................................................................241 Examples of successful collaboration: Rainbow Grocery, a worker-owned cooperative; the 1999 Seattle Blockade of the World Trade Organization; Reclaiming, an Earth-based spiritual network. Endnotes .....................................................................................................267 Bibliography and References ......................................................................273 Index ...........................................................................................................279 About the Author ........................................................................................287 Table of Questions and Exercises Chapter 1: A New Era of Empowerment Beginning a Session .....................................................................................8 Quick Intro .................................................................................................8 Weather Report ...........................................................................................9 Partner Intro ...............................................................................................9 Pride Intro ..................................................................................................9 Group Grounding .......................................................................................9 Anchor to Core Self ..................................................................................10 Really Simple Grounding ..........................................................................11 Thanksgiving .............................................................................................11 Cultural Sharing ........................................................................................12
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