Power and Love

Power and Love

A Theory and Practice of Social Change

A new book about the work of Reos Partners, written by Adam Kahane with drawings by Jeff Barnum.

Why do some groups of people manage to solve complex problems, while others stumble or fall? The two methods most frequently employed to solve our toughest social problems—either relying on violence and aggression, or submitting to endless negotiation and compromise—are fundamentally flawed. This is because the seemingly contradictory drives behind these approaches—power, the desire to achieve one's purpose, and love, the urge to unite with others—are actually complementary. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, "Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic." But how do you combine them?

For the last twenty years Adam and his colleagues have worked around the world on many tough and vital challenges: food security, health care, economic development, judicial reform, peace making, climate change. In this extraordinary book he draws on this experience to delve deeply in the dual natures of both power and love, exploring their subtle and intricate interplay. With disarming honesty Adam relates how, through trial and error, he has learned to balance them, and offers practical guidance for how others can learn that balance as well.

Power and Love has been praised by leading social change practitioners and scholars from around the world. Testimonials »