Remaking Democracy: How We Make the Worlds We Want

FORTHCOMING, SHIPS MARCH 2026

Danielle Chynoweth & Elizabeth Adams

Remaking Democracy: How We Make The Worlds We Want Remaking Democracy: How We Make The Worlds We Want
Remaking Democracy: How We Make The Worlds We Want
$20.00

How can we empower ourselves and our communities to make lasting social change?

Every moment in history is a defining one; every crisis is an opportunity. Today, we are at a watershed moment of rising fascism and rising seas: our institutions are failing, a pandemic ravages our neighbors, and the natural world is caught in a climatological freefall. At the same time, our ability to connect and collaborate has never been greater. 

In Remaking Democracy, authors and activists Danielle Chynoweth and Elizabeth Adams offer theoretical frameworks to help analyze problems, understand how our systems of governance really work, and establish a process of sustainable and lasting change. This accessible and practical resource offers case studies alongside a design toolkit to advance readers’ participation and empower us and our communities to make lasting social change at this crucial historic moment. 


PRODUCT DETAILS

Author: Danielle Chynoweth & Elizabeth Adams
Publisher: Common Notions
ISBN: 9781945335518
Published: March 3, 2026
Format: Paperback
Size: 6.0 in X 9.0 in
Page count: 208
Subjects: Political Science / Political Ideologies / Democracy


About THE AUTHOR

Danielle Chynoweth is a leader in the Media Justice and Housing Rights movements. She was the Organizing Director for Media Justice and cofounded the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center. She teaches social change at the University of Illinois, the School for Designing a Society, and internationally.

Elizabeth Adams, PhD, is a composer, teacher, and caregiver who has worked at the intersection of art, education, and organizing for over twenty years. She has taught at Columbia University and the School for Designing a Society. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface: Dr. Safiya Noble

Introduction

1.    What Time is it on the Clock of the World? Living in Contradiction
2.    How to Make Change in Systems: The Spiral of Change
3.    Champaign Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice: Organizing Against Racialized Police Violence

Part I
4    Movements Begin with the Telling of Untold Stories
5.    Gather to Share Stories
6.    As violence is done to me, so violence is done to them
7.    What’s Your Problem?
8.    Formulating Problems and Looking Systems Together
9.    Campaign for Prison Phone Justice: Storytelling to Confront Mass Incarceration (Case Study)

Part II
10.  Desire as Orientation: New Criteria for New Societies
11.  Making Desire Statements
12.  School for Designing a Society: Experiments in Education & Art (Case Study) 

Part IV
16.  Designing Care for a Loved One (Case Study)
17.  Beginning to Design: Essential Tools
18.  Design Principles
19.  Additional Design Tools
20.  Designing Health Care Systems Intensives (Case Study)

Part V
21.  The World is Always Being Made: Reflect, Learn, Revise, Repeat
22.  Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center (Case Study)

23.  When Your Project is a… work of art and other domains

Afterward: Further Provocation