Quakers Reading List Summary

We have spent time devising a reading list on Quakers. At Life Itself, we are interested in historical groups that have established communities tied together by a shared belief system, and that also understand the importance of a sustainable economic outlook.

The Quakers fall neatly into these categories. So, we wanted to see what we could read about them, and what we might be able to learn from them as we embark on our own long-term project of community-building.

There is less extensive literature on the Quakers than on equivalent groups we researched (e.g. there is an almost overwhelming amount of work available on the Jains). A particularly helpful introductory work, that provides an extensive yet nuanced account of the Quakers' beliefs, community and economics, was 'The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies'. Better respected, but hard to come by digitally, is 'An Introduction to Quakerism' by Dandelion Pink.

For more nuanced reading, Turnbull tackles the topics of Quaker business and morality, enlightening us as to the specifics of the Quaker economic mindset. Such topics are of particular interest to Life Itself as we hold economic flourishing to be compatible with spiritual awakening and to be essential to our sustainability as an organisation.

Topics

Religion / beliefs / history

• 'The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies' - introduction currently uploaded on Zotero.
• 'The Cambridge Companion to Quakerism' - has all you need as into to Quakerism. Features sections on the history of Quaker faith and practice, expressions of Quaker faith, regional studies, and emerging spiritualities. It also examines all branches of Quakerism, including evangelical, liberal, and conservative, as well as non-theist Quakerism and convergent Quaker thought.

Economics

• 'Quaker Capitalism - Lessons for today' (Turnbull).

Business Ethics

• 'Enlightened Entrepreneurs' (Bradley)
• 'Quakers, Business, and Corporate Responsibilty' (Turnbull and Burton): This book explores how the distinctive "Quaker" approach to responsible business is based on honesty, truth and integrity.

Books worth reading that don't have digital copies

• 'An Introduction to Quakerism' - Dandelion Pink. Dandelion Pink is well respected and seems to offer a useful starting point on the topic with this book.
• 'Enlightened Entrepeneurs' (Bradley) - Available in paperback.
• 'The Quakers: Money and Morals' (James Walvin).