Social Change

To anticipate and inform future responses to demographic change, Justin Gest looks to the past. In Majority Minority, Gest wields historical analysis and interview-based fieldwork inside six of the world's few societies that have already experienced a majority minority transition to understand what factors produce different social outcomes. Gest concludes that states hold great power to shape public responses and perceptions of demographic change through political institutions and the rhetoric of leaders.

Based on 20 years of pioneering workshops engaging white male leaders in transforming their own mindsets, building leadership skills, and creating powerful partnerships at work and at home, Four Days to Change follows a group of men embarking in a life-changing process to broaden their view of the world and lead them into more authentic relationships across race, gender, and sexual orientation. Witness the kinds of conversations that have opened the eyes of thousands of white male leaders.

The world is ruled by a handful of super rich. These, in their short-sighted management of the planet, are leading humanity to its own self-destruction. The problem is that the same destructive dynamics, typical of the egoic mind that dominate the universal masters, also dwell in us common mortals, so on a smaller scale we are all co-responsible for the current situation.

The Plot to Change America exposes the myths that help identity politics perpetuate itself. This book reveals what has really happened, explains why it is urgent to change course, and offers a strategy to do so. Though we should not fool ourselves into thinking that it will be easy to eliminate identity politics, we should not overthink it, either. Identity politics relies on the creation of groups and then on giving people incentives to adhere to them. If we eliminate group making and the enticements, we can get rid of identity politics.

Climate change is today's news, but it isn't a new phenomenon. Centuries-long cycles of heating and cooling are well documented for Europe and the North Atlantic. These variations in climate, including the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), AD 900 to 1300, and the early centuries of the Little Ice Age (LIA), AD 1300 to 1600, had a substantial impact on the cultural history of Europe.

Communication expert and leadership coach Shawn Kent Hayashi has spent more than two decades studying how the things people say impact their business and professional lives. In her new book Conversations for Change: 12 Ways to Say It Right When It Matters Most, she not only identifies the 12 most important types of conversations people have, but shows readers how to reach their maximum potential by using these conversations effectively.

What if the nation were able to capitalize on the energy of Americans willing to serve and volunteer for a year or more? This inspirational book tells the stories of real people who have dedicated themselves to service and the nonprofits that engaged them. It shows how selflessness and service have transformed lives and communities, and can address similar problems throughout the country. The author profiles successes, demonstrates measurable effects, and shows how impact is made.

In atemberaubendem Tempo haben die Menschen den Planeten ihren Bedürfnissen unterworfen. Im 21. Jahrhundert stehen sie vor den Scherben ihres Tuns: Die natürlichen Ressourcen erschöpft, die Klimaerwärmung eine tödliche Bedrohung, globale Pandemien eine akute Gefahr. Werden wir auch diese Krise meistern? Die Bestsellerautoren Johannes Krause und Thomas Trappe zeigen, was wir aus der Vergangenheit für unser Überleben lernen können - und welche Gefahren in der zügellosen Kraft des Menschen liegen.

The Unnatural World chronicles a disparate band of unlikely heroes: an effervescent mad scientist who would fertilize the seas, a pigeon obsessive bent on bringing back the extinct, a low-level government functionary in China doing his best to clean up his city, and more. These scientists, billionaires, and ordinary people are all working toward saving the best home humanity is ever likely to have.

In the last few years, it has become abundantly clear that the effects of accelerating climate change will be catastrophic, from rising seas to more violent storms to desertification. Yet why do nation-states find it so difficult to implement transnational policies that can reduce carbon output and slow global warming? In Oceans Rise, Empires Fall, Gerard Toal identifies geopolitics as the culprit.

At least thirteen million Americans will have to move away from American coasts in the coming decades, as rising sea levels and increasingly severe storms put lives at risk and cause billions of dollars in damages. In Charleston, South Carolina, denial, boosterism, widespread development, and public complacency about racial issues compound; the city, like our country, has no plan to protect its most vulnerable. Susan Crawford tells the story of a city that has played a central role in America's painful racial history for centuries and now stands at the intersection of climate and race.

We seem to be stuck, staring at insurmountable challenges. The pandemic is the opening act for climate change, and we need to get much better at anticipating and preparing for these types of challenges. Simply rebuilding bridges once they fall, or houses once they are swept away, is both expensive and risks human lives. Anticipation and preparation costs more now, but is much less costly over time.

Prominent Latin American historian John Charles Chasteen provides a concise history of the world, in which he explores the origins and persistence of the timeless phenomena of humanity's inhumanity to itself. Where did it come from? Why has it been so prevalent throughout our history? And, most importantly, can we overcome it? Chasteen argues that to do so, we must understand our shared past.

It is not your imagination: water crises are more frequent. Our twentieth-century systems for providing the water that grows food, sustains cities, and supports healthy ecosystems are failing to meet the demands of growing population and the challenges brought on by climate change. But the grim news reports—of empty reservoirs, withering crops, failing ecosystems—need not be cause for despair, argues award-winning author David Sedlak.

We’re so afraid of aging that we begin to devalue ourselves and others with each passing year. The words "30 years old" incites panic. Seniors live in separate communities, and they barely interact with young people, while middle-aged people spend millions each year on anti-aging products. But what if we have it all wrong?

This book is the first of its kind to examine the role of great powers in the international politics of climate change. It develops a novel analytical framework for studying environmental power in international relations, what counts as a great power in the environmental field, and what their special environmental responsibilities are. In doing so, the book connects International Relations (IR) debates on power inequality, great powers and great power management, with global environmental politics (GEP) scholarship.

“You don’t create societies by burning things down, You create societies by building things.” From the former faith adviser to President Obama comes a fresh manifesto for those who seek to promote positive change and build a more diverse and just democracy The goal of social change work is...

How games are being harnessed as instruments of exploitation—and what we can do about it Warehouse workers pack boxes while a virtual dragon races across their screen. If they beat their colleagues, they get an award. If not, they can be fired. Uber presents exhausted drivers with challenges...

Why understanding evolution—the most reviled branch of science—can help us all, from fighting pandemics to undoing racism Evolutionary science has long been regarded as conservative, a tool for enforcing regressive ideas, particularly about race and gender. But in A Voice in the Wilderness...

A renowned judge wonders: What would criminal justice look like if we put respect at the center? The Black and Latina daughter of a working-class family, Victoria Pratt learned to treat everyone with dignity, no matter their background. When she became Newark Municipal Court’s chief judge, she...