The Serviceberry: An Economy of Gifts and Abundance

Robin Wall Kimmerer's book "The Serviceberry" explores how to reorient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, drawing inspiration from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world. She argues that our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and that we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. The serviceberry's relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude, and its distribution ensures its own survival.

Format: Hardback
Length: 128 pages
Publication date: 19 November 2024
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Robin Wall Kimmerer, the Indigenous scientist and author of the New York Times bestselling book Braiding Sweetgrass, explores the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy in her book. She asks how we can learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most. Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. The serviceberry's relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community, and this distribution ensures its own survival. The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that "hoarding won't save us, all flourishing is mutual."

Weight: 164g
Dimension: 187 x 118 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780241721308