Off The Map An Expedition Deep into Empire and the Global Economy - Chellis Glendinning (2002).pdf

Today’s global economy is yesterday’s empire. Imperialism in whatever guise is the same through time, penetrating every area of our lives, affecting whole cultures as well as the deep core of individuals. And maps have been the tools of empire, defining the territory to be exploited. Off The Map is a unique exploration of globalization. Part history, part autobiography, and part fiction, it weaves together the history of the last 300 years of Western imperialism, the author’s own story of sexual abuse in the 1950s, and a present-day horseback ride through the recently colonized Chicano world of New Mexico. The author takes us with her as she travels "off the map" through the ancestral lands of her friend and travelling companion Snowflake Martinez, describing the Chicano people’s struggle to survive the onslaught of a globalized world, and the ways in which that struggle has been replicated countless times. In a different voice, she reveals scenes from her childhood, her grandparents adorning themselves with artifacts symbolic of the British Empire, and her medical doctor father raping both her and her brother for 12 years. The political is deeply personal. And hope, according to Glendinning, resides in our creating new maps that chart worlds fashioned by love and respect for community, place, and nature. "A dazzling contribution to the critical study of globalization (qua imperialism)."—Devon Pe?a, author of Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics: Subversive Kin Chellis Glendinning is a psychologist and award-winning author whose works include the acclaimed My Name is Chellis and I’m in Recovery from Western Civilization, and When Technology Wounds, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. A pioneer in the field of ecopsychology, her specialty is the ecological and human costs of technological progress. She lives in rural New Mexico, where she works with Chicano and Native people for environmental justice and cultural preservation.

From Library Journal

A psychologist, poet, and social activist, Glendinning uses many images to express her thoughts about the modern world. Here her views on imperialism and ecology are interspersed with descriptions of her horseback exploration of the northern New Mexico desert accompanied by an Indo-Hispanic cowboy named Snowflake Martinez. Glendinning leaps from discussions of world history to her own experiences of child abuse to the struggles of the Hispanic farmers of northern New Mexico, linking all these as facets of imperialism. She makes some interesting connections between these ideas, but her stream-of-consciousness style may be hard for some readers to follow. No translation is provided for the Spanish-language dialog, which will prevent some readers from fully understanding Glendinning's conversations with Snowflake and others. For larger collections.AGwen Gregory, New Mexico State Univ. Lib., Las Cruces


Review
"In this wonderful book, Chellis Glendinning reveals imperialism's legacy for us all, both the children of the oppressed and the children of the oppressors. Off the Map is a work of great import for our time—and it's a marvelous read too."—Susan Griffin, author of Woman and Nature and A Chorus of Stones --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: New Society Publishers; First Edition edition (September 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0865714630
ISBN-13: 978-0865714632