Optimism Over Despair

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

We have two choices. We can be pessimistic, give up, and help ensure that the worst will happen. Or we can be optimistic, grasp the opportunities that surely exist, and maybe help make the world a better place. Not much of a choice.

Another essential work from a peerless political thinker, exploring the rise of neoliberalism, the refugee crisis in Europe, the Black Lives Matter movement, the dysfunctional US electoral system, and the prospects and challenges of building a movement for radical change. Including four up-to-the-minute interviews on the 2016 American election campaign and global resistance to Trump, this Penguin Special is a concise introduction to Chomsky's ideas and his take on the state of the world today.

Critics Review

  • Highly informative ,deftly organized… Noam Chomsky teaches us-yet again-so much on a huge range of issues… If you haven’t read Chomsky before, this book will open your eyes. Even if you have, reading this book will make you realize that you still have more eyes to be opened. A beacon in this turbulent and darkening world

    Ha-Joon Chang, author of '23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism'

  • Especially valuable in helping us navigate the dreadful challenges of the Trumpian era… For all those of us who have always dreamed of spending a day with Noam Chomsky and getting his answers to all our questions about the (sorry) state of the world, here’s the next best thing: a collection of interviews with our greatest living intellectual on capitalism, empire, and social change

    Michael Klare

  • Astonishing, fundamental, urgent… Demonstrating anew that Noam Chomsky is the world’s most humane, philosophically sophisticated, and knowledgeable public intellectual. I cannot imagine a better primer for anyone seeking a better, safer, fairer future

    Professor Richard Falk, International Law Emeritus at Princeton University

  • In this brilliant series of recent and wide-ranging interviews, Noam Chomsky combines an astounding breadth of knowledge, great depth of insight, clarity and a relentless commitment to social and economic justice. Simply exhilarating, especially in our current dismal era of Donald Trump. Optimism over Despair is a book to devour

    Professor Robert Pollin, Codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts

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