Page 10 RAIN November/December 1984 -------·-·- -- --··-----··-··-- -------- ACCESS: SOCIAL CHANGE Connexions: A Digest of Resource~ mid Groups for Social Change, quarterly, $10 (Canadian)/year, from: Connexions 427 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1X7 Canada A quarterly digest of resources and groups for social change in Canada. Each issue contains SU1nmaries of publications and descriptions of groups under subject categories such as energy, militarism, media, women, and health, along with a special theme section giving more extensive coverage of a particular topic. It also contains regular summaries of alternative Canadian periodicals and i:ln "Announcements and Appeals" section. -FLS Future Survey Annual 1983, edited by Michael Marien, 1984, 240 pp., $25 from: World Future Society 4916 St. Elmo Avenue Bethesda, MD 20814 This is a compendium of abstracts of 1,140 books, reports, and articles that first appeared in the monthly issues of Future Survey between July 1982 and September 1983. It assembles in one place a great variety of writings about trends, forecasts, and proposals in all areas of society. Marien can be praised for the evenhanded treatment he gives to a diversity of viewpoints in his attempt to bridge the communication gaps between academic, professional, and popularized writings, and between mainstream and alternative approaches. Such a comprehensive overview is useful for getting the big picture of where our society is headed and different views of where it ought to be headed. We've used it for ordering books here at RAIN. It's a must for anyone seriously interested in futures studies: -FLS Redesigning the American Dream: The Future ofHo.using, Work, and Family Life, by Dolores Hayden, 1984, 270 pp., $17.95· cloth from: W.W. Norton and Company 500 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10036 · I have heard from many people that putting architects and urban planners together in one room produces a most noxious combination. In this case, the blending of architect, planner, and social critic in one remarkable woman has produced a delightful, thought-provoking book. · Hayden is already well known for her books on the history of feminist housing and urban design or that of social utopias. These earlier.works, along with the landmark article "What Would a Nonsexist Society Be Like?" in the journal Signs, complement the broader social analysis and more detailed conclusions that characterize Redcsig11i11g the A111erica11 . Dream. Citing Thoreau-"What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"-Hayden builds the argument that at the heart of America's housing and urban crisis is our determination to force our cities and public spaces into the 19th-century ideal of" private home and hearth. The environmental, social," and economic costs of such narrow privatism have been staggering, as our modes of living have not begun to meet the rapidly chat1ging needs of the American people. What we face now is the tremendous task of rethinking our conceptions of gender, work, and public and private space, and our relationship to the natural and modified environment. Hayden is not at all gloomy on this count, and she produces several accounts of r:edesigned dreams around the world, describing the alternative political, econoni.ic, and social means employed in some pretty lively . experiments both at the neighborhood and broader municipal/national levels. Hayden covers just about all the technical bases in her book, from urban infrastructure to econoniic development and zoning. Her research in architectural and urban planning subjects is thoroughly presented. If you haven't read her other books, her latest may be overwhelming and a bit presuming of prior knowledge. One wishes for a 20-volume set of Dolores Hayden to get it all straight. But what sets Hayden apart from the usual university crowd (she is a professor at UCLA) is her willingness to identify, if not elaborate on, the forces at work that are responsible for a nation full of unlivable cities and isolated households--;-the economic inequities, racism, sexism, ageism, and militarism. Her most thorough analysis is that of the sexist and 1:i.arrow attitudes toward women that cripple our society. Whether or not you agree with her offend-no-one liberal sociopolitical ideas or those of the many people she quotes, you have to admire Hayden's ability to take her thesis out of elitist'academic jargon into a frank discussion that could take place at a shopping center, neighborhood association meeting, or town hall. Her be.lief in citizen as catalyst and planner challenges the theory popular in some circles that American societal problems are best , solved by the professional social engineer, designer, and plann~r. The air in that one small room is getting awfully stuffy. -Val Chambers Val Cha111bcrs is a gradiiatc student in environmen - tal studies/public policy at The Evergreen State College in Oly111pia, Washington. Human Rights Organizations and Periodicals Directory, edited by David Christiano and Lisa Young, fifth edition, 1983, 248 pp., $9.95 from: Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute PO Box673 Berkeley, CA 94701 An exhaustively complete resource guide to peace, human-rights, and equal-rights organiz~tions based in the U.S. Includes alphabetical and regional guides, a guide to federal agencies providing information for human-rights activists (yes, they still do exist), and periodical and subject indexes. Entries in the three guide sections contain addresses, phone numbers, regional or local branch offices, and a brief statement about each group, a_s well as information concerning periodicals published by these organizations. The last 34 pages contain useful information on existing laws and pending iegislation in the field of human rights and social justice. This thorough, inexpensive reference book should prove u·seful for social-change activists and organizations. -SM
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