Another World Is Possible: How to Reignite Social and Political Imagination [Hardcover]

Draws on the past two centuries of extraordinary experimentation, good and bad, in pursuit of an 'imaginative surge' to fix our battered societies.As the world reels from the fast catastrophe of Covid and the slow calamity of climate change, we've also faced a third, less visible emergency: a crisis of imagination. We can easily picture ecological disaster or futures dominated by technology. But we struggle to imagine a world in which people thrive and where we improve our democracy, welfare, neighborhoods or education. Many are resigned to fatalism--yet they desperately want transformational social change.This book argues that, although the threats are real, we can use creative imagination to achieve a better future: visualizing where we want to go and how to get there. Political and social thinker Geoff Mulgan offers lessons we can learn from the past, and methods we can use now to open up thinking about the future and spark action.Drawing on social sciences, the arts, philosophy and history, Mulgan shows how we can recharge our collective imagination. From Socrates toStar Wars, he provides a roadmap for the future.Sir Geoff Mulgan is Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at University College London. Formerly he was chief executive of Nesta, and held several government roles (1997-2004), including as the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit director and as Downing Street's head of policy. This is his sixth book. A dizzying cornucopia of cases for imagination mattering more than rote learning and political orthodoxy. From deconstructing property rights and promoting universal basic income, to the sharing of intelligence by the state rather than its hoarding, this is an inspiring call for a more imaginative tomorrow. -- Professor Danny Dorling, University of Oxford, author ofSlowdown and Peak Inequality

Draws on the past two centuries of extraordinary experimentation, good and bad, in pursuit of an 'imaginative sul3"