Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions

Over the last decade, author and activist Astra Taylor has helped shift the national conversation on topics including technology, inequality, indebtedness, and democracy. The essays collected here reveal the range and depth of her thinking, with Taylor tackling the rising popularity of socialism, the problem of automation, the politics of listening, the possibility of rights for the natural and non-human world, the future of the university, the temporal challenge of climate catastrophe, and more. Addressing some of the most pressing social problems of our day, Taylor invites us to imagine how things could be different while never losing sight of the strategic question of how change actually happens.

Curious and searching, these historically informed and hopeful essays are as engaging as they are challenging and as urgent as they are timeless. Taylor 's unique philosophical style has a political edge that speaks directly to the growing conviction that a radical transformation of our economy and society is required.

About the Author

Astra Taylor is a documentary filmmaker, writer, and political organizer. She is the director, most recently, of What Is Democracy? and the author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone and the American Book Award winning The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. She is co-founder of the Debt Collective, a union for debtors, and contributed the foreword to the group’s new book, Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition.

What People Are Saying

"Whenever I read Astra Taylor, I never want to stop. Affable and curious, she invites readers with her on a relentless exploration of the most crucial questions facing the left, and really humanity, today. But don’t let the congeniality fool you, Taylor is a radical working to remake our world. She writes for us, the ordinary and hungry public, searching for ideas that make sense of our desires for a better world. Rooted in rigorous study, deep questioning and powerful and persuasive argument, Taylor latest, Remake the World, is further evidence that she is the people’s public intellectual." —Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

"Blending big-picture thinking with the history of the populist struggle in America, this impressive collection makes a strong case that the time for change is now." —Publishers Weekly

"Whether she is writing about gender discrimination in the tech industry, the plight of refugees, or the rights of the natural world, Taylor reveals in her essays a forthright commitment to “the cause of common humanity. [These] stirring essays reveal an intelligent and pragmatic voice for change." —Kirkus

“Astra Taylor weighs in on the legacy of Occupy, the organizing capacity of debt resistance, and our prospects for achieving something resembling democracy…[O]ut of her experiences at Occupy, Taylor recognized a possibility to organize people around indebtedness. To do so is an economic necessity, a means to address inequality and social control. But resisting debt also provides an opportunity to “bridge the personal and political.”…Remake the World is a useful companion for that Left as we organize, listen, and continue to grow.” —Jacobin

"Astra Taylor has been remaking the world with her powerful thought and prophetic action for years. This wide-ranging book is a courageous and visionary embodiment of her deep commitment to fundamental transformation!" —Cornel West


"Astra Taylor's Remake the World is a valuable log of a militant's journey through our troubled times. Beautifully written in a warm, humorous, autobiographical style, it helps us think beyond the classic divisions in the left, while questioning whether anti-capitalists can work within the state without compromising their political integrity and whether reform is always necessarily opposed to revolution. Whatever answer we give to these questions, this is a book we should read." —Silvia Federici

"Astra Taylor’s crystalline writing is on full display in this collection of penetrating and profound essays, curated and necessary for these troubled times." —Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

"Astra Taylor is a rare public intellectual, utterly committed to asking humanity 's most profound questions yet entirely devoid of pretensions and compulsively readable." —Naomi Klein

"Astra Taylor is both a deeply important thinker, and a beautiful writer. She has the rare ability to make connections between subjects that desperately need to be seen as one. Remake the World brilliantly draws upon history to show us how to successfully challenge the present-day forces that have taken a battering ram to democracy. Taylor's work matters so much because she calls us to a bigger vision. Read this book, then take action." —Jane McAlevey

"An essential and inspiring read for anyone trying to organize for a better world." —Peace News

"One of the most incisive thinkers on participatory politics today." —Molly Crabapple