It will come as little surprise to you that we are not publishers of political tracts. Yet, in this era of polarization, in the U.S. we approach a fraught election season and across the world we are seeing shifts across the political spectrum that are characterized by visions of the past, present, and future which can be deeply concerning, depart from objective truth, and whose motivations and goals are often murky. In many ways these political crises we see around us are rooted in a collective spiritual crisis, and this is very much in the center of our publishing wheelhouse.

With this in mind, we wanted to share two relatively recent and vitally important books that have a lot to say about present visions of leadership and a realignment of our societies that serve as models to appreciate, reflect on, and explore. Neither are political treatises per se. Yet they both point to a way forward for all of us that is positive and hopeful.

Politics and Conscience: Dag Hammarskjöld on the Art of Ethical Leadership

The first is a profile of what true leadership, shorn of self-serving ideology, can be.  In Politics and Conscience: Dag Hammarskjöld on the Art of Ethical Leadership, Roger Lipsey has provided us with an example of true leadership based on the life and work of this pivotal figure who, with grace and poise, led the United Nations as Secretary General during the incredible polarization of the post-war era.

As readers of his now-classic diary, Markings, are aware, Hammarskjöld understood political leadership as an honor calling for resourcefulness, humility, moral clarity, and spiritual reflection.

In this accessible handbook, acclaimed biographer Roger Lipsey details the political and personal code by which Hammarskjöld lived and made critical decisions. What emerges is the portrait of a man who struck a remarkable balance between patience and action, empathy and reserve, policy and people. Structured through short sections on themes such as courage, facing facts, and negotiation, Politics and Conscience offers a vision of ethical leadership as relevant today as it was in Hammarskjöld’s time.

As the author writes,

“Hammarskjöld was a breakthrough. His thought and conduct in office represented a profound and needed renewal. He was an example for all who care for enlightened, courageous politics in the public interest. There is so much to understand from him. But he need not be taken as a model. There is a difference between appreciation and imitation. Appreciation leads one to find one’s own, to honor the example without undertaking the impossible and needless task of being and doing as he or she was and did. The classic question still asked by some at the UN — What would Dag do? — is an invitation to reflect, not to imitate.”

Trump and a Post-Truth World

The second is Trump and a Post-Truth World by Ken Wilber.  This is not a post-mortem on the years since Trump came on the scene.  Rather, it is a short but incredibly incisive analysis of where our society has backslid in our evolution.  As Wilber writes,

“if we are going to come anywhere close to ending the di­sasters of . . . a society defined by its culture wars . . . a society of ethno­centric enthusiasms claiming ultimate value, a culture wracked by indecision anchored in post-truth confusion, a society where fully half of its members hate the other half—then we are going to have to move from a culture of no-truth to a . . . deliberately developmental culture.”

It is this developmental culture and how each of us can contribute to building it within our communities and society that this book describes in rich detail.

We hope both of these books inspire you.

More Books for an Era of Polarization