Starting from the initial enclosure of the commons-the privatization of 6 million acres of public land in 18th-century Britain—Vandana Shiva goes on to reveal how the "commons" continue to shrink as more and more natural resources are patented and fenced. 

Through the forces of neoliberal globalization, economic and social exclusion ignite violence across lines of difference, threatening the lives of millions.

Yet these brutal extinctions are not the only trend shaping human history. Struggles on the streets of Seattle and Cancún and in homes and farms across the world, have yielded a set of principles based on inclusion, nonviolence, reclaiming the commons, and freely sharing the earth's resources. These ideals, which Shiva calls Earth Democracy, serve as an urgent call to peace and as the basis for a just and sustainable future.