Finalist, 2024 Writers' Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
These days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially stressed and emotionally overwhelmed. The status quo isn't working for anyone, even those who appear to have it all. What is going on?
In this urgent cultural diagnosis, author and activist Astra Taylor exposes how seemingly disparate crises-rising inequality and declining mental health, the ecological emergency, and the threat of authoritarianism-originate from a social order built on insecurity. From home ownership and education to the wellness industry and policing, many of the institutions and systems that promise to make us more secure actually undermine us.
Mixing social critique, memoir, history, political analysis, and philosophy, this genre-bending book rethinks both insecurity and security from the ground up. By facing our existential insecurity and embracing our vulnerability, Taylor argues, we can begin to develop more caring, inclusive, and sustainable forms of security to help us better weather the challenges ahead. The Age of Insecurity will transform how you understand yourself and society-while illuminating a path toward meaningful change.
"These days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially precarious, overwhelmed and anxious, and worried about the future. While millions endure the stress of struggling to make ends meet, in reality, the status quo isn't working for anyone, even the affluent and comparatively privileged; they, too, are deeply insecure. What is going on? The Age of Insecurity exposes how seemingly disparate crises -- our suffering mental health and rising inequality, the ecological emergency, and the threat of fascism -- are tied to the fact that our social order runs on insecurity. Across disparate sectors, from policing and the military to the wellness and beauty industries, the systems that promise us security instead actively undermine it. We are all made insecure on purpose, and our endless striving shapes how we feel about ourselves and others -- including what we believe is personally and collectively possible. The Age of Insecurity sheds new light on our contemporary predicament, exposing the psychological and political costs of the insecurity-generating status quo, while proposing ways to forge a new path forward."--]cProvided by publisher.
