Why is humanity failing to solve the climate crisis, to deal effectively with pandemics, to curb the power of multinational corporations and to create a more equal, just and sustainable world for everyone? This book, based on a series of video lectures on YouTube, provides an answer: it is because of the political division of the world into some two hundred separate nation states, each vying for its own interests, and with no-one looking at what is good for the world as a whole. The authors argue that the only way to solve global problems and to truly bring about global justice, is for everyone to come together in one, universal, global democratic system. This is a radical, inspiring and provocative book – a must-read for everyone who believes that a better world is needed.
Contents
Section I: Developing A Global Framework - Federalism and World Federalism; A Democratic World is Possible; The History and Future of Democracy; Is Globalisation the Problem?; Love is all you need. Or is it?; What is Global Governance?
Section II: Problems of the Current ‘International’ System - Global Apartheid; Human Rights; The Climate Crisis; Migration and Refugees
Section III: Key World Federalist Thinkers - Rosika Schwimmer: A Feminist’s Struggle for World Citizenship; Albert Einstein: A Vision of a Unified World; Jawahlarlal Nehru: An Anti-Imperialist’s Quest for One World; Josué de Castro: World Federation to End World Hunger; Kwame Nkrumah: World Federalism instead of Neo-Colonialism; Hideki Yukawa: World Peace through World Federation; The History of the World Federalist Movement
Section IV: Ways Forward - Debunking the Objections to Global Democracy; Localism or Globalism?; Domesticating the International System; Global Citizenship; From Global Oligarchy to Global Democracy; A World Parliament; Pathways to World Federation
Praise
'A thought-provoking and timely contribution'—Livingstone Sewanyana, UN Independent Rapporteur on the Promotion of an Equitable and Democratic International Order
'This is an exciting book. Highly recommended'—Luis Cabrera, Associate Professor of Political Science, Griffith University, Australia
'A great contribution to world federalist thought and action'—Amy Oloo, Executive Director, World Federalist Movement
'Motivating and inspiring’—Gulnara Shahinian, former UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
'A needed jolt of aspirational idealism, with faith in democratic governance at its heart'—Manu Bhagavan, Professor of History, Human Rights, and Public Policy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center-CUNY
Oded Gilad is the Director of One World: Movement for Global Democracy. From 2014-2020 he was a member of the Council of the World Federalist Movement. He is a regular international speaker and has published several articles on global democracy and world federalism in the Federalist Debate, Eén Wereld, Fédéchoses, and on Open Democracy.
Dena Freeman is the Deputy Director of One World: Movement for Global Democracy and an advisor of Democracy Without Borders. She has published widely on the topics on globalisation, development and democracy and is the author of several books, including most recently Can Globalization Succeed? (2020).
