Visionary Pragmatism: Radical and Ecological Democracy in Neoliberal Times - Hardcover

Coles, Romand

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0822360497 ISBN 13: 9780822360490

Publisher: Duke University Press Books, 2016

Synopsis

As neoliberal capitalism destroys democracy, commonwealth, and planetary ecology, the need for radically rethinking and generating transformative responses to these catastrophes is greater than ever. Given that, Romand Coles presents an invigorating new mode of scholarship and political practice he calls "visionary pragmatism." Coles explores the profound interrelationships among everyday micropractices of grassroots politics and pedagogy, institutional transformation, and political protest through polyfocal lenses of political and social theory, neuroscience research, complex systems theory, and narratives of his cutting-edge action research. Visionary Pragmatism offers a theory of revolutionary cooptation that, in part, selectively employs practices and strategies of the dominant order to radically alter the coordinates of power and possibility. Underscoring the potential, vitality, and power of emerging democratic practices to change the world, Visionary Pragmatism's simultaneous theoretical rigor and grounding in actual political and ecological practices provokes and inspires new ways of cocreating knowledge and action in dark times.  

About this title

About the Author:

Romand Coles is Frances B. McAllister Endowed Chair and Director for the Program for Community, Culture, and Environment at Northern Arizona University and Research Professor at the Institute for Social Justice at Australian Catholic University. He is the author of several books, including Beyond Gated Politics: Reflections for the Possibility of Democracy and Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary: Conversations between a Radical Democrat and a Christian (with Stanley Hauerwas). 

Review:

"It is rare that one has the opportunity to read a book that is inspiring, yet carefully argued; that covers difficult theory and articulates innovative new lines of inquiry, yet in a manner that is accessible and engaging; above all, a book that gives parity of esteem and treatment to the development of theoretical arguments and the treatment of political practice, showing how serious engagement with local practice may enrich theory. Visionary Pragmatism is such a book." (Aletta J. Norval, author of Aversive Democracy: Inheritance and Originality in the Democratic Tradition)

"Romand Coles has long been a voice of creativity, engagement, and hope in radical democratic politics—one uniquely receptive to the concerns, critiques, and practices of social movements and activists. The focus here is the crucial and fertile intersection and integration of theory, practice, and environment in the development of a 'radical democratic habitus.' Coles demonstrates the incredible power and potential of creative political praxis in response to democratic deficits, ecological detachment, and their combined impacts on everyday life. This is powerful, engaging, and necessary writing."  (David Schlosberg, Professor of Environmental Politics and Co-Director of the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney)

About this edition

• Publisher: Duke University Press Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0822360497
• ISBN 13: 9780822360490
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240