Harare Review of Books

184 pp. Expected publication date: May 13, 2025 from Haymarket Books. Non-fiction.

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Speaking to activists and changemakers in this forthcoming collection, Solnit’s argument is: The way to the place you want to be isn’t always as clearly marked or straightforward as you may think. Nor does it always end up where you had hoped to get. 

Climate change activism. Feminism. Civil rights. In fighting for change in all of these areas, she says, we must celebrate the small wins along the way, and watch for the unexpected consequences of our work. Otherwise, we may miss all the small ways that change is already happening. Civil rights were not won in a day, or even a year; in fact, many of those battles are still being fought now. Democracy is an ongoing struggle; countries advance, and backslide. Issues may be advanced bit by bit, and in directions unplanned.

Lessons are always being learnt along the way about what works, and what doesn’t. We don’t often have the perspective we need while we’re in the middle of things to work out the possible impact of any action. Sometimes we’re building for a future we may never see; the work must still move forward. Martin Luther King, Solnit says, had not planned to give his famous speech that day; I Have A Dream was improvised. This is the meandering that Solnit argues for: that in the process of moving forward and exploring side paths, being open to what happens at each point, we may reach the goal in unexpected ways.

There is no certainty when we’re fighting for what matters, and despair is not an option. Solnit wants us to take the long view, always. We have a tendency to imagine that the future will be like the present, which is like the past—when all of human history is full of unpredictable turns and huge surprises. Authoritarian regimes, Solnit reminds readers, are often toppled incrementally.

Thanks to Haymarket Books and Edelweiss for an early DRC.

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This review first appeared in The Sunday Long Read, Sunday, May 11, 2025 — Issue #488