Transformative change can come out of the COVID-19
crisis, which has exposed everything that’s wrong with decades of the
world’s governments betting on militarism, competition and wealth
creation. A return to sanity and humane governance is still possible. We
need a pandemic pivot.
Both a sobering analysis of the present
moment and a hopeful cry on behalf of the power inherent in a global,
people-oriented response to the pandemic and the societal breakdown that
led to it, The Pandemic Pivot offers insight and an actionable
framework for what Cindy Wiesner calls “a just transition to a
regenerative, anti-racist, feminist economy.” As The Pandemic Pivot demonstrates, equity and cooperation aren’t just nice principles, they’re survival strategies.
In June and July of 2020, the Institute for Policy Studies invited 68
of the world’s leading thinkers and activists to participate in eight
in-depth discussions. Their task: to assess the implications of COVID-19
for key global issues as well as the potential for transformative
change coming out of this crisis. They discussed a Green recovery, the
global economy, coronavirus authoritarianism, migrants and refugees,
budget priorities, the global ceasefire, international civil society,
and multilateral cooperation. This report by John Feffer from the
frontlines of global policy stands in stark contrast to the reality in
the world today. Reading it amounts to a return to sanity and humane
governance, and illuminates the way forward that is still possible if we
begin soon.
Considers COVID-19 in terms of inequality, climate change, health care, and mass migration. A hopeful blueprint for a better post-COVID society—and one of the FIRST BOOKS to analyze the pandemic on global policy issues.
Participants included EcoEquity Executive Director
and author Tom Athanasiou; Nigerian architect, environmental activist
and author Nnimmo Bassey; Focus on the Global South co-founder and
author Walden Bello; CODEPINK and Global Exchange co-founder and
acclaimed peace activist Medea Benjamin; AFL-CIO International
Department director Cathy Feingold; Indian columnist and International
Development Economics Associates executive secretary Jayati Ghosh;
author and arms trade expert Bill Hartung; Peace and World Security
Studies director and noted author Michael Klare; Quincy Institute for
Responsible Statecraft CEO and noted author Lora Lumpe; Yale professor
and distinguished author on human rights and peace studies Samuel Moyn;
Geneva-based human rights advocate Aziz Muhamat; acclaimed political
philosopher Jan-Werner Muller; African storyteller and writer Coumba
Toure—to name just a few, representing organizations and regions from
across the globe.
"If there is any positive feature to the terrible plague that has struck, it is that it has stimulated reflection on the deeper malaise of the prevailing social order and its ideological underpinnings. The varied and throughtful voices gathered here provide much insight on what must be done to confront still worse threats that are imminent and to construct a better world." --Noam Chomsky
