Finalist, 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for NonfictionFinalist, 2024 Writers' Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political WritingThese days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially stressed and emotionally overwhelmed. The status quo isn’t working for anyone, even those who appear to have it all. What is going on?In this urgent cultural diagnosis, author and activist Astra Taylor exposes how seemingly disparate crises—rising inequality a...

From a cutting-edge cultural commentator, a bold and brilliant challenge to cherished notions of the internet as the great leveler of our age.The internet has been hailed as an unprecedented democratising force, a place where everyone can participate.So why are minorities and marginalized groups under-represented on user-generated websites, with less than 15% of Wikipedia written by women?Why does keyword-jammed and star-studded churnalism proliferate, at th...

Philosophy reconnects with daily life in these conversations with eight renowned thinkers—the uncut interviews from the documentary film Examined Life.Astra Taylor's documentary film Examined Life took philosophy out of the academy and into the streets, reminding us that great ideas are born through profound engagement with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, not in isolation from it. This companion volume features the complete and uncut inter...

"A New Civil Rights Leader" explores what we mean when we speak of democracy and if democracy can truly ever exist ( LA Times).There is no shortage of democracy, at least in name, and yet it is in crisis everywhere we look. From a cabal of plutocrats in the White House to gerrymandering and dark-money campaign contributions, it is clear that the principle of government by and for the people is not living up to its promise.The problems lie deeper than...

Over the last decade, author and activist Astra Taylor has helped shift the national conversation on topics including technology, inequality, indebtedness, and democracy. The essays collected here reveal the range and depth of her thinking, with Taylor tackling the rising popularity of socialism, the problem of automation, the politics of listening, the possibility of rights for the natural and non-human world, the future of the university, the temporal challenge of climate catastrophe, an...

Democracy is in crisis. In every major company it has been stole by elites or in the hands of strong men. In democracy's name we see a raft of policies that spread inequality and xenophobia worldwide. It is clear that democracy - the principle of government by and for the people - is not living up to its promise.In fact, real democracy- inclusive and egalitarian - has in fact never existed. In this urgent and engaging book, Astra Taylor invites us to re-examine the term. Is democra...

There is no shortage of democracy, at least in name, and yet it is in crisis everywhere we look. From a cabal of plutocrats in the White House to gerrymandering and dark-money compaign contributions, it is clear that the principle of government by and for the people is not living up to its promise.The problems lie deeper than any one election cycle. As Astra Taylor demonstrates, real democracy—fully inclusive and completely egalitarian—has in fact never existed. In a tone that is b...

"An invaluable primer for anyone seeking to understand why our networked world isn't all that it is cracked up to be." — The GuardianThe Internet has been hailed as an unprecedented democratizing force, a place where everyone can be heard and all can participate equally. But how true is this claim? In a seminal dismantling of techno-utopian visions, The People's Platform argues that for all that we "tweet" and "like" and "share," the Internet in fa...

Finalist, 2024 Writers' Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political WritingThese days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially stressed and emotionally overwhelmed. The status quo isn't working for anyone, even those who appear to have it all. What is going on?In this urgent cultural diagnosis, author and activist Astra Taylor exposes how seemingly disparate crises—rising inequality and declining mental health, the ecological emergency, and the threat o...

Over the last decade, author and activist Astra Taylor has helped shift the national conversation on topics including technology, inequality, indebtedness, and democracy. The essays collected here reveal the range and depth of her thinking, with Taylor tackling the rising popularity of socialism, the problem of automation, the politics of listening, the possibility of rights for the natural and non-human world, the future of the university, the temporal challenge of climate catastrophe, an...

This collection takes its inspiration from Paul Goodman's Growing Up Absurd, a landmark critique of American culture at the end of the 1950s. Goodman called for a revival of social investment in urban planning, public welfare, workplace democracy, free speech, racial harmony, sexual freedom, popular culture, and education to produce a society that could inspire young people, and an adult society worth joining.In postmodernity, Goodman's enlightenment-era vision of social p...

A VULTURE BEST BOOK • From renowned organizers and activists Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, comes the first in-depth examination of Solidarity—not just as a rallying cry, but as potent political movement with potential to effect lasting change.**A DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST“A window into what is possible when we reject the politics of division, trade individualism for interconnectedness and prioritize coming together for the greater ...