20%OFF
Stock image for illustration purposes only - book cover, edition or condition may vary.
We: Reviving Social Hope
Ronald Aronson
€ 29.99
€ 23.90
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for We: Reviving Social Hope
Hardcover. Num Pages: 208 pages. BIC Classification: HPS. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 228 x 152. .
What was it about Barack Obama's campaign of hope that resonated so much not just with Americans, but people the world over? Have we really become so despairing in the face of collapsed economies and the threat of violence around every corner that a simple rallying cry to remember hope can have such a powerful effect? In this moving and thoughtful book, Ronald Aronson explores our relationship to hope at a time some have called the end of history, others the end of politics, in order to formulate a more active stance, one in which hope is far more than a mood or feeling it is the very basis of social will and political action. Aronson examines our own heartbreaking story: a century of violence, upheaval, and the undelivered promises of progress all of which have contributed to the evaporation of social hope. As he shows, we are now in an era when hope has been privatized, when despite all the ways we are connected to each other we are desperately alone, struggling to weather the maelstrom around us, demoralized by the cynicism that permeates our culture and politics, and burdened with finding personal solutions to social problems. Yet social hope, Aronson argues, still persists. Carefully exploring what we mean when we say we hope and teasing hope apart from its dangerously misconstrued sibling, progress, he locates real seeds of change. He argues that always underlying our experience even if we completely ignore it is a sense of social belonging, and that this can be reactivated into a powerful collective force, an active we. He looks to various political movements, from the massive collective force of environmentalists to the stunning rise of movement-centered politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn, as powerful examples of socially energized, politically determined, and actionably engaged forms of hope. The result is an illuminating and inspiring call that anyone can clearly hear: we can still create a better future for ourselves, but only if we do it together.
Product Details
Publisher
University Of Chicago Press
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2017
Condition
New
Weight
28g
Number of Pages
208
Place of Publication
, United States
ISBN
9780226334660
SKU
V9780226334660
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-50
About Ronald Aronson
Ronald Aronson is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Wayne State University. His the author or editor of numerous books, including, most recently, We Have Only This Life to Live: Essays of Jean-Paul Sartre and Living without God: New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, and the Undecided.
Reviews for We: Reviving Social Hope
An important and original work. Aronson recognizes that there cannot be engaged political action without a reasonable hope that significant change is possible. And he worries that social, political, economic, and institutional changes, both at the national and international levels, have tended to undermine traditional Western values and beliefs about the possibilities of progress in human affairs. Taking stock of that loss of hope and questioning what has led to it, he ultimately provides a path toward a renewal of hope in human progressive social change.
David Sprintzen, founder of the Long Island Progressive Coalition The author draws on an impressive range of sources, from Yevgeny Zamyatin, author of his book's namesake, to Jean-Paul Sartre and, most persuasively, the writer and activist Rebecca Solnit. Aronson builds his case for an understanding of hope built on solidarity and mass action, citing the grassroots movements of Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn, Podemos and Occupy as exemplars.
New Internationalist We: Reviving Social Hope is not only a testament to Aronson's optimism, then, but an analysis of the re-emergence of what he sees as a collective, rather than an individualistic form, of political action.
spiked review By pointing out again and again that hope and social progress reside in collective action, Aronson calls on us to leave our lonely planets of hyper-individualism behind to join others in common struggles for a better world. Because only when we become active in concert with others, a sense of we and hope can materialize.
Tikkun A useful book to discuss, to meditate on, We is well-timed and helps us think more clearly about the next stage of the global transformation. And don't forget what Studs Terkel said: 'Hope dies last'.
John May The Generalist We is a tonic. At a time in our history when many are despairing about the turn in our nation's political life, Aronson has produced a sober yet exhilarating cri de Coeur about why we need not be. Anyone concerned about how 'we' might mount resistance to the forces of reaction should read We and take heart.
Steve Fraser, author of The Age of Acquiescence: The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power Timely, stimulating, and creative, We offers a fresh and very timely perspective on what Aronson correctly identifies as the general loss today of 'the hope of a better society and a better world.' In broad but firm strokes, drawing on leading thinkers from Smith to Condorcet to Marx to Sartre, it convincingly traces the historical formation of collective hope, which can today take shape as the capacity for meaningful action.
Leo V. Panitch, York University
David Sprintzen, founder of the Long Island Progressive Coalition The author draws on an impressive range of sources, from Yevgeny Zamyatin, author of his book's namesake, to Jean-Paul Sartre and, most persuasively, the writer and activist Rebecca Solnit. Aronson builds his case for an understanding of hope built on solidarity and mass action, citing the grassroots movements of Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn, Podemos and Occupy as exemplars.
New Internationalist We: Reviving Social Hope is not only a testament to Aronson's optimism, then, but an analysis of the re-emergence of what he sees as a collective, rather than an individualistic form, of political action.
spiked review By pointing out again and again that hope and social progress reside in collective action, Aronson calls on us to leave our lonely planets of hyper-individualism behind to join others in common struggles for a better world. Because only when we become active in concert with others, a sense of we and hope can materialize.
Tikkun A useful book to discuss, to meditate on, We is well-timed and helps us think more clearly about the next stage of the global transformation. And don't forget what Studs Terkel said: 'Hope dies last'.
John May The Generalist We is a tonic. At a time in our history when many are despairing about the turn in our nation's political life, Aronson has produced a sober yet exhilarating cri de Coeur about why we need not be. Anyone concerned about how 'we' might mount resistance to the forces of reaction should read We and take heart.
Steve Fraser, author of The Age of Acquiescence: The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power Timely, stimulating, and creative, We offers a fresh and very timely perspective on what Aronson correctly identifies as the general loss today of 'the hope of a better society and a better world.' In broad but firm strokes, drawing on leading thinkers from Smith to Condorcet to Marx to Sartre, it convincingly traces the historical formation of collective hope, which can today take shape as the capacity for meaningful action.
Leo V. Panitch, York University