Image Source: Lenz, Leonhard. Fronttransparent der FridaysForFuture Demonstration am 25. Januar 2019 in Berlin. via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Social movement researcher Dalilah Shemia-Goeke recently reviewed Common Preservation in a Time of Mutual Destruction by LNS co-founder and senior advisor Jeremy Brecher. Her review, “How a Global Nonviolent Insurgency Could Prevent Climate Destruction,” was published in Resistance Studies and Waging Nonviolence. Shemia-Goeke writes,
While I was putting together some tools for my research to assess the effectiveness of resistance strategies challenging corporations, I came across Common Preservation: In a time of mutual destruction. It is a complete toolbox covering everything from identifying and analyzing to solving societal problems. Not just any problems, but addressing the most pressing issue of our times: climate destruction.
Brecher has put considerable effort into bringing the labor movement and the climate movement closer together, uniting forces to overcome the destructive consequences of the fossil-fueled economy. In his latest book, in which he shares his mentioned ‘toolbox’, he brings all this together; his past experiences, insights and reflections from half a century of dedicated engagement in activism and theory in a variety of different areas.
This book is highly recommended for activists seeking inspiration for innovative ways to think about strategy, as well as for scholars who look for impulses on how research and academic work can be put in service of movements, while still staying committed to truth-seeking that is rooted in reason and evidence. And it is for both activists and scholars alike who yearn for non-dogmatic ways to learn about social change.