The Human Paradox Worlds Apart in a Connected World

In The Human Paradox: Worlds Apart in a Connected World, author Frank Gaffikin probes widely and meticulously into our past and present to analyse the connections between the many acute polarisations that mark contemporary times. Addressing profound issues related to Trumpism, Brexit, the outbreak of Covid-19 and ensuing pandemic, and environmental change, the book argues that beneath all the present social tumult lies a fundamental dilemma for human stability and progress, namely how we can be estranged from what we refer to as humanity. The book begins with an appraisal of populism and authoritarian nationalism, and later explores whether, in our human development, we are bound for enhancement or extinction. Interrogating these big ideas further, the book identifies three central challenges that confront us as a society: living on the planet, living with the planet, and living with one another on the planet. These challenges prompt a re-think of what it is to be human and social, and hinging on these key themes, the book thus concludes with consideration of a radical agenda for future social improvement. Rather than peering through the conventional lenses offered by separate disciplines, this book argues for interdisciplinary appreciation and recognition, especially so if we are to address the dilemma at the center of its concern. The Human Paradox will appeal to readers interested in the major conflicts of our times, as well as students of subjects including sociology, politics, history, and economics.

Acknowledgments Prologue PartI – All Shook Up 1. What on Earth? 2. All the Rage 3. Mistaken Identity 4. False Economy 5. Power Play PartII – Hello Goodbye 6. Only Human 7. Dead End 8. Net Effect Epilogue Bibliography

Professor Frank Gaffikin, has been an academic for four decades, in the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast, and for periods at two universities in the United States, with a special focus on urban scholarship and, in recent years, on planning in contested space. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has been co-Director of the Urban Institute at the University of Ulster; a Senior Research Fellow at the Great Cities Institute in Chicago; and Director of the Institute of Spatial and Environmental Planning, at Queen’s University.