Chelsea Green Foundation fulfills its mission at the intersection of ideas and practices of people and organizations on the leading edge of change.
Establishing this new foundation coincides with an inflection point for humanity. Rapid biodiversity loss and ecological collapse, driven by destructive economic and technological forces , which unravel social cohesion, includes the loss of personal liberty and local governance. The emergence of cascading crises and the failure of governments and institutions to address them, creates an urgent need for holistic responses.
Inspired by economist David Fleming – whose work was posthumously published by Chelsea Green – the foundation consults conversations to expose fallacies [errors with staying power] through dialogue and programs about the cultural, philosophical, and spiritual dimensions of our relationship with the natural world.
Leveraging the expansive community of practitioners who have written for Chelsea Green, the foundation has a unique place within the mosaic of not-for-profits engaged in the sustainability space. Though, we – along with other pioneers of the movement – wonder what “sustainable” means as it increasingly becomes a way for corporations to cloak themselves in green window dressing about their “net-zero” growth plans.
Can anything be deemed sustainable when life itself—in all its myriad forms—is threatened at so many levels? Is it enough to focus on the how-to of “green living” in the face of such overwhelming force; the “shock and awe” of forest and ecosystem destruction; the rampant plundering of the world’s oceans; the terror of GMO contaminated food; and the unintended consequences of biotechnology?
In communities around the world that have been left “behind” and stripped of their resources and cultures, people increasingly feel that they have no choice. To continue to live, they must reclaim their ecosystems, their food and water, their land and housing, their health, and gain self-sufficiency.
It’s a new kind of politics that author, Suzanna Arundhati Roy calls -
“Not the politics of governance, but the politics of resistance. The politics of opposition. The politics of forcing accountability. The politics of slowing things down. The politics of joining hands across the world and preventing certain destruction.”
The Chelsea Green Foundation’s principal activities and contributions will inspire hope for the future by asking the pertinent questions of the day, inspiring and supporting resistance in the face of oppression, and engaging broad perspectives in repairing our relationship with one another and the natural world.
Founded by Margo and Ian Baldwin in 1984, Chelsea Green is recognized as a leading publisher of books on the politics and practice of ecologically based living. It is also an industry leader in terms of its environmental commitments, printing its books on recycled paper and using nontoxic inks. Chelsea Green Publishing became a 100% employee-owned company through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan in 2019.