What Do We Do After the Pandemic?

by Chris Oestereich

We've made a mess of the systems we depend on and can't go on like this. WPC Book #2 asked contributors to survey the landscape and address the systems change they believe would most benefit humanity. Chapters look back on the 'before' and the 'during,' and put forth a mix of concrete and abstract suggestions aimed at pointing us down a better path for the 'after.'

Book #2 from the Wicked Problems Collaborative will challenge you to consider both what's normal and what's possible. It will invite you to think about some of the ways in which we live and the reasons why. It will also invite you to consider what life might be like if we stopped doing destructive things and replaced them with generative practices. In short, it is a hopeful book about, and for, our collective future.

Our lives can be far better than that which we've known, but before we can demand it we have to know what we want. It's time to figure what we want the future to be like and start building it.

Genres: Nonfiction

96 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 4, 2021

About the author

Chris Oestereich is the founder and editor of the Wicked Problems Collaborative, a loose affiliation of thinkers and doers that are tackling some of humanity's biggest issues. He tends to focus on social and environmental issues from a systems-thinking perspective and works to integrate these concerns in his writing and teaching, as well as through the zero waste/circular economy work that he does. Chris is a contributor to a variety publications, and he tends to write about the issues and opportunities central to nudging humanity towards a sustainable future. Chris holds an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Masters in Environmental Management from Harvard University.​ Chris lives with his family in Bangkok, Thailand where he's the Director of Publications for Thammasat University's School of Global Studies.

Reviews

[Ella-Mae Campling · Rating 1 out of 5]

. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I found the concept of this book intriguing and enjoyed the intro as it showed the aims of this book as a positive and bright spot in our current dark non fiction world. I found the multiple authors an interesting idea and wondered if they would work well together and was sad to read them and find many same-ish pieces of the same drivel idea and no grasping moments of urgency. To gain a higher rating? I’d have loved this to have been a real book of how people could use the lessons we’ve “supposedly” learnt from the horrors of COVID 19... not a book that first story is about the “good” of COVID and never mentioning that yes there were bad too. Or more stories like how the “aliens” we were unprepared for was COVID and how that may affect future “terrestrial beings” or unexpected situations. It felt like many people repeating the exact same thought process with different words- and some not using as simplistic language choices as promised in its intro...

[Gus Cochran]

What Do We Do After the Pandemic? is a very brief book that nonetheless packs a lot of punch. With fifteen chapters mostly ranging between five and ten pages long, the collection of authors in this thought collective creatively challenge us to think beyond the immediate inconveniences, frustrations, burdens, harms, and even horrors of the current Covid-19 pandemic and to contemplate what we have learned from this experience and what we could do, indeed what we must do, going forward. The book is full of insights into our information systems, both traditional and social media, our care systems, our economy with its growth imperative and dominance by monopoly, and our ideologies that shape the way we think about social relations and public issues. Most articles are general, aimed at raising fundamental questions and pointing to general directions for change rather than attempting to lay out details of policy or blueprints for strategies. I found them to be unusually perceptive, managing often to present “big picture” global insights and piercing through to the heart of many problems. Although based on sound analysis and grounded in credible scholarly work, the authors present their ideas in concise, clear, and readable prose without the trappings that often accompany rather boring scholarly work. Rather than dwelling on the many fundamental problems laid bare by the current crisis, the emphasis here is on taking stock, using this moment as a time for “sifting,” rethinking where we are and where we might go, including the most basic aspects of our social existence – the social contract and our modes of thinking, valuing, and living. Overall, the slim volume accomplishes what it seeks to do: proposing a set of very thought-provoking ideas for the post-pandemic agenda and leaving the reader with an optimistic sense that things could be different, better.

Gus Cochran, Professor of Political Science, Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

[John Mihelic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like what The Wicked Problems collaborative is doing. They have released a couple books now which are collections of essays about things we should look at about how to fix the cascading crises we have in the world.

What the pandemic has given us is an inflection point which doesn't just allow us to look at the world in a new light, but also as an excuse to change the way we've been doing things. In fact if we don't use these last two years as a way to re-evaluate our entire social, political and economic order it really is a wasted moment. What I worry is that we will have really done nothing. I think we were lucky a year ago that the parties combined to really get money out to certain people and organizations, as if they had actually learned some lessons from 2008. But overall I don't think we've really seen at the very least the Democratic Party internalize the real needs that have been brought out and that are examined in this most recent book.

If there's anything to really criticize about this newest work is that the essays are too short so you really can't explore some of the depth needed. The other thing which is just kind of my pet peeve is that they don't really look at the mechanisms of how to get from here to there. But that is laid out as the goal in the outset. You might be able to say that the essays are a little too utopian, but again that's just kind of a quibble. I would recommend that you run down to your nearest book seller and pick up a copy of “What Do We Do after the Pandemic” and buy a copy for you and all your friends.

[Janalyn Prude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book I hadn’t heard of the wicked problems collective and since I’ve read this I’ve also read another book by them and plan to read many more. However in this book what to do after the pandemic? It talks about how people reacted differently to the coronavirus happening and what we should do now. It also talked about those who really prove their worth during the pandemic from reporters to neighbors and medical professionals. This pandemic really caused a problem for everyone around the world there were some who did the absolute right thing some who did the absolute wrong thing and some who did nothing and I do believe this book covered it all. I really enjoyed this book their solution however outlandish and the solutions that are thawed out and have common sense. They talk about journalist, their propaganda and even how politics played a part. This book was so good and I highly recommend it to anyone. Trust me when I say that if you’re worried about it being all about the medical side of corona don’t, it’s not. Each chapter is a new topic written by a new person whether it be a journalist a medical professional or someone else and even though each chapter is different all very interesting. I am so glad I got this book off of Books sirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Can’t wait to read more from these guys.

[Friscomama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found What Do We Do After the Pandemic? interesting.

The fifteen chapters, from a different authors, and a different writing style, although two were using the word Precarity
It's not in Kindle's New Oxford American Dictionary, or in the Merriam Websters 11th on my computer.
Found in Wikipedia: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precarity" if you want to know.

The ebook file size ‏ : ‎ 2853 KB
Print length ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
15th chapter has a long list of other things to read at the end.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jo Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read from the Wicked Problems Collaborative and it was as thought-provoking as the first. The book is a series of essays by an assortment of writers who posit different post-COVID ideas. Most of us know the current system isn't working for everyone and these people are offering alternatives to the status quo. Some of them are a bit pie-in-the-sky while others are more down-to-earth but, since we know things need to change, why not make big moves?

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the past year, there have been many books and articles reflecting on what could have been done better during the pandemic and while perspective is good, having hope and ideas for how we can do better are also needed. That’s where this book shines.

A series of essays focused on changes that can be made to improve systems, communication, and the world at large. When I first looked at this title, I wasn’t sure it could offer many insights, yet as I read, I found a good starting place for change.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily