How do we understand, acknowledge, and appreciate these times—and how do we envision the future through so many unknowns? We find insight, inspiration, and solace in books. Here’s a selection of some of the most compelling work we’re reading.
Latest Books
Worlds within Us: Wisdom and Resilience of Indigenous Women Elders
How does one measure the intentions of a life? This is a question that Tekatsi:tsia’ kwa Katsi Cook (Wolf Clan, Mohawk Nation, New York) asks in her introduction to Worlds within Us, a book rich with the voices of eight Native American women elders....
Multisolving
Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World For most of Elizabeth Sawin’s career, she was not a multisolver. Instead, she worked on a single, albeit immensely important problem: climate change. Despite tremendous effort—long hours of teaching, attending conferences,...
The Commune Form: The Transformation of Everyday Life
A leading radical historian looks at the global resurgence of the commune and asks how they can become sites of liberationWhen the state recedes, the commune-form flourishes. This was as true in Paris in 1871 as it is now whenever ordinary people begin to manage their...
More great reading
On the Future: Prospects for Humanity
In On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees argues that humanity’s prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow. The future of humanity is bound to the future of science and...
Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems
Panarchy is the structure in which systems, including those of nature (e.g., forests) and of humans (e.g., capitalism), as well as combined human-natural systems (e.g., institutions that govern natural resource use such as the Forest Service), are interlinked in...
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist
It is time, says renegade economist Kate Raworth, to revise our economic thinking for the 21st century. In Doughnut Economics, she sets out seven key ways to fundamentally reframe our understanding of what economics is and does. Humanity’s 21st century challenge is to...