We the people : stories from the community rights movement in the United States by Linzey, Thomas, author, Campbell, Anneke, author instant download

We the people : stories from the community rights movement in the United States by Linzey, Thomas, author, Campbell, Anneke, author instant download

ix, 176 pages : 22 cm, We the People offers powerful portraits of communities across the United States that have faced threats from environmentally destructive corporate projects and responded by successfully banning those projects at a local level. We hear the inspiring voices of ordinary citizens and activists practicing a cutting-edge form of organizing developed by the nonprofit law firm, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). Their methodology is an answer for the frustrations of untold numbers of activists who have been defeated time and again by corporate political power and legal entitlement. Instead of fighting against what we don't want, this book can teach us to create from the ground up what we do want, basing our vision in local control and law. This work is about finishing the American Revolution by giving up the illusion of democracy and forging a system of true self-governance. In addition, this is about recognizing in law, for the first time in history, that nature possesses legally enforceable rights of its own, Introduction: Thomas Linzey, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, and the Democracy School -- Blaine and Grant Townships, Pennsylvania: The Illusion of Democracy -- New Hampshire: Reclaiming the Declaration of Independence -- Tamaqua and Pittsburgh: Recognizing Nature's Right to Exist -- Spokane, Washington: A Bill of Rights for Neighborhoods, Labor, and the Spokane River -- Colorado: From Local Lawmaking to Overhauling the State Constitution -- Oregon and Ohio: Ordinances Pave the Way for Community Rights Networks -- The Call: Building a New U.S. Constitution and Advancing Rights Abroad, Appendices. Ordinances and Charters. Home Rule Charter of the Township of Grant, Indiana County, Pennsylvania -- Grant Township Ordinance on Nonviolent Direct Action -- Barnstead Water Rights and Local Self-Government Ordinance (New Hampshire) -- Tamaqua Borough, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Sludge Ordinance -- Ordinance…