Book Review by Molly Brown

In her just published book, Raising Children in the Midst of Global Crisis, Jo delAmor offers an inspiring and practical vision of parenting as a form of activism and liberation. She suggests parenting is a powerful way to seed a new Thriving Life paradigm into our world in deep crisis and travail.  Instead of parenting in a Power-Over-Paradigm (for which she uses the acronym “POP”), Jo proposes “New Paradigm Parenting,”  in which we learn alongside our children, healing the collective wounds passed down to us, and cultivating courage, creativity, and resilience in ourselves and our children. 

Jo’s approach is remarkably compassionate regarding the enormous challenges parents face today in raising children in the midst of crisis, collective trauma, and conflict.  At the same time, she summons us to find the strength and clarity needed to meet those challenges, through the kind of rigorous self-awareness that can move us beyond the conditioning of the Power-Over Paradigm.   

Jo doesn’t only write about New Paradigm Parenting, she also offers simple and age-appropriate practices for both parents and children to support this ongoing process, based primarily in the Work That Reconnects.  In fact, after the introductory chapters, the book follows the Spiral of the Work That Reconnects.  

It is so gratifying to see the Work applied in this way–to liberate both parents and children from Business As Usual in the neocolonial Industrial Growth Society so they can participate actively and creatively in the Great Turning to a Thriving Life Society.