F. S. Michaels

This book definitely hasn't met my expectations. The topic of the monoculture is huge but Michaels fails in building a real theory of it. She never approaches the theoretical level one should expect from this type of book. She ends up just exploring one monoculture, the economic monoculture we live in. It's the most important now, fore sure, but I also would have liked the exploration of past (or maybe not Western) monocultures. Besides this, nothing she says in this book sounds new or fresh, everything sounds over-simplified and she never gets to the deepness of thought one could expect (for instance, when she writes about sanity system she never gets close, not even a little, to what said on the topic by great thinkers like Ivan Illich). And when she gets to the pars construens things get even worse: everything she is able to do is mentioning 3 examples: the Slow Food movement, Christopher Alexander's pattern language, and Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication. Again, I was expecting more.… (more)

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Monoculture by F.S. Michaels looks at how the unwritten and unspoken dominant culture of an area can shape the lives of the people within that culture. She argues that the current monoculture of the developed world is money — or more broadly the worth of things and actions.

Michaels outlines her argument around these key areas: work, relationship with others, relationships with the world, education, physical health, mental health, communities, and creativity. Against each of these areas of the human condition she tests her thesis.

A monoculture, as it is unwritten, doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. It doesn't turn people into sheep or lemmings, but it can affect lives through government policies and personal choices. Enlightenment, though, can help a person or an entire community break free from the invisible, assumed bonds of the monoculture.

It's a short, quick and fascinating book. I've since passed along my review copy to my friends to read.

I received a copy from the author for review.… (more)