A Guidebook of Alternative Nows

Imagining other versions of now can be difficult without concrete examples, and where can they be found when so many signs tell us that the world is spiraling downward: more and more economically unsound, environmentally crisis-ridden, and lacking in obvious avenues for everyday people to make their voices and visions heard.With particular fervor since the global financial crisis erupted in 2007, however, creative movers and shakers, with stars in their eyes and dirt under their fingernails, have been dreaming up projects and ideas in the areas of ecologies, economies, communities, histories, spaces, and resources. These propositions range from witty to earnest, from utopian to pragmatic. Bursting with street-smart optimism, what they share is belief in the possibility of creating versions of now not yet fully manifest. A Guidebook of Alternative Nows is composed of a collection of these projects and ideas; flares of inspiration with clear practical resonance in this time of potential radical transformation.A Guidebook of Alternative Nows is not intended to pinpoint the next big solution. Instead, it seeks to shed light on a cacophony of potentialities and realities, all of which may compose a part of our nows and our futures.