by Paul Rogers with Judith Large
reviewed by Steven Waling
This is a short book (less than a hundred pages) packed with information in relatively digestible language that would be useful for those of us who are not wired to take in a lot of technical jargon and large gobbets of facts.
Paul Rogers is one of the premier experts in peace studies in this country, being Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at Bradford University. Judith Lange is a Senior Research Fellow at the Conflict Analysis Research Centre in the University of Kent, so both of the writers have a strong academic pedigree behind them, but this book is intended for the general activist reader not familiar with more technical language.
The three chapters in which they set out the problems, on climate change, the neo-liberal economies and the problems of increasing reliance on heavy armaments, are therefore based on solid research and thinking. They don’t pull any punches about the scale of the problems; and if the book ended there, it might be tempting to give up in despair. Climate change, militarisation and the influence of neo-liberalism are all serious problems aren’t about to go away.
However, the next two chapters begin to look at alternatives, and at what practical steps people can take to change things. Chapter 4 looks at the big policy changes that are needed, and Chapter 5 looks at practical steps we can take personally, through lifestyle combined with activism. Given the recent US election, the likelihood of anything major happening to solve these problems in the next few years is looking increasingly like a distant prospect; but nothing in Chapter 4 seems unachievable if governments in the long term could get together to solve them. The problem is always that a lot of corporations and governments are not only in denial, but are only prepared to think in the short term: the next profit- margin or share buyback, the next election. The last chapter, however, looks at citizen advocacy, protest and organisations advocating for changes in society.
Because this is a short guide, not an in-depth study, it’s ideal for those of us who find long books full of facts and figures difficult; but there is also a list of resources at the back for those who want to pursue more in-depth study. In a world where sound-bites and memes are often a substitute for facts, it’s important to know that there is substance behind the sound-bites.
It’s not the most cheerful of books, but it does offer some hope that through activism and in small ways we can begin to affect and change the narrative of society to a more healthy and sustainable future.
Steven Waling
Available from the Quaker Bookshop: The Insecurity Trap: A short guide to transformation
£11.99 – Publisher: Hawthorn Press – ISBN: 9781912480951