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The first major book to deal with the dual crises of democracy and climate change as one interrelated threat to the human future and to identify a path forward.
Democracy in a Hotter Time calls for reforming democratic institutions as a prerequisite for avoiding climate chaos and adapting governance to how Earth works as a physical system. To survive in the "long emergency" ahead, we must reform and strengthen democratic institutions, making them assets rather than liabilities. Edited by David W. Orr, this vital collection of essays proposes a new political order that will not only help humanity survive but also enable us to thrive in the transition to a post–fossil fuel world.
Orr gathers leading scholars, public intellectuals, and political leaders to address the many problems confronting our current political systems. Few other books have taken a systems view of the effects of a rapidly destabilizing climate on our laws and governance or offered such a diversity of solutions. These thoughtful and incisive essays cover subjects from Constitutional reform to participatory urban design to education; together, they aim to invigorate the conversation about the human future in practical ways that will improve the effectiveness of democratic institutions and lay the foundation for a more durable and just democracy.
David W. Orr is a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University and Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics Emeritus at Oberlin College. He is the author of eight books variously about education, climate, and ecological design, including Design on the Edge (MIT Press). He has been awarded nine honorary degrees and a dozen other awards, including lifetime achievement awards from the US Green Building Council and the North American Association for Environmental Education.
Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature, is a visiting scholar at Middlebury College.
Contributors:
- William J. Barber III
- JD
- William S. Becker
- Holly Jean Buck
- Stan Cox
- Michael M. Crow
- William B. Dabars
- Ann Florini
- David H. Guston
- Katrina Kuh
- Gordon LaForge
- Hélène Landemore
- Frances Moore Lappé
- Daniel Lindvall
- Richard Louv
- James R. May
- Frederick W. Mayer
- Bill McKibben
- Michael Oppenheimer
- David W. Orr
- Wellington Reiter
- Kim Stanley Robinson
- Anne-Marie Slaughter
"Each beautiful essay in this collection taps out the truth of this unparalleled moment in the human story: the life-and-death challenges of a hotter time are inseparable from the imperative to defend, renew, and enlarge the global democratic prospect."
– Shoshana Zuboff, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School; author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
"The scorching of our earth demands that we change our thinking fast, and that means we need democracy working to defeat not only its traditional foes like autocrats and theocrats but the carbon kings with their empires of emissions. This collection will get your mind racing towards the rescue of our climate and our politics."
– Jamie Raskin, U.S. House of Representatives (MD-08)
"In Democracy in a Hotter Time, a stellar group of thinkers proposes an array of profound changes to tackle the challenges to our Constitution, the judiciary, and democracy posed by a swiftly changing climate."
– Denis Hayes, Founder, Earth Day Network
"As temperatures rise, tempers are certain to heat up, too. Without functioning democracies, the result will be a raw fight for power – locally, nationally, and globally – and an evaporation of the cooperative spirit essential for climate action. Democracy is what keeps social power in check, and US democracy now hangs by a thread. The authors offer clear analysis, along with brilliant suggestions for how to rebuild the civic trust on which our future depends."
– Richard Heinberg, author of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
"A thoughtful and prescient discussion of the twin crises of democracy and climate – and how they are related. Essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how the coming decades will unfold."
– Bruce Schneier, author of A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend Them Back
"Everyone who cares about either saving democracy or saving the planet should read this book to understand why we need to do both at once – and then join a movement."
– Craig Calhoun, University Professor, Arizona State University
"The entangled threats of climate change and democratic decline sit at the very center of humanity's increasingly complex and urgent array of critical problems. Each makes the other worse, while neither can be successfully addressed without progress on the other. Democracy in a Hotter Time zooms in on the essential details of this climate-democracy nexus. It's a vital starting point if we're to figure out how to avoid a future of ecological and political calamity."
– Thomas Homer-Dixon, Executive Director, Cascade Institute; author of Commanding Hope
"A novel contribution to the theory of democracy in relation to climate change. It convincingly argues that we should build a fair, decent, and effective democracy fitted to a planet with an ecosphere. Otherwise, our democracies may not survive the climate crisis. The means to fix democracy include forums and formats of open democracy, the renewal of civic culture, constitutional reforms and other legal innovations, and ecological education for all. Democracy in a Hotter Time is a welcome step in this direction."
– Laszlo Zsolnai, Professor and Director, Business Ethics Center, Corvinus University of Budapest; President, European SPES Institute – Leuven; Associate Member, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford
