A work of memoir, history, and a call to action, the CBC Massey Lectures by internationally renowned UN prosecutor and scholar Payam Akhavan is a powerful and essential work on the major human rights struggles of our times. Renowned UN prosecutor and human rights scholar Payam Akhavan has encountered the grim realities of contemporary genocide throughout his life and career. He argues that deceptive utopias, political cynicism, and public apathy have given rise to major human rights abuses: from the religious persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís that shaped his personal life, to the horrors of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, the genocide in Rwanda, and the rise of contemporary phenomena such as the Islamic State. But he also reflects on the inspiring resilience of the human spirit and the reality of our inextricable interdependence to liberate us, whether from hateful ideologies that deny the humanity of others or an empty consumerist culture that worships greed and self-indulgence. A timely, essential, and passionate work of memoir and history, In Search of a Better World is a tour de force by an internationally renowned human rights lawyer.
'I want to begin by declaring that I regard scientific knowledge as the most important kind of knowledge we have', writes Sir Karl Popper in the opening essay of this book, which collects his meditations on the real improvements science has wrought in society, in politics and in the arts in the course of the twentieth century. His subjects range from the beginnings of scientific speculation in classical Greece to the destructive effects of twentieth century totalitarianism, from major figures of the Enlightenment such as Kant and Voltaire to the role of science and self-criticism in the arts. The essays offer striking new insights into the mind of one of the greatest twentieth century philosophers.
"After reading this book, the world won't look the same. Imagine yourself confined to a wheelchair; or living within the severely constricted lifestyle options of a woman in Saudi Arabia; or being a homosexual in a homophobic society; or a coffee farmer in Ethiopia; or a cow on a factory farm; or growing up impoverished in a developing country; or living 500 years from now when future generations may be negatively impacted by what we do today. This compelling thought experiment invites readers to take a moral journey, which in turn leads to an inconvenient evaluation of the way most of us live. The author proposes a new perspective, called universal subjectivism, which can be adopted by anyone regardless of religious or philosophical orientation. It takes into consideration the universal capacity for suffering and, through raising awareness, seeks to diminish that suffering and increase happiness. With consistent and crystal clear moral reasoning, van den Berg shows that the world can be organized to ensure more pleasure, beauty, justice, happiness, health, freedom, animal welfare, and sustainability. He emphasizes that today the near-term future is our greatest challenge- our affl
The essential guide to the theory and application of the Social Change Model Leadership for a Better World provides an approachable introduction to the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCM), giving students a real-world context through which to explore the seven C's of leadership for social change as well as a approaches to socially responsible leadership. From individual, group, and community values through the mechanisms of societal change itself, this book provides fundamental coverage of this increasingly vital topic. Action items, reflection, and discussion questions throughout encourage students to think about how these concepts apply in their own lives. The Facilitator's Guide includes a wealth of activities, assignments, discussions, and supplementary resources to enrich the learning experience whether in class or in the co-curriculum. This new second edition includes student self-assessment rubrics for each element of the model and new discussion on the critical roles of leadership self-efficacy, social perspective, and social justice perspectives. Content is enriched with research on how this approach to leadership is developed, and two new chapters situate the model in a broader understanding of leadership and in applications of the model. The Social Change Model is the most widely-used leadership model for college students, and has shaped college leadership curricula at schools throughout the U.S. and other countries including a translation in Chinese and Japanese. This book provides a comprehensive exploration of the model, with a practical, relevant approach to real-world issues. Explore the many facets of social change and leadership Navigate group dynamics surrounding controversy, collaboration, and purpose Discover the meaning of citizenship and your commitment to the greater good Become an agent of change through one of the many routes to a common goal The SCM is backed by 15 years of research, and continues to be informed by ongoing investigation into the interventions and environments that create positive leadership development outcomes. Leadership for a Better World provides a thorough, well-rounded tour of the Social Change Model, with guidance on application to real-world issues. Please note that The Social Change Model: Facilitating Leadership Development (978-1-119-24243-7) is intended to be used as a Facilitator's Guide to Leadership for a Better World, 2nd Edition in seminars, workshops, and college classrooms. You'll find that, while each book can be used on its own, the content in both is also designed for use together. A link to the home page of The Social Change Model can be found below under Related Titles.
Twenty-nine leading scholars and executives provide a visionary look at the future of business, propelling past damaging industrial-age values to uncover the key ingredients of humanistic, ecologically sustainable, and intergenerational prosperity. Through the exploration of robust cases and stories packed with deep insight and vital science, this extraordinary collection explores how we can adapt our notions of value, markets, and models of cooperation and collective action to create a world where economies and businesses excel, all people thrive, and nature flourishes. In part I, “The Business of Business Is Betterment,” the contributors show how enterprises today are further developing-and even taking a quantum leap beyond-the multistakeholder logic of “shared value creation.” Part II, “Net Positive = Innovation's New Frontier,” is focused on what companies can and are doing to move away from “doing no harm” to playing an active role in solving environmental, social, and economic problems. The final section, “Ultimate Advantage: A Leadership Revolution That Is Changing Everything,” looks at new leadership paradigms-characterized by unexpected qualities like virtue, love, compassion, and connection-that are crucial to creating engaged, empowered, innovative, and out-performing enterprises. This book is designed to galvanize change and unite a global community of inquiry and action. It establishes the conceptual cornerstones for a new kind of business practice that will lead the way to an equitable, sustainable, and flourishing future.
"A dark, suburban fantasy . . . richly funny, even whimsical, and bizarrely familiar." —The New Yorker In the seaside community of Donald Antrim's Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World, the citizens are restless. The mayor has fired stinger missiles into the Botanical Garden reflecting pool, and his public execution was a messy affair. As these hawkish suburbanites fortify their houses with deadly moats and land mines, a former third-grade teacher named Pete Robinson steps forward with a tenuous bid to replace the mayor. But can anyone satisfy the terrible will of the people? By turns funny and phantasmagorical, fiercely intelligent and imaginative, Donald Antrim's story of suburban civics turned macabre is a new American classic.
A deeply researched international history and "exemplary study" (New York Times Book Review) of how a divided world ended and our present world was fashioned, as the world drifts toward another great time of choosing. Two of America's leading scholar-diplomats, Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, have combed sources in several languages, interviewed leading figures, and drawn on their own firsthand experience to bring to life the choices that molded the contemporary world. Zeroing in on the key moments of decision, the might-have-beens, and the human beings working through them, they explore both what happened and what could have happened, to show how one world ended and another took form. Beginning in the late 1970s and carrying into the present, they focus on the momentous period between 1988 and 1992, when an entire world system changed, states broke apart, and societies were transformed. Such periods have always been accompanied by terrible wars -- but not this time. This is also a story of individuals coping with uncertainty. They voice their hopes and fears. They try out desperate improvisations and careful designs. These were leaders who grew up in a "postwar" world, who tried to fashion something better, more peaceful, more prosperous, than the damaged, divided world in which they had come of age. New problems are putting their choices, and the world they made, back on the operating table. It is time to recall not only why they made their choices, but also just how great nations can step up to great challenges. Timed for the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, To Build a Better World is an authoritative depiction of contemporary statecraft. It lets readers in on the strategies and negotiations, nerve-racking risks, last-minute decisions, and deep deliberations behind the dramas that changed the face of Europe -- and the world -- forever.
This unique book shows companies and their executives how to profit by developing solutions to the world's most daunting challenges those that governments cannot, and have not yet addressed. Using case studies, A Better World, Inc . delineates best practices for businesses to maximize revenues and reduce costs.
