''Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh for a Globalizing World'', originally published with the subtitle ''Learning From Ladakh'', is a book by

Helena Norberg-Hodge Helena Norberg-Hodge is the founder and director of Local Futures, previously known as the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) and pioneer of the Localization movement. Local Futures is a non-profit organization "dedicated to t ...

. It was first published in 1991.

Synopsis

The first part of the book describes the nature of the region of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

when Helena first arrived in 1975, prior to the influx of Western ideas and material goods. In particular, Ladakhi women enjoyed high

social status Social status is the relative level of social value a person is considered to possess. Such social value includes respect, honour, honor, assumed competence, and deference. On one hand, social scientists view status as a "reward" for group members ...

and family and community ties were very strong. The second part describes how Ladakh changed

socially Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

ly and

economical An economic system, or economic order, is a system of production, resource allocation and distribution of goods and services within an economy. It includes the combination of the various institutions, agencies, entities, decision-making proces ...

ly with development. ''Ancient Futures'' discusses the notion of

progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

, and explores the root causes of the problems faced by a highly industrialized society. The book has been translated into almost 40 languages and is used regularly at the

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

level to raise awareness of issues surrounding

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

and the loss of indigenous wisdom.Ancient Futures 2009 Edition

Local Futures Local Futures (formerly the International Society for Ecology and Culture) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to raise awareness about what it identifies as the root causes of contemporary social, environmental, and economic crises. The ...

References

1991 non-fiction books Anthropology books Books about indigenous rights Anti-globalization books {{anthropology-book-stub