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John McKnight

Friends & Neighbors

Signs of the Times

John McKnight -
You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. — Matt. 16:3 The intent of An Other Kingdom is to interpret certain signs of the times. These signs have to do with...
Conversations

A Place at the Table

Edd Conboy -
Conversation with John McKnight, Peter Block and Guest Edd Conboy TalkShoe Radio  ~  August 8, 2015 https://www.talkshoe.com/recording/attachment/key/19dba83a6619d51024249edf98bb5c335fa30d23.mp3 Peter: I met Edd Conboy about three years ago when I was a guest at a daylong conference and I was able to get a...
Friends & Neighbors

Giving In to Joy

Jeannie Masterson -
Ed. Note: John and Peter’s online/dial-up conversation with Edd Conboy on August 4 inspired a thought-provoking email exchange with Jeannie Masterson on scarcity, gifts, joy and abundance. Enjoy!   Peter, John, Edd – I listened to your conversation today, enjoying and being...
John McKnight

Worms Everywhere

John McKnight -
On a trip to Ireland, John encountered a merchant who reminded him that the worms he wanted for a fishing expedition were already all around him. He just had to look.   Originally posted January 2013. Home page image "Can of...
Friends & Neighbors

One-Room School and Reclaiming Economic Sovereignty

Cormac Russell -
What does a one-room schoolhouse in Michigan have to do with Greece, Europe, Democracy and the now floundering economic globalization experiment? On January 25, 2015 the far-left Syriza Party won 149 seats out of 300 in Greece’s parliamentary elections and formed...
John McKnight

Two Kinds of Community Organizing

John McKnight -
John talks about two different approaches to community organizing in a Q & A session on community development with participants in a workshop sponsored by the Communities First Association. Watch the conversation and discover the difference between community organizing and...
John McKnight

A Children’s Guide to Dismantling Our Economy

John McKnight -
No matter what some disappointed retailers said about last year's sales, the holidays are a bonanza for the toy industry.  The season provides millions of children with an intensive experience in conspicuous consumption.  And the economists argue that our...
John McKnight

“No One Is Doing What You Are Doing”

John McKnight -
John comments on the significance of the work Nebraska Community Foundation and its affiliated funds are doing: how they have grown local community development foundations, many in small rural areas, by focusing on what local people can offer to their communities...
Friends & Neighbors

Escaping to Freedom of Association and Neighborliness

John McKnight -
In his groundbreaking study of American associational life (Bowling Alone, 2000), Robert Putnam found that until the late 1960s, Americans' participation in associational life steadily increased. Beginning in the 70s, this participation began a decline that continues to this...
John McKnight

Local Community and Major Movements

John McKnight -
John McKnight video by Social Innovation Generation John explains why all big change grows from the small stuff in local communities.       Video by Social Innovation Generation used with permission. Home page image: Jenny Downing.
John McKnight

Associations and Conspiracies

John McKnight -
There's a reason dictators around the world and through time have viewed associations as conspiracies. John reflects on associational life as the most powerful force neighborhoods have to produce positive change and build community.   Related:    John McKnight on Associations (video)   Home page...
John McKnight

True Stories

John McKnight -
John tells a story to show the difference between the world of facts, data, systematic information and the community's way of knowing: the story. And the most important thing in strong communities is having true stories, stories that match our experience.    
John McKnight

Sensible Life ~ A Thought

John McKnight -
At the last minute, John learned he would be unable to join this year’s Connecting for Community gathering in Cincinnati April 23 – 26. In the email he sent to the participants to express his disappointment at not being...
John McKnight

Flying Down

John McKnight -
John reminds us that progress is not all that it seems.     Home page image: Girish Suryawanshi
John McKnight

Modern Mentoring

John McKnight -
For decades, mentoring has been a respected and valued approach to assisting youth — usually those thought to be problematic. The typical nature of the activity is a relationship between a volunteer adult and a young person, most frequently a...
John McKnight

The Stranger

John McKnight -
A powerful neighborhood is hospitable; it welcomes strangers, people we don't know. John explains the fullness of what that means and how hospitality enriches our lives.     Home page image: Ramashng
John McKnight

Safety and Security: A Neighborhood Necessity

John McKnight -
Jane Jacobs — author, activist and icon of the importance of a vital neighborhood — wrote years ago that a safe street is produced by eyes on the street.* It is produced by people walking around, sitting outside, knowing neighbors and...
John McKnight

Government Is Not the Problem

John McKnight -
Government is not the biggest threat to community life, as it was thought to be when the First Amendment to the Constitution was drafted. John and Peter reflect on how today’s “imperial institutions” of the not-for-profit world and corporate...
John McKnight

Community Building through Gifts

John McKnight -
One way of thinking about how communities get built is by seeing that the principal resource people have for the task is their gifts, skills, talents, capacities. So when we ask, “How could this neighborhood be built?” the answer...
John McKnight

You Can’t Command Care

John McKnight -
Institutional systems can command many behaviors but they cannot command care. Care is the commitment of one person to another, from the heart. It is the domain of people who come together in community.  
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Topics

Association449Gifts449Cooperation430Local Economy296Care of People on the Margin275Raising Children257Hospitality246Generosity215Safety205Health203Food195Land/Environment191

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Latest ThinkingSteve Dubb -

Corporate Capture: Can We Find a Way Out?

This article, published originally by Nonprofit Quarterly, from Nonprofit Quarterly Magazine’s summer 2024 issue, “Escaping Corporate Capture.” The aircraft manufacturer Boeing,...
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