Antidote to Powerlessness and Cynicism

Ideal Use: Ethics, activism, spirituality, organizing for change, human rights programs

Listen to a New Dimensions Interview

How do we learn to speak out on our deepest beliefs? How do we get our campuses more involved? Speaking with passion and hope, Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time and Generation at the Crossroads: Apathy and Action on the American Campus, explores how ordinary citizens, and students in particular; can make their voices heard and actions count in a time when we’re told neither matter. Challenging images of a generation universally perceived as apathetic and greedy, Loeb explores the struggle of current students to find their voice in a challenging world. He looks at how ordinary citizens, of all ages, learn to take committed stands. He describes how people get involved in larger community issues and what stops them from getting involved; how they burn out in exhaustion or maintain commitment for the long haul; how involvement can give a rare sense of connection and purpose. He challenges us all to help create a better world.

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Paul Rogat Loeb has spent 25 years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment;asking what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain. He has also written two other widely praised books, Nuclear Culture and Hope in Hard Times. An associated scholar at Seattle’s Center for Ethical Leadership, Loeb attended Stanford University and the New School for Social Research. His lectures have earned enthusiastic responses at over 200 colleges and universities;including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, MIT, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Columbia. He’s keynoted numerous conferences like the American College Personnel Association, National Education Association, American Society on Aging, Education Commission of the States, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, an annual conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education, national environmental conferences, and a national summit of college presidents.

Because they offer uniquely intimate perspectives on the fundamental questions of our time, Loeb’s books have been praised, quoted and discussed in the New York Times, Washington Post, London Sunday Times, Newsweek, Time, The Economist, Los Angeles Times, Psychology Today, Mother Jones, Utne Reader, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Atlantic Monthly. Loeb has been featured in over 700 TV and radio interviews, including programs on CNN, PBS, C-Span, National Public Radio, the BBC, the NBC, CBS, and ABC radio networks, “The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw,” and national German, Australian, and Canadian radio.

“Soul of a Citizen helps us find the faith we need to act on our deepest beliefs–and keep on.” -Marian Wright Edelman, president, The Children’s Defense Fund

“Rich, engaging, clearly written. An essential book for anyone who wants to work for change. The book will inspire people new to activism, and deals with cynicism and burnout in a good way for movement veterans. Altogether, a wonderful job, a work that’s rich with specific experience, not abstract theorizing.” –Howard Zinn, author, People’s History of the United States

“I stayed up half the night reading Soul of a Citizen, finding it a beautiful and morally transcendent work that directly to the heart. Paul Loeb is a personal hero of mine. He gives decency and generosity a political character, in the humblest of ways.” -Jonathan Kozol

“Should be mandatory reading for anyone over the age of 12 -especially every woman or man who has traded ‘I give a damn’ for ‘I give up.” -Stephanie Salter, San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle

“Soul of a Citizen helps teach us what to do.” -David Brower, founder, Friends of the Earth

“A highly personable story of integrity and commitment that reminds all of us that we have often-unrealized abilities to live lives worthy of our convictions.” -Steelabor, United Steelworkers

“As he tells the stories of ordinary people who became activists, Loeb examines the stumbling blocks-perceived powerlessness, cynicism, burnout-that keep most Americans from participating in the public sphere, as well as the rewards of following a different path.” -Sierra Club magazine