We live in an era of unprecedented interconnection and complexity. An era with the potential to unleash creativity and positive change on a scale never before seen in the history of our planet, yet also one that presents humanity with extraordinary challenges. Challenges which can only be transformed and transcended with the full force of our collective intelligence. The time for heroes and saviours is over, this is a job for all of us.

Yet our current modes of political, social and economic organisation are too slow, too centralised, too exclusionary and too rigid to keep pace, and their antiquated attempts to keep things in order are merely fuelling the chaos outside of the palace gates. With cries of discontent growing louder and spilling out onto the streets, many are left asking; how can we gain control of this runaway world? Democracy, it is said, is in crisis. 

In search of a new meaning for collective governance and the nature of power in the contemporary world, this series of written articles, photo essays and short videos – culminating in a book – tells the stories of those communities already going beyond protest to re-imagine the future of collaborative decision-making and citizen emancipation. 

From migrant squats in Rome to radical communes in Syria, hunter gatherers in the Kalahari, women’s farming collectives in India, indigenous Amazonian shamans and blockchain hacktivists in Taiwan, the journey takes us across continents to engage with the past, present and future of one of the most pressing issues of our time – the next evolution of democracy.