Empathy
Raoul Martinez
Available as eBook
Power, control and the fight for our future: in this sample chapter from Creating Freedom, Martinez argues the case for compassion as a revolutionary act
Our society functions by separating us from each other: almost as soon as we’re born, we are taught to divide people into groups and see some as more deserving (and more human) than others. Everything from massive inequality to war depends on this process of categorisation and dehumanisation.
In this provocative, inspiring piece of writing, Raoul Martinez asks how and why our empathy is controlled, and argues for a very different world - one of deeper understanding and indiscriminate compassion.
Raoul Martinez is the author of Creating Freedom, from which Empathy is extracted.
“Exceptional … This year’s essential text for thinking radicals”
guardian
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“If you believe you are free, think again. Strong arguments … epic in scope … [A] manifesto… . to enlighten citizens stuck in an illusion of democracy”
financial Times
“Martinez speaks for a generation living through a profound mismatch between their aspirations for freedom and creativity and the thudding conformity a society, driven by the market, demands”
Paul Mason
“Comes the moment; comes the book. A ‘manifesto for real and radical change’. This is a brilliant and timely analysis of our political landscape and the ideals which should inform how we reshape the world”
Helena Kennedy Qc
“Thought-provoking … sound and persuasive … Eminently readable with a an elegance of style not often found in theoretical works. It is no less than a rallying cry to take back the substance rather than the illusions of our freedoms”
new Internationalist
Raoul Martinez
Raoul Martinez is a philosopher, artist, and award-winning filmmaker. Creating Freedom is his first book. It is informed by over a decade of research and is accompanied by a documentary series of the same name. Episode One, The Lottery of Birth - produced, written and co-directed by Raoul - premiered in 2012. It was nominated for Best Documentary at London’s Raindance Film Festival and went on to win the Artivist Spirit 2012 Award at Hollywood’s Artivist Festival. It has been translated into several languages and the second film is currently in production. Raoul lives and works in London, where his paintings have been selected for exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery. www.creatingfreedom.info
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