Power and Crisis: Plotting Paths to Justice and Peace

While other eras have faced severe challenges our crises--including nuclear war and climate catastrophe--involve unprecedented existential threats to human life. It can seem as if our rulers are unable or unwilling to picture an alternative to the status quo. For many, there is insufficient hope for a good future, and scores of people, particularly the young, are gripped with fear and nihilism about their prospects. This volume brings together a diverse group of thinkers appealing to a diverse range of sources responding both to the crisis in power, and the crises we need power to address more skillfully, even if this requires rethinking the role of power itself. It is my hope as editor of this book that you will find resources for and examples of warm-hearted and hard-headed efforts at creating more just and peaceful forms of life. Taken as a whole, this volume is not intended to provide precisely what political project or theory is required to successfully address the crises in power and the crises power faces, it is more a collection of prompts to focus our efforts on realizing a better world for operating under the shared commitment of mutual respect, mutual critique, and the importance of clear critical thought in the pursuit of a sane, just, and stable future.