The New Possible is an eclectic assortment of essays by activists, experts and other prominent figures from around the world. The thread that ties them together is a recognition that, for all the harm it has caused, the COVID-19 pandemic has opened up exciting new possibilities for societal change. In the course of passionately advocating for their various causes–which include climate change, human rights, social justice and humane technology, among others–the 27 essayists explore some of the ways in which the experience of COVID has helped prepare us for the legion of other threats we face. Taken together, their writings represent a trove of inspiring success stories, fascinating research and insights from frontline change makers.
Often these pieces begin with an anecdote that attempts to bring into focus some particular aspect of the wake-up call that is COVID. The pandemic has, in the authors’ collective estimation, opened people’s eyes to the gravity of our planetary situation, the gaping vulnerabilities in our industrial supply chains, rampant economic inequalities and political corruption. It has also, the essayists contend, spurred us to broaden our use of technology, brought us together as a human race, elicited a healthy reevaluation of our resource-intensive modern-day industrial lifestyles and served as a proving ground for our ability to change course drastically in response to existential threats.
After an editors’ introduction and a foreword by Kim Stanley Robinson–in which the famed science fiction author and futurist crisply summarizes why we now find ourselves in an “emergency century”–the book is divided into 10 sections, each consisting of between one and three essays. The method of each essay is to offer a sort of guided tour of a particular line of activism or area of study related to the maelstrom of converging crises now bearing down on industrial humanity.
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