We Need to Build
Field Notes for Diverse Democracy
Published on 9. May 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-8070-0823-2 (ISBN)
Description
From the former faith adviser to President Obama comes an inspirational guide for those who seek to promote positive social change and build a more diverse and just democracy
The goal of social change work is not a more ferocious revolution; it is a more beautiful social order. It is harder to organize a fair trial than it is to fire up a crowd, more challenging to build a good school than it is to tell others they are doing education all wrong. But every decent society requires fair trials and good schools, and that’s just the beginning of the list of institutions and structures that need to be efficiently created and effectively run in large-scale diverse democracy.
We Need to Build is a call to create those institutions and a guide for how to run them well.
In his youth, Eboo Patel was inspired by love-based activists like John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Badshah Khan, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Thich Nhat Hanh. Their example, and a timely challenge to build the change he wanted to see, led to a life engaged in the particulars of building, nourishing, and sustaining an institution that seeks to promote positive social change—Interfaith America. Now, drawing on his twenty years of experience, Patel tells the stories of what he’s learned and how, in the process, he came to construct as much as critique and collaborate more than oppose.
His challenge to us is clear: those of us committed to refounding America as a just and inclusive democracy need to defeat the things we don’t like by building the things we do.
The goal of social change work is not a more ferocious revolution; it is a more beautiful social order. It is harder to organize a fair trial than it is to fire up a crowd, more challenging to build a good school than it is to tell others they are doing education all wrong. But every decent society requires fair trials and good schools, and that’s just the beginning of the list of institutions and structures that need to be efficiently created and effectively run in large-scale diverse democracy.
We Need to Build is a call to create those institutions and a guide for how to run them well.
In his youth, Eboo Patel was inspired by love-based activists like John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Badshah Khan, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Thich Nhat Hanh. Their example, and a timely challenge to build the change he wanted to see, led to a life engaged in the particulars of building, nourishing, and sustaining an institution that seeks to promote positive social change—Interfaith America. Now, drawing on his twenty years of experience, Patel tells the stories of what he’s learned and how, in the process, he came to construct as much as critique and collaborate more than oppose.
His challenge to us is clear: those of us committed to refounding America as a just and inclusive democracy need to defeat the things we don’t like by building the things we do.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boston, MA
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 214 mm
Width: 138 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
300 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8070-0823-2 (9780807008232)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2022
Beacon Press
€18.49
Available for download
Person
Eboo Patel
Content
Introduction
SECTION ONE: CRITICS AND BUILDERS
CHAPTER ONE
Critic: A Personal Journey
CHAPTER TWO
Builder, Creating Interfaith America
CHAPTER THREE
Jen Bailey, Critic and Builder
CHAPTER FOUR
Campus as Crucible
SECTION TWO: THE GOOD SOCIETY
CHAPTER FIVE
America, the People’s Potluck
CHAPTER SIX
The Obama Story, the Trump Story
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Genius of Religious Institutions
SECTION THREE: CONSIDERATIONS AND CAUTIONS
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Challenge of Being in Charge
CHAPTER NINE
Align the Substantive and the Symbolic
CHAPTER TEN
Be Guided by a Vision For, Not an Anger Against
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Embrace Diversity, Including the Differences You Don’t Like
CHAPTER TWELVE
Embrace the Multiple Languages of Social Change
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Be Careful Turning Identity Categories into Ideological Categories
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Seek Solutions, Then Seek Scale
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Welcome All Allies
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Persuade Your Opponents
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Consider Constructive Engagement Before You Cancel
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Stand on the Balcony and Think of a Hedgehog
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Appreciate the History of Your Movement, Then Extend It
CHAPTER TWENTY
Be Cautious About Becoming a Symbol
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Be Cautious About Making Generalizations and Speaking for Others
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Be Cautious of the Single Story
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Be Cautious About the False Social Map
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Be Cautious When Accusing Others
CONCLUSION
A Letter to My Sons, Future Builders of Diverse Democracy
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
SECTION ONE: CRITICS AND BUILDERS
CHAPTER ONE
Critic: A Personal Journey
CHAPTER TWO
Builder, Creating Interfaith America
CHAPTER THREE
Jen Bailey, Critic and Builder
CHAPTER FOUR
Campus as Crucible
SECTION TWO: THE GOOD SOCIETY
CHAPTER FIVE
America, the People’s Potluck
CHAPTER SIX
The Obama Story, the Trump Story
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Genius of Religious Institutions
SECTION THREE: CONSIDERATIONS AND CAUTIONS
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Challenge of Being in Charge
CHAPTER NINE
Align the Substantive and the Symbolic
CHAPTER TEN
Be Guided by a Vision For, Not an Anger Against
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Embrace Diversity, Including the Differences You Don’t Like
CHAPTER TWELVE
Embrace the Multiple Languages of Social Change
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Be Careful Turning Identity Categories into Ideological Categories
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Seek Solutions, Then Seek Scale
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Welcome All Allies
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Persuade Your Opponents
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Consider Constructive Engagement Before You Cancel
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Stand on the Balcony and Think of a Hedgehog
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Appreciate the History of Your Movement, Then Extend It
CHAPTER TWENTY
Be Cautious About Becoming a Symbol
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Be Cautious About Making Generalizations and Speaking for Others
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Be Cautious of the Single Story
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Be Cautious About the False Social Map
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Be Cautious When Accusing Others
CONCLUSION
A Letter to My Sons, Future Builders of Diverse Democracy
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index