Connecting Worlds:
a memoir on art, anthropology and activism
A hopeful and clear-eyed journey into the story of social change.
The artist, anthropologist and community activist Daniel Buckles shows how connection—to self, others and nature—can become the catalyst for an engaged life. The bush lifestyle of the 1970s Yukon, exposure to the complex culture of Mexico and a battle with cancer at the age of thirty-two prompted the author to work with people living on the edge: Honduran peasants inventing new agricultural technologies for hillside agriculture; landless Bangladeshi women gleaning nutrient-rich food from their surroundings; small religious communities standing in solidarity at the centre of disaster relief efforts in the Philippines and Burkina Faso; grassroots organizations fighting to protect urban forests in Ottawa, Canada. This story of personal discovery and engaged research offers a window into real-life social struggles and life’s key challenges and professional choices. Richly illustrated with professional photography and paintings, Connecting Worlds shows how to make a difference, from the inside out.
About the author
Reviews
Daniel Buckles worked for decades on food sovereignty, land rights and biodiversity conservation initiatives in Asia, Latin America and Africa, before settling into urban sustainability activism. He is an artist and the author of 10 books, including Participatory Action Research: Theory and Methods for Engaged Inquiry (with J. Chevalier, Routledge, 2019) and Fighting Eviction (with R. Khedkar and B. Ghevde, Cambridge University Press, 2012). While residing on unceded Anishiniaabeg territory in Ottawa, he plants trees in neglected public spaces and contributes to the Peoples Official Plan Coalition.
See part of the collection of art photography in the book, from the Yukon and Mexico to South Asia and West Africa.