The
aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis still reverberate throughout
the globe. Markets are down, unemployment is up, and nations from Greece
to Ireland find their very infrastructure on the brink of collapse.
There is also a crisis in the management of global affairs, with the
institutions of global governance challenged as never before,
accompanied by conflicts ranging from Syria, to Iran, to Mali.
Domestically, the bases for democratic legitimacy, social
sustainability, and environmental adaptability are also changing. In
this unique volume from the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations
and the Social Science Research Council, some of the world’s greatest
minds—from Nobel Prize winners to long-time activists—explore what the
prolonged instability of the so-called Great Recession means for our
traditional understanding of how governments can and should function.
Through interviews that are sure to spark lively debate, 22 Ideas to Fix the World presents both analysis of past geopolitical events and possible solutions and predictions for the future.
The
book surveys issues relevant to the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, and the
Middle East. Speaking from a variety of perspectives, including
economic, social, developmental, and political, the discussions here
increase our understanding of what’s wrong with the world and how to get
it right. Interviewees explore topics like the Arab Spring, the
influence of international financial organizations, the possibilities
for the growth of democracy, the acceleration of global warming, and how
to develop enforceable standards for market and social regulation.
These inspiring exchanges from some of our most sophisticated thinkers
on world policy are honest, brief, and easily understood, presenting
thought-provoking ideas in a clear and accessible manner that cuts
through the academic jargon that too often obscures more than it
reveals. 22 Ideas to Fix the World is living history in the finest sense—a lasting chronicle of the state of the global community today.
Interviews
with: Zygmunt Bauman, Shimshon Bichler & Jonathan Nitzan, Craig
Calhoun, Ha-Joon Chang, Fred Dallmayr, Mike Davis, Bob Deacon, Kemal
Dervis, Jiemian Yang, Peter J. Katzenstein, Ivan Krastev, Will Kymlicka,
Manuel F. Montes, José Antonio Ocampo, Vladimir Popov, Jospeh Stiglitz,
Olzhas Suleimenov, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Immanuel Wallerstein, Paul
Watson, Vladimir Yakunin, Muhammad Yunus