Five Manifestos for the Beautiful World

by Cristina Rivera Garza

First published 2025

Five scholars gather at York University in November 2023 to present their blueprints for a transformed world. Dr. Christina Sharpe moderates as each speaker offers their manifesto. Cherokee Nation professor Joseph M. Pierce argues that relationships must replace capital as our organizing principle. Brazilian curator Janaína Oliveira draws on music and movement to show how beauty emerges from stumbling. Kenyan-British artist Phoebe Boswell questions what comes after burning down institutions. MacArthur fellow Saidiya Hartman examines our tolerance for unlivable conditions. Mexican-American author Cristina Rivera Garza explores the subjunctive mood as a tool for imagining futures. Each thinker grapples with how we might carry the weight of change together. Their expanded lectures reveal concrete pathways toward new ways of existing.

Genres: contemporary, non-fiction, activism, academic

Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking

Tropes: concrete-pathways, found-family

Setting: York University, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, United States

Period: 2023

176 pages · Paperback · Duke University Press

More by Cristina Rivera Garza

Readers who liked Five Manifestos for the Beautiful World also liked

View on Siftivo