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My style of writing is what could be called "curatorial"—a museum of little nuggets I collected, organized by theme. This is very much the case with my new book Dedicated (order at http://DedicatedBook.org !)—so I thought I'd spotlight some of my favorite nuggets from the book:
My section on stewards was inspired by @STS_News' lens-shifting "Hail the Maintainers" article, about how innovation is overrated and maintenance is underrated: https://aeon.co/essays/innovation-is-overvalued-maintenance-often-matters-more
I searched for a modern essay that shared themes with William James' "Moral Equivalent of War" speech—that we actually don't seek a life of total leisure—and the most incisive & generationally-resonant is @AlanaMassey's lovely cri de coeur "Against Chill": https://medium.com/matter/against-chill-930dfb60a577
For a great personal essay on what long-haul union organizing feels like, check out @alybatt's inspiring n+1 essay "Spadework": https://nplusonemag.com/issue-34/politics/spadework/
Death of the Liberal Class by @ChrisLynnHedges does a great job explaining the problems with “neutral” institutions (and the need for mission-driven moral ones), and @ChrisLHayes' Twilight of the Elites does the same with modern meritocracy: https://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Elites-America-After-Meritocracy/dp/0307720462
My thinking on how change often comes from joining up with an institution and reforming from the inside (or activating those already embedded in an institution to reform) was greatly influenced by @jonathansmucker's book, Hegemony How-To: https://www.akpress.org/hegemonyhowto.html
And the greatest writer working today on the long-haul work needed to fight back against the tyrannies of the New Gilded Age is organizing expert @rsgexp. Her book that changed my whole view of political change is appropriately titled "No Shortcuts": https://janemcalevey.com/no-shortcuts/
Grateful for all this inspiration. See more in the full book: http://www.PeteDavis.org/dedicated
