Goatwalking

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Rancher, goatherd, teacher, Quaker and social activist, Corbett tells us how to take care of goats and advocates ``goatwalking'' (a form of pastoral nomadism) as a means of practicing survival in desert wastelands. But this is only an introduction to ``covenanting'' (learning to exist in harmony with all life forms) and to ``errantry'' (going beyond society's established ways to live according to our inner leanings). In the second half of this book, Corbett relates his experiences in the political sanctuary movement, personally escorting Central American refugees across the Mexican-U.S. border. He discusses civil disobedience and civil initiative, church-state relations, morality and formal religion. Corbett's open, provocative statement about the interconnections of faith, work and social responsibility will interest theologians and philosophers as well as environmentalists. (June)

Library Journal

Corbett presents a potpourri of his beliefs and experiences as a former goat raiser, naturalist, activist, and Quaker whose wanderings have led him to many locations in the United States and Latin America. Goatwalking tells what it is like to be a goat raiser and pastoral nomad in the United States. Corbett describes the brutality he has witnessed as an activist in the sanctuary movement. In his search for solutions, he expounds upon human rights and civil disobedience in the spirit of Henry David Thoreau, Saul Alinsky, and Gandhi. Corbett peppers each essay with his view on how the practices of various religions relate to the subject he is discussing. He tends to overdo the religious aspects, which distracts readers from the essence of the essays. Nevertheless, there is a lot to learn in Goatwalking about raising goats, environmentalism, religion, and politics. Recommended for theology and political science collections.-- Irwin Weintraub, Rutgers Univ. Libs., Piscataway, N.J.