Imagining and Realizing New Futures

Reflections on Ruha Benjamin's book "Imagination: A Manifesto"

Today, for my first paywalled post, I want to delve into the intersections between imagination, innovation, and social equity, drawing particular inspiration from Ruha Benjamin’s excellent book Imagination: A Manifesto. Envisioning a better Canada will require not only new ideas but also a critical examination of who gets to imagine and the power dynamics that shape those visions. It also requires collective action and the building of connections and institutions that can translate imagined futures into tangible realities.

I have frequently argued that we need a more expansive and inclusive vision of what Canada should look like in the future. Not least was my three-part series on “An Agenda for an Inclusive and Innovative Canada,” though I’ve frequently made variations of the same argument elsewhere.

I also believe that we’re in a time of profound change — where the paradigms that have guided politics and policy for the last thirty or so years are fracturing in front of us. Trump and the decline of the United States into authoritarianism, with all that means for our relationship with them, is obviously a major accelerant of that process. But it was true even before him. As I wrote back in October, our pro-market, small-state economic model, which has guided so much of our policy thinking, has been coming under greater scrutiny, reflecting both “a greater awareness of the inherent failings of that model” and that “this hands-off approach is insufficient to tackle the complex, interlinked challenges we face.”

Emerging from this situation into a better future will require some new approaches. Storytelling and narratives are a key part of this. But even before that, we need to imagine those new stories to tell.

That brings me to Ruha Benjamin’s book Imagination: A Manifesto.