Books

Lucy Weir takes a wheel of healing for an intellectual spin, Frederik Kaufman examines a theory of the origins of equality, and Frank S. Robinson doubts a holistic vision of life, the universe, and everything.

- by Jennifer Grenz

CAN WE HEAL THE PLANET, and ourselves, through the use of an ancient system developed among the tribal peoples of Canada? Many, including the author of Medicine Wheel for the Planet (2024), the agroecologist Dr Jennifer Grenz, might question why a person such as me – white, descended from colonial settlers in Australia – has either the audacity or sense of irony to engage critically with this book. But I am also a student of Dogen Zenji's Shobogenzo, and of notions of enmeshment, agency, and compassion, and my work has focused on the ecological emergency, so I have more than just a passing interest in the subject matter.

Before I critically engage with Dr Grenz's exploration of her personal odyssey through the falsehoods and abuses that were the legacy she received as an Indigenous woman, I want to set down my wholehearted recommendation of the book. This is something of a 180° turn for me, as I initially felt a lot of resistance to its challenging imagery. I also had some concerns about the effectiveness of her approach, in the face of the enormity of the political, social, climate, biodiversity, and even personal, fragmentation and collapse that now threaten us existentially. I do have a small criticism – that the text can feel repetitive in places. For instance, Grenz comes back to the same idea of 'Eden philosophy versus stewardship', in numerous guises. Maybe though it's like a drumbeat, coming back to the same theme, the same idea, but with different rhythms (or examples). Otherwise, I strongly recommend buying this book, because it contains far more good ideas and great writing than I can convey in this short review.