Perspectives

This article looks at neuropathology, which may shed light on the actions of individuals in power. Do leaders show a tendency to have certain neurological traits?

This article is the abstract of a scientific study on healing vs. non-healing environments. The experiment used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record brain activity while participants visualized different environments.

This article looks at the history of the plant Erythroxylum coca—a natural source of cocaine—which offers one way to trace the interaction between a physiological agent in history and the growth of empires.

This article discusses the “cognitive turn” in history and the usefulness of the cognitive sciences for a history of emotions and representation.

This article discusses the controversial issue of agrarian development in the Nicaraguan countryside, with a particular focus on the concept of progress in farming practices.

Most people know little about intentional communities, and what they think they know is often wrong. Metcalfe discusses some of these preconceptions and why they are inaccurate.

In the context of the current global economic crisis, it seems that people are increasingly looking for more sustainable ways of living. Ecovillages provide people with a way to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle.

A utopian narrative must be understood not so much as a concrete plan or set of policy recommendations, but as a call to decide for oneself about the plausibility and the desirability of the postulated ideals.

How do the three pillars of sustainability—environment, economy, and society—come together in the daily routines of a society? Research in Community (RIC) has given itself the goal of building a network to investigate and promote a culture of sustainability.

Von Lüpke suggests that ecovillages are a response to a need for change: they are “islands of the future” that are helping to develop new ways of thinking, new social tools, and new scientific and social approaches.