Change and the politics of certainty

Abstract

"Despite the imperative for change in a world of persistent inequality, racism and violence, difficulties arise once we try to bring it about. We may want to change the world, but we are not separate, looking in, but rather part of the world. We cannot be certain what impact our actions will have. What are we to do, if this is the case? Chapters scrutinise the role of intellectuals, experts and activists in famine aid, the Iraq war, humanitarianism, memory, enforced disappearance, and Grenfell. Plays and films are considered, and autobiographical accounts probe the author's background. The book is essential reading for all who strive for a better world. It will be of particular interest to students embarking on the study of politics, international politics and the social sciences more broadly, as well as new and established academics and researchers."-- Introduction -- 1. Objects among objects -- 2. Intellectuals as experts -- 3. The final core of uncertainty -- 4. Humanitarianism, humanity, human -- 5. Memory and the future -- 6. Loss of loss -- 7. Tracing disappearance -- 8. Stardust -- 9.. The grenfell tower file -- 10. From one world to another Conclusion.