Make / Believe: We and They on a Digital Planet

This book illustrates that mediated popular culture and science-based knowledge systems, entangled and compromised as both have become, are still a robust crucible for system change for the future when they combine forces. Planetary crises require responses from everyone. This means that collective action is not simply a scientific or political problem.It is a problem of culture and media. But modern politics, journalism, and science were not designed for global climate action.They’ve divided humans into competitive and often hostile 'we' and 'they' groups.Identity, news, and knowledge are all weaponized. Culture makes groups, groups make knowledge, and knowledge makes enemies.What can be done to prevent global conflict and the drift to war?Make/Believe turns to popular culture and social media to argue for an alternative storyline.While the Great Powers are making new enemies, emergent ‘classes’ - led by children - are using planetary connectivity to make new worlds.A digital planet g