Joel Kotkin is the celebrator of the "commons of mutual interest" divorced from the "commons of place and local resources." What he thrills in is the diaspora-the ability of an ethnic group to hold common interests while scattered hither and yon over the planet. Jews, Brits, and Japanese have created commons of mutual interests as a survival and enhancement tool. The Chinese and Indians are in the process of doing so. Not a book to be loved by those who treasure the intimacy of placed-based commons-the watersheds or bioregions-but a book that solidly demonstrates how global economics and ethnic networks have and will embed cashflows within pre-existing trust cultures.
Kotkin values money over indigenous integrity. But, Tribes talks about tools for survival for groups like the Tibetans and Palestinians, and the well-seeded international clout of Mormonism. There exists no other focused discussion.
