Humour is often dismissed as cruel ridicule or harmless fun. But what if laughter is a vital force to channel rage against patriarchy, Islamophobia, or mass incarceration? To create moments of empathy and dialogue between Black Lives Matter and the police? These and other such questions are at the heart of this powerful reassessment of humour.
Cynthia Willett is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. Her books include, most recently, Interspecies Ethics and Irony in the Age of Empire: Comic Perspectives on Freedom and Democracy.
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Julie Willett is associate professor of history at Texas Tech University. She is author of Permanent Waves: The Making of the American Beauty Shop.
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