Synopses & Reviews
War is no way to resolve our most problematic group, community, and societal issues, but neither is a peace that simply sweeps our problems under the rug.
To create lasting change we have to learn to work fluidly with two distinct, fundamental drives that are in tension: power—the single-minded desire to achieve one’s solitary purpose; and love—the drive towards unity. They are seemingly contradictory but in fact complimentary. As Martin Luther King put it, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.” Using revealing stories from complex situations he has been involved in all over the world—the Middle East, South Africa, Europe, India, Guatemala, the Philippines, Australia, Canada and the United States—Kahane reveals how to dynamically balance these two forces. Just as when we are toddlers we learn to shift from one foot to the other to move ourselves forward, so we can learn to shift back and forth between power and love in order to move society forward.
Synopsis
The two methods most frequently employed to solve our toughest social problems--either relying on violence and aggression or submitting to endless negotiation and compromise--are fundamentally flawed. This is because the seemingly contradictory drives behind these approaches--
power, the desire to achieve one's purpose, and
love, the urge to unite with others--are actually complementary. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. put it, "Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic." But how do you combine them?
For the last twenty years Adam Kahane of Reos Partners and the University of Oxford has worked around the world on many tough and vital challenges: food security, health care, economic development, judicial reform, peacemaking, climate change. In this extraordinary book he draws on this experience to delve deeply into the dual natures of both power and love, exploring their subtle and intricate interplay. With disarming honesty Kahane relates how, through trial and error, he has learned to balance them and offers practical guidance for how others can learn that balance as well.
Synopsis
Using revealing stories from complex situations he has been involved in all over the world--the Middle East, South Africa, Europe, India, Guatemala, the Philippines, Australia, Canada and the United States--Kahane reveals how to dynamically balance power and love.
About the Author
Adam Kahane is a partner in Reos Partners, an international organisation dedicated to supporting and building capacity for innovative collective action in complex social systems, and a Visiting Practitioner at the University of Oxford and the University of Waterloo.
Table of Contents
Foreword; Introduction: Beyond War and Peace
Section I: Power and Love
The Two Sides of Power
The Two Sides of Love
Section II: Learning to Dance
Moving Forward on Two Legs.
Falling
Hobbling
Lurching
Stepping
Dancing
Conclusion: How to Co-Create New Social Realities.