About

Sheng is a collaborative group of friends dedicated over time to further our society while encouraging each other’s development.

The project started a few years ago under a different name and purpose. Originally, it was an attempt to develop an idealistic yet practical political program, while furthering the political awareness around us. Sharing their personal research, its participants were bound to thorough studies of the many disciplines which would contribute to this objective: philosophy, politics, economics, sociology, ecology, history… With time however, Sheng outgrew its initial political prospect to include the personal lives and vision of its participants.

Why the name?

The name for this project was chosen in reference to an age old hexagram of the Yi Jing (ancient Chinese book of wisdom) which can partly be translated in English as Growing. This hexagram’s image is that of a young sprout within the earth, pushing against the soil towards the surface. Its path is one of toil and effort, devotion and patience, leading to small but sure progress. Confident in growth, accumulating small achievements, “Sheng” is an invitation to steadfastness and perseverance in action.

What do we do?

As a long-term and ambitious collaborative project, Sheng naturally adopts the form which best suits its current growth. Today, we share and confront our personal developments, experiences and ideas writing to one another and meeting in person when we get a chance. This exchange leads to a series of essays being written in French and English and also serves as a fertile basis for the emergence of other independent associative projects with more immediate objectives.

Would you consider joining us?

Our Sheng project is fully open and you are most free to read, contribute or join us in any way you like. Sharing personal good will, we are confident that any comment, thought, discussion or essay on your part is most furthering and constructive to the whole. In particular, if you wish to participate in our mailing list, please contact us and we’ll be most honored to have you join us.

Where to begin?

If you are interested, there can be many good places to start depending on your interests. However, the following essays or documents will give you a good overview of the whole project:

  • The Sheng bibliography document synthesizes all the works which we’ve read and/or propose for reading in the light of our project.
  • From Imagine to Sheng is an essay on the name “Sheng”. It will give you a good insight into the project.

Beyond this necessary overview, we would highly recommend reading some of the cornerstone essays which have shaped our project. A small selection among these includes:

  • Revolutionary science, a book the writing of which is still in progress, yet with its first parts already released for reading. Its thesis revolves around the close ties between science, culture, and their respective revolutions.
  • On Beauty, a series of essays on our personal relationship to the world which significantly contributed in shifting Sheng beyond its initial political prospect.
  • …

To access these documents, you will be asked for a login and password in order to block automatic web crawling. Simply contact us personally and we will be happy to give you the credentials.