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We Need to Build by Eboo Patel
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We Need to Build

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We Need to Build by Eboo Patel
Paperback $18.95
May 09, 2023 | ISBN 9780807008232

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    May 09, 2023 | ISBN 9780807008232

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Praise

“A centrist call to actively build—rather than passively critique—civic institutions.”
Kirkus Reviews

“Patel wants to build, and help others build, institutions to do all of this good work. He wants to inspire and train new civic leaders who nurture pluralism and community that is welcoming.”
—Jon W. McSweeney, Spirituality & Practice

“Revelatory and profoundly timely! This is the essential handbook for every activist ready to move from resisting injustice to rebuilding a world of justice. A legendary builder and visionary teacher, Eboo Patel gives us the blueprint for how to build institutions that will birth the beloved community.”
—Valarie Kaur, author of See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love

“Eboo Patel is one of America’s most visionary civic leaders and one of our most vital bridge builders. We Need to Build is both a blueprint and a guidebook for an inclusive twenty-first-century democracy. Read this book!”
—Van Jones, author of Beyond the Messy Truth

“In this moment in civic life, we need institutional leaders who can absorb radical critiques—and radical critics who can build institutions. Eboo Patel is both, and he has the self-awareness and standing to send both messages to both parties. This bracing, necessary book is a guide for deep civic renewal.”
—Eric Liu, CEO, Citizen University

“Eboo Patel holds a singular place in American life and thought. His expertise on the pluralistic religious reality of twenty-first-century life has influenced virtually every major field—from education to the workplace to political policy and culture. We Need to Build comes at precisely the right moment to become a key handbook for navigating the transformative healing—the building—that our world of fracture and disarray so urgently demands.”
—Krista Tippett, author of Being Wise and host of On Being

“Eboo Patel has long served as one of America’s most trusted and impactful leaders for religious pluralism. In his latest book, We Need to Build, Patel provides an invaluable and must-read road map filled with practical wisdom and timely prescriptions to help all of us better build the thriving organizations and communities and healthy democracy we so desperately need.”
—Rev. Adam Taylor, president of Sojourners and author of A More Perfect Union

“In fractious times, Eboo Patel draws on the lessons he’s gleaned from his own inspiring journey to offer us the thing we need most—a credible path to hope and reconciliation.”
—David Axelrod, author of Believer: My Forty Years in Politics

Table Of Contents

Introduction

SECTION ONE: CRITICS AND BUILDERS

CHAPTER ONE
Critic: A Personal Journey

CHAPTER TWO
Builder, Creating Interfaith America

CHAPTER THREE
Jen Bailey, Critic and Builder

CHAPTER FOUR
Campus as Crucible

SECTION TWO: THE GOOD SOCIETY

CHAPTER FIVE
America, the People’s Potluck

CHAPTER SIX
The Obama Story, the Trump Story

CHAPTER SEVEN
The Genius of Religious Institutions

SECTION THREE: CONSIDERATIONS AND CAUTIONS

CHAPTER EIGHT
The Challenge of Being in Charge

CHAPTER NINE
Align the Substantive and the Symbolic

CHAPTER TEN
Be Guided by a Vision For, Not an Anger Against

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Embrace Diversity, Including the Differences You Don’t Like

CHAPTER TWELVE
Embrace the Multiple Languages of Social Change

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Be Careful Turning Identity Categories into Ideological Categories

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Seek Solutions, Then Seek Scale

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Welcome All Allies

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Persuade Your Opponents

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Consider Constructive Engagement Before You Cancel

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Stand on the Balcony and Think of a Hedgehog

CHAPTER NINETEEN
Appreciate the History of Your Movement, Then Extend It

CHAPTER TWENTY
Be Cautious About Becoming a Symbol

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Be Cautious About Making Generalizations and Speaking for Others

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Be Cautious of the Single Story

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Be Cautious About the False Social Map

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Be Cautious When Accusing Others

CONCLUSION
A Letter to My Sons, Future Builders of Diverse Democracy

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

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