We resist: Defending the common good in hostile times - "Disrupting protest and distrusting the police"
Lesley J. Wood
Chapter in Edited Book, 2020
Wood, L. J. (2020). Disrupting protest and distrusting the police In C. Levine-Rasky & L. Kowalchuk (Eds.), We resist: Defending the common good in hostile times (pp. 152–158). McGill-Queen’s Press.
The 2016 US presidential election exposed rising xenophobic and nationalist sentiment within the United States and other democratic countries. As populist movements grow, democratic freedoms erode. We Resist demonstrates that the things we often take for granted - safety, family, employment, health, a promising future - are under attack, and we must fight to preserve these resources before it's too late.
We are currently witnessing the dismantlement of social programs, growing disinterest in international cooperation, and the devaluation of evidence-based knowledge. This disturbing shift in politics is leading to increased national security measures, violations to basic human rights, and widening social and economic inequalities. The rise of far-right populism brings with it intolerance of ethnic, sexual, and all other minority groups, and a rejection of democratic society. We Resist gathers the compelling perspectives of scholars and activists who are deeply embedded within political and community struggles, who participate in policy decisions, and who are engaged in research that advances those struggles.
An essential and timely book, We Resist confronts the problems we face as a human community and impels a cross-sectoral movement to defend our rights and revitalize the common good.