Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is pleased to announce the publication of Beyond Individualism: The Challenge of Inclusive Communities by Carnegie Council Senior Fellow George Rupp.
In many places around the world, relations between ethnic and religious groups that for long periods coexisted more or less amicably are now fraught with aggression and violence. This trend has profound international implications, threatening efforts to narrow the gap between rich and poor. Underscoring the need for sustained action, George Rupp urges the secular West to reckon with the continuing power of religious conviction and embrace the full extent of the world's diversity.
While individualism is a powerful force in Western cultures and a cornerstone of Western foreign policy, it elicits strong resistance in traditional communities. Drawing on decades of research and experience, Rupp pushes modern individualism beyond its foundational beliefs to recognize the place of communal practice in our world. Affirming the value of communities and the productive role religion plays in many lives, he advocates new solutions to such global challenges as conflicts in the developing world, income inequality, climate change, and mass migration.
Beyond Individualism: The Challenge of Inclusive Communities is published by Columbia University Press.
"George Rupp's vision comes in the nick of time for a world crowded with competing cultures," says Scott Pelley, anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News. "His philosophical scholarship combines with hard experience as an international humanitarian to reveal how our differences can be our salvation on a path to a just and inclusive future."
Carnegie Council Senior Fellow George Rupp has served as dean of Harvard Divinity School and as president of Rice University, Columbia University, and the International Rescue Committee. As an activist and educator, he is committed to shaping fair institutions and building inclusive communities in both the developed and the developing worlds. His articles have appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he is the author of five books, most recently Globalization Challenged: Conviction, Conflict, Community.
