Cluster 3:

Social Ecology of Compassion

The natural, cultural, structural and spiritual basis for nurturing compassion.

How do we respond to a world of all kinds of suffering? Do we feel the need to care and reach out to people in distress and are suffering? How do we make sense of compassion at the self and public levels? Has globalisation affected compassion? Is it just a sentiment that we should not take seriously? Is compassion also cruel? Is compassion, empathy? How political is compassion? Are there misuses of compassion in politics? What are the ways human communities have responded to human suffering? How do we recognise and recover compassionate knowledge and practice in society? How do we recover and nurture other-directedness and Inclusivity? How do we ensure that no one is left behind in an increasingly wealth and power-skewed world? How do we institutionalise an ethic of care? Does compassion offer an antidote to ego and human-centric-ness, displacing us from the centre of the world? Can compassion be salvaged from sentimentalisation, religionisation, politicisation, bureaucratisation and commercialisation? Can compassion be taught? Is a fully-bloomed compassionate society and future possible or is it an unrealitics utopia? (A multimedia, transmedia and non-linear document. It will grow over time.)

Compassion and Hope

Cluster of Topics

Proposed Core Topics

Understanding Compassion, its Varieties and Cultures
Key Thinkers / Practitioners
Key Concepts/ Theories of Compassion
Exploring Humanity: Virtues, Values and Meaning Structures
Exploring Humanity: Contemplation, Meditation and Mindfulness
Beyond TINA/Rethinking Development: Alternative Narratives/Post-Development/Post- Growth/Post Materialism
Global Charters and Our Collective Futures
Exploring Social Teachings of World Religions
Compassion in World Religious/Spiritual Traditions
Compassion in Contemplative/Humanist Traditions
Six Models of Compassionate Practice

All Topics

Section A: Introduction and Overviews

Understanding Compassion, its Varieties and Cultures
Key Thinkers / Practitioners
Key Concepts/ Theories of Compassion
Virtues, Values and Meaning Structures
Contemplation, Meditation and Mindfulness
Beyond TINA/Rethinking Development: Alternative Narratives/Post-Development/Post- Growth/Post Materialism
Global Charters and Our Collective Futures
Exploring Social Teachings of World Religions
Compassion in World Religious/Spiritual Traditions
Compassion in Contemplative/Humanist Traditions
Six Models of Compassionate Practice

Section B: The Structures of Compassion

Alternative Economic Theories and Practice/Degrowth/Public and Common Good (One,
Civil Society Movements, Youth Movements, Civil Disobedience, and Humanitarian Intervention
Educational Movements, The Global Education Project, Global Citizenship and Social Justice
Urbanisation and the Architecture of Compassion
Peace, Reconciliation, Trust, Mutuality and Inclusive Coexistence
Sustainable Cultures and Socially Engaged Spirituality
Femininity, Indigeneity and Ethics of Care
Discipleship, Critical Followership and Leadership
International Days, Compassion, Democracy, Citizenship, Governance, Policy Environment and Global Institutions
Media, Public Sphere, and Responding to Distant Suffering
Global Charters and Our Futures

Section C: Art, Humanist and Spiritual Traditions

and The Future of Compassion

New Glossaries and Compassion
Creative Arts, Meaningful Art and Compassion
The Age Culture and Grounding Compassion
Exploring Social Teachings of World Religions
Compassion in World Religious/Spiritual Traditions
Compassion in Contemplative Humanist Traditions
Six Models of Compassionate Practice

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