From the former faith adviser to President Obama comes an inspirational guide for those who seek to promote positive social change and build a more diverse and just democracy
The goal of social change work is not a more ferocious revolution; it is a more beautiful social order. It is harder to organize a fair trial than it is to fire up a crowd, more challenging to build a good school than it is to tell others they are doing education all wrong. But every decent society requires fair trials and good schools, and that’s just the beginning of the list of institutions and structures that need to be efficiently created and effectively run in large-scale diverse democracy.
We Need to Build is a call to create those institutions and a guide for how to run them well.
In his youth, Eboo Patel was inspired by love-based activists like John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Badshah Khan, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Thich Nhat Hanh. Their example, and a timely challenge to build the change he wanted to see, led to a life engaged in the particulars of building, nourishing, and sustaining an institution that seeks to promote positive social change—Interfaith America. Now, drawing on his twenty years of experience, Patel tells the stories of what he’s learned and how, in the process, he came to construct as much as critique and collaborate more than oppose.
His challenge to us is clear: those of us committed to refounding America as a just and inclusive democracy need to defeat the things we don’t like by building the things we do.
"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
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
- “Perspective: Why diversity work on campus is essential for pluralism — and our democracy,” Deseret News, op-ed
- “We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy,” The Presbyterian Outlook, review
- “Eboo Patel on Why It’s Better to Build Than to Burn It Down,” Matt Lewis and the News podcast, interview
- “What an Overly Pessimistic View of America Gets Wrong,” The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk, interview
- “We Need to Build,” Good Faith, interview
- “We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy,” Spirituality & Practice, review
- “When Privileged Students Protest,” Chronicle of Higher Education, excerpt
- “Eboo Patel: Jane Addams' example shows the way toward creating social change and restoring unity,” Chicago Tribune, op-ed by Eboo Patel
- “A Muslim ‘bridge-builder’ started interfaith work in his basement. Now he has programs on hundreds of campuses.” Chicago Tribune, profile of Eboo Patel
- “Field Notes on How to Build a Diverse Democracy in America,” Literary Hub, Keen On podcast interview with Eboo Patel
- “Building a Diverse Democracy: PW Talks to Eboo Patel,” Publishers Weekly, interview with Eboo Patel
- “Episode 509: The War on Winsomeness & Interfaith Cooperation with Eboo Patel,” Holy Post, podcast interview
- “What I Want My Kids to Learn About American Racism,” The New York Times, opinion piece
- “Building a Diverse Democracy: PW Talks to Eboo Patel,” Publishers Weekly, Q&A
- “The Next Big Idea Club’s Season 18 Nominees (Part Two),” Next Big Ideas Book Club, book nominated for season 18
- “Vaccinated Americans say they’re angry at those who refuse to get a shot, survey says,” NPR/Morning Edition, roundtable interview