You are here: Frontpage > Issues > 2446 >
The world ahead
Fredrico Mayor & Jerome Bride, The World Ahead - Our Future in the Making (Zed Books 2001. ISBN 1 85649 875 1. £16.95; £15 to PN readers mentioning this review.Zed Books, 7 Cynthia Street, London N19JF, Britain (+44 20 7837 4014; http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk))
Reviewed by: VIJAY MEHTA
How can we prepare for the 21st century without considering the four new contracts proposed in The World Ahead?
Mayor and Bride propose a new social contract. It requires that: the third industrial revolution and its accompanying globalisation work in an ethical manner; a new natural contract to coexist with the environment; a new cultural contract, whereby the intangible treasures of cultures will be enhanced and their conviviality promoted; and finally a new ethical contract, without which we shall never vanquish poverty and violence.
This truly remarkable book for the 21st century suggests that we must come up with new global solutions in a world in which problems are taking on increasingly global dimensions, and that we must turn a culture of violence into a culture of peace.
"Expect nothing from the twentyfirst century. It is the twenty-first century that expects everything from you". Gabriel Garcia Marquez.