The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren’t Enough

The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren’t Enough

by Alex Evans (Author)

Synopsis

Once upon a time our society was rich in stories. They united us and helped us to understand the world and ourselves. We called them myths. Today, we have a myth gap. Does that matter? Alex Evans argues powerfully and persuasively that it does. In this time of global crisis and transition - mass migration, inequality, resource scarcity, and climate change - it is only by finding new myths, those that speak to us of renewal and restoration, that we will navigate our way to a better future. It is stories, rather than facts and pie-charts,that have the power to animate us and bring us together in to change the world. Drawing on his first-hand experience as a political adviser within British government and at the United Nations, and examining the history of climate change campaigning and recent contests such as Brexit and the US presidential election, Alex Evans explores: how tomorrow's activists are using narratives for change, how modern stories have been used and abused, where we might find the right myths that will take us from a dark age of uncertainty towards the broad, sunlit uplands that we all seek.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 176
Edition: UK ed.
Publisher: Eden Project Books
Published: 12 Jan 2017

ISBN 10: 1909513113
ISBN 13: 9781909513112
Book Overview: FOREWORD BY TIM SMIT. A brilliant analysis of how it is stories, rather than facts and pie-charts, that have the power to animate us and bring us together to tackle the major issues of our time- climate change, mass migration, inequality and resource scarcity.

Media Reviews
Very short, very sharp -- Bruce Clark * Economist *
Pertinent... Evans is an attractive and persuasive writer ... his book will strike many chords' -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *
An important book about the need to bring inspiring narratives back to the heart of progressive politics ... This has traction because it has truth, literally as well as metaphorically. * New Scientist *
A really fascinating contribution to answering the question: how do we find new myths to live by. -- Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury
Everyone should read this. * Tim Smit *
Author Bio
Alex Evans is a Senior Fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation (CIC), with nearly twenty years' experience in climate and development policy. He is currently on secondment to the Business Commission on Sustainable Development as its Research Director. Alex has worked as Special Adviser to two UK Secretaries of State for International Development (Hilary Benn and Valerie Amos), as an expert on climate change in the UN Secretary-General's office, and with think tanks including Chatham House and the Brookings Institution. He has also worked as a consultant on futures and foreign policy for organizations from Oxfam to the US National Intelligence Council. Alex lives in North Yorkshire and is married with two children.