Many feel we are at a moment in history where we must choose between the survival of Exxon or the survival of humanity. Climate activist and professor Cynthia Kaufman has responded to help us in our struggle for climate justice in a sustainable world. Her new book The Sea is Rising and So Are We: A Climate Justice Handbook is an invitation to get involved in the movement to build a just and sustainable world in the face of the most urgent challenge our species has ever faced. By explaining the entrenched forces that are preventing rapid action, she helps us understand the nature of the political reality we are facing and arms us with the tools needed to overcome them. We have to challenge the entrenched power of the fossil fuel industry and agribusiness if we are to have any hope of arresting the crisis we face. We need to build a movement that can hold accountable centers of power be they corporate, governmental or financial. For that we need to become engaged citizens acting together. Individualized actions as consumers will not be adequate to bring policy changes.
Besides her latest book, The Sea is Rising and So Are We, Cynthia Kaufman has also written Challenging Power: Democracy and Accountability in a Fractured World. Earlier she has published Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope and Ideas for Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change. As a social change activist, she enjoys an ideal academic position. She is the director of the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action at De Anza College.