“The Great Conference at Claremont” Re-Imagining Civilization As Ecological
“THE GREAT CONFERENCE AT CLAREMONT” RE-IMAGINING CIVILIZATION AS ECOLOGICAL By Herman F. Greene This report on the “Seizing an Alternative: Toward an Ecological Civilization Conference” held at Pomona College, Claremont, California, June 4-7, 2015, has four parts: (1) “The Story,” (2) What the Participants Said,” (3) “A Critical Review,” and (4) “The Outcome.” Something great happened in Claremont, so the first task is to tell the story. THE STORY While many stood out at the conference, one person could not be missed—John B Cobb, Jr. At plenaries in Bridges Auditorium, he sat near the back most of the time with no apparent responsibilities. Yet inwardly, he must have been aflame. For all the 90 years of his life, he had prepared for this. Probably no one else could have pulled this off, certainly not this particular conference. Directly and indirectly he brought together his amazing network to re-imagine civilization as ecological—2,000 participants in all, 200 from China, 1,800 at the opening plenary, 900 presenters, 85 Tracks. Let this conference—“Seizing an Alternative: Toward an Ecological Civilization,” the 10th International Whitehead Conference, held at Pomona College, Claremont, California, June 4-7, 2015—be known as “THE GREAT CONFERENCE AT CLAREMONT” or simply “The Great Conference.” Never before had such an assemblage been held. John Cobb was the originator, the architect (with help from others such as Vern Visick, Andrew Schwartz and Ignacio Castuera), the guide, the teacher, the sage, and the magnet who drew us together. As unassuming and inconspicuous as he would otherwise want to be, his presence was everywhere at the Great Conference.
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