I just finished reading "Republic of Outsiders", by Alissa Quart. This is a very positive and uplifting book. The subtitle of this book is "The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers, and Rebels". The book talks about how people moving on the fringes of society have done things their own way, creating new norms that have then been assimilated by society as a whole.
The book has seven chapters and is divided into three parts, the first of which is titled "Outsider Mentality". Part of this section (Chapter 1: "Beyond Sanity") is where the author interviews people with mental health issues who talk about some of the problems they face, such as "over-diagnosing" and "over-medication", and how, through their uniting with each other, have successfully brought some of these issues to the attention of the medical community to bring about actual change.
Part two is "After the Gatekeepers" where she talks about how individuals have brought about change in entire industries. In Chapter 5 "Beyond Top 40", she interviews musicians who tell about how they more and more often are defining their own personae and marketing themselves directly to their fans with less help from middle men who formerly would have exercised too much control and grabbed a huge chunk of their profits, and maybe stifled creativity along the way.
And lastly is Part three which is "The Center Cannot Hold", she talks about the huge impact that some innovators have had on the total market. In Chapter 6, "Beyond Meat", one of the stories she tells is that of David Lee, a man who was a chef at a prominent restaurant in Seattle. One day while riding his bike in a commercial area, he passed a slaughterhouse, and in the parking lot saw a chicken lying on the pavement. It was half-alive; it was bleeding and gasping for breath. ... He was moved by the chicken's suffering. The event haunted him for weeks. He later arranged for a professional chef's tour of the facility and saw for himself what went on there and what he was collaterally involved with.
The author writes on page 136: The slaughterhouse was Lee's final epiphany. He decided then and there to leave the job where he cooked meat. He then, with the help of family and friends, founded the company, "Field Roast", where he is trying to make "faux meat" the center of the plate for American consumers. ... She goes on to talk about how many branches and levels of the animal rights movement are encompassing more people and bringing about change.
In Chapter 7, "Beyond Mass Markets", she talks about another new trend, one that we're familiar with here in Philadelphia, and that's the movement towards more urban farms. One of the stories the author tells is about Annie Novak and her massive "Eagle Street Rooftop Farm" in Brooklyn.
In "Republic of Outsiders", you spend time with some interesting people who are proactive about implementing some very creative ideas. The book is a worthwhile read, and its stories of many daring accomplishments by individual people is a hopeful and positive antidote to the all-too-frequent stories we hear about overbearing corporate power and greed.
If you think you may be interested in reading this book, I would recommend, to be consistent with the spirit of the book, that you consider purchasing from an
Indie Bookseller. :)
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"Republic of Outsiders"
(c) 2013 by Alissa Quart.
New York, The New Press.
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6/15---Of course I would just have to add that I feel privileged to know and work with people who are all doing their parts in being part of the Republic of Outsiders. What was so refreshing about the book was the documentation of the efforts.
