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Recommended Reading
- General Books on Justice
- Claiborne, Shane. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. A call to return to the roots of Christianity and live as Jesus did, loving others.
- McLaren, Brian. Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007. An exploration of what it means to apply the message of good news of the Kingdom of God to some of the world’s biggest problems.
- Samson, Will and Lisa. Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007. An overview of the journey of discovering that God cares about justice and that anyone can be involved in seeking justice.
- Fair Trade and Coffee
- Alvarez, Julia. A Cafecito Story. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004. This story is about a man who leaves the Midwest to explore the roots of coffee and ends up spending his life developing a fair-trade enterprise.
- Cycon, Dean. Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007. An introduction to the people who make our coffee; considers the global issues affecting their lives.
- Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Andrew Charlton. Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. By an economist who won the Nobel Prize, this book offers an in-depth look at global trade practices and fairtrade options.
- Wild, Anthony. Coffee: A Dark History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. This is a history of coffee that explores its connection with exploitation through the centuries.
- Slavery and Human Trafficking
- Bales, Kevin. Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. An overview of modern slavery that details the causes, tells stories about slavery in various countries and proposes possible solutions.
- Batstone, David. Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade— and How We Can Fight It. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. An inspiring look at modern-day abolitionists and the campaign to end human bondage.
- Hunter, Zach. Be the Change: Your Guide to Freeing Slaves and Changing the World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007. A youth-oriented action guide for ending modern-day slavery.
- Metaxas, Eric. Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. A historic look at the nineteenth-century abolitionists.
- Off, Carol. Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet. New York: The New Press, 2006. A detailed history of chocolate and its long connection to slavery.
- Energy, Oil, and Climate Change
- Bouma-Prediger, Steven. For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001. An overview of the Christian responsibility and privilege of being stewards of God’s creation.
- Lowe, Ben. Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care from Creation. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Books, 2009. An exploration of the environment crisis and suggestions for sustainable living.
- Manby, Bronwen. The Price of Oil: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria’s Oil Producing Communities. New York: Human Rights Watch, 1999. A political report on the oil crisis in Nigeria.
- Reay, Dave. Climate Change Begins at Home. New York: Macmillan, 2005. An exploration of the impact of the typical American, suburban family on the environment and the significant lifestyle changes they need to make to reduce their negative impact.
- Food
- Kingsolver, Barbara. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. The beautifully told adventure of a family as they returned to living off the land for a year.
- Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food. New York: Penguin Press, 2008. A shocking treatise on the industrialized Western diet and its detrimental effects on our bodies and culture.
- Pollan, Michael. An Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin Press, 2007. Pollan traces four meals to their origins and discovers that the main component of much of our food is corn.
- Singer, Peter, and Jim Mason. The Ethics of What We Eat. Emmaus, Penn.: Rodale Books. 2006. A detailed accounting of the ethical issues involved in our food choices.
- Sleeth, J. Matthew. Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007. The story of how one family’s Christian faith led them to alter their eating and lifestyle choices.
- Clothing and Sweatshops
- Hartman, Laura P., Denis G. Arnold, and Richard E. Wokutch, eds. Rising Above Sweatshops: Innovative Approaches to Global Labor Challenges. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2003. A variety of perspectives on how to end our dependence on sweatshop labor.
- Rosen, Ellen Israel. Making Sweatshops: The Globalization of the U.S. Apparel Industry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. A very in-depth look at trade policy, the rise of modern sweatshops and the worldwide dangers they represent.
- Ross, Robert J. S. Slaves to Fashion: Poverty and Abuse in the New Sweatshops. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 2004. This book explores the history of modern sweatshops, the policies that keep them in place, the ethical issues they pose and a variety of approaches to ending the need for them.
- Snyder, Rachel Louise. Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008. A detailed look at the hardships and horrors of making and selling blue jeans.
- Disposable Lifestyles
- Brown, Edward R. Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press. 2008. A helpful resource that offers a biblical basis for creation care, as well as practical advice for being good stewards.
- Royte, Elizabeth. Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2005. One woman’s exploration of what actually happens to the trash we throw away.
- Ryan, John C., and Alan Thein Durning. Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things. Seattle: Northwest Environment Watch, 1997. Stories about where our stuff comes from and where it ends up.
- Strasser, Susan. Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash. New York: Metropolitan Books, 1999. A fascinating historical overview of cultural attitudes regarding waste.
- Tammemagi, Hans. The Waste Crisis: Landfills, Incinerators, and the Search for a Sustainable Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. A detailed examination of the ways we deal with waste and suggestions for better future systems.
- Debt and Jubilee
