Beyond the Limits of Modernity Toward Enlivening Futures of Blessed Unrest and Complex Joy

A Review of Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures, Edited by Gabrielle Donnelly and Alfonso Montuori

Abstract

When the world is on fire - from wildfires induced by climate change to bombs fueled by fires of fear of “others” – how dare we dream of flourishing futures for all? As we reflect on the lessons of COVID19 that are indeed still unfolding, how can we spring forward into co-creative, life-affirming futures rather than bouncing back into business as usual? Confronted by apocalyptic atrocities, how can we move beyond the paralysis of [reasonable] despair into active, [unreasonable] hope? Co-creative, enlivening futures are possible, and the Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures (hereafter “Handbook”) equips us with a navigation guide to meet the polycrises of our times with grace, courage, and compassion.

Tenderly curated and edited by Gabrielle Donnelly and Alfonso Montuori, the Handbook assembles over 50 diverse voices across 37 chapters to provide principles, practices and processes that enable co-creative future-shaping. The Handbook asserts that humanity can reimagine “creative futures” beyond the limits of modernity toward futures of collective flourishing through pathways of blessed unrest and complex joy. The Handbook’s voices include “a mix of Indigenous, Black, Asian, and White/Caucasian contributors, including women, men, and trans people from around the world” (2023, p. 5). These contributors ground a diverse array of visions and theories in personal stories, case studies, and pragmatic practices that help readers like me responsibly engage the tensions of these times as we dream and enact alternative, life-affirming visions together, and move from an abstract Age of Enlightenment into an embodied Era of Enlivenment.