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=                            Joanna_Macy                             =
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                            Introduction
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Joanna Rogers Macy (born May 2, 1929) is an American environmental
activist, author, and scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and
deep ecology. She is the author of twelve books. She was married to
Francis Underhill Macy]], the activist and Russian scholar who founded
the Center for Safe Energy.


                          Life and career
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Macy credits poet and activist Muriel Rukeyser with starting her on
the path to becoming a poet and writer herself. When she was a high
school student in New York City, she cut school and took the train
from Long Island to Manhattan in order to attend a poetry reading by
Rukeyser; the hall was already full to capacity when Joanna arrived,
but Rukeyser invited her to come onto the stage and sit at her feet
during the reading.

Macy graduated from Wellesley College in 1950 and received her Ph.D.
in religious studies in 1978 from Syracuse University, Syracuse. Her
doctoral work, under the mentorship of Ervin László, focused on
convergences between causation in systems thinking and the Buddhist
central doctrine of mutual causality or interdependent co-arising.

Macy is an international spokesperson for anti-nuclear causes, peace,
justice, and environmentalism, most renowned for her book 'Coming Back
to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World' and the Great
Turning initiative, which deals with the transformation from, as she
terms it, an industrial growth society to what she considers to be a
more sustainable civilization. She has created a theoretical framework
for personal and social change, and a workshop methodology for its
application. Her work addresses psychological and spiritual issues,
Buddhist thought, and contemporary science.


                           Key influences
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Macy first encountered Buddhism in 1965 while working with Tibetan
refugees in northern India, particularly the Ven. 8th Khamtrul
Rinpoche, Sister Karma Khechog Palmo, Ven. Dugu Choegyal Rinpoche, and
Tokden Antrim of the Tashi Jong community. Her spiritual practice is
drawn from the Theravada tradition of Nyanaponika Thera and Rev.
Sivali of Sri Lanka, Munindraji of West Bengal, and Dhiravamsa of
Thailand.

Key formative influences to her teaching in the field of the
connection to living systems theory have been Ervin Laszlo who
introduced her to systems theory through his writings (especially
'Introduction to Systems Philosophy' and 'Systems, Structure and
Experience'), and who worked with her as advisor on her doctoral
dissertation (later adapted as 'Mutual Causality') and on a project
for the Club of Rome. Gregory Bateson, through his 'Steps to an
Ecology of Mind' and in a summer seminar, also shaped her thought, as
did the writings of Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Arthur Koestler, and Hazel
Henderson. She was influenced in the studies of biological systems by
Tyrone Cashman, and economic systems by Kenneth Boulding. Donella
Meadows provided insights on the planetary consequences of runaway
systems, and Elisabet Sahtouris provided further information about
self-organizing systems in evolutionary perspective.


                                Work
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Macy travels giving lectures, workshops, and trainings
internationally. Her work, originally called "Despair and Empowerment
Work", was acknowledged as being part of the deep ecology tradition
after she encountered the work of Arne Naess and John Seed, but as a
result of disillusion with academic disputes in the field, she now
calls it "the Work that Reconnects". Widowed by the death of her
husband, Francis Underhill Macy, in January 2009, she lives in
Berkeley, California, near her children and grandchildren. She served
as adjunct professor to three graduate schools in the San Francisco
Bay Area: the Starr King School for the Ministry, the University of
Creation Spirituality, and California Institute of Integral Studies,
where she is still on the faculty.


                              See also
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* David Korten, a collaborator with Macy on the Great Turning
Initiative


                           External links
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*[http://www.joannamacy.net/ Official website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110707174231/http://ascentmagazine.com/articles.aspx?articleID=283&page=read&subpage=current&issueID=38%2F
Interview with Macy] by John Malkin — published in 'ascent' magazine,
summer 2008 (archived)
*[https://onbeing.org/programs/joanna-macy-a-wild-love-for-the-world/
"A Wild Love for the World"], interview with Macy on the American
radio show 'On Being'
*[https://tricycle.org/magazine/joanna-macy-interview/ "Allegiance to
Life: Staying steady through the mess we're in"], interview with Macy
from 'Tricycle: The Buddhist Review'
* [http://joannamacyfilm.org Joanna Macy and the Great Turning] is a
short film in which she talks about showing up in these times when
everything is at risk.


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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Macy