Baha’is believe in the power of prayer and you’ll find Baha’is and their friends, throughout the world, getting together to pray. This is often referred to as a ‘devotional gathering’ or ‘devotional meeting’, and they happen in diverse settings, whether in cities or villages.
In this talk, Holly Hanson looks at the way in which rapidly growing extremes of wealth and poverty continue to shape the lives of every person on the planet. She looks at the big questions surrounding economic justice, such as: Can ordinary people make choices that take apart economic and social structures that have been intensifying inequality for several hundred years? And can we create economic structures that build reciprocity and solidarity? These questions are then explored by looking at communities that organized economic activities in the past that benefited the whole as well as the individual. She explores how they did it, why it worked, and whether their efforts are relevant now. She believes we can also look to the future to ask how people can learn systematically about making economic choices that lead to dynamic, united, and prosperous communities.
Holly Hanson is a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College, where she teaches African history, the history of global inequality, and history of small-scale agriculture. Her publications include A Path of Justice: Building Communities with the Power to Shape the World, Landed Obligation: The Practice of Power in Buganda, and Social and Economic Development: A Baha’i Approach.
This talk, along with others, was captured at the Association for Baha’i Studies conference in Orange County, California in August 2017
The Association for Baha’i Studies (ABS) promotes the advanced study of the Baha’i Faith and its application to the needs of humanity. It holds an annual conference and sponsors seminars and symposia, engaging participants from all over North America. It publishes a peer-reviewed journal, ‘The Journal of Baha’i Studies’, occasional books and monographs, as well as other publications. It is also engaged in a number of initiatives to advance Baha’i studies among students and young adults and to stimulate broader interest in Baha’i studies.
Naysan is passionate about using the arts and media to explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Back in 2011, Naysan started up the Baha’i Blog project, channeling his experiences in both media and technology companies to help create a hub for Baha’i-inspired content online.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia.
We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.
Baha’i Blog is a non-profit independent initiative
The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha’i Faith.
Thank you Naysan for this. In God’s time we have come only six days. Still many thousands of God’s days are ahead to achieve equality and greatness.
Hooshang S. Afshar (July 7, 2018 at 2:45 AM)