Dr Carolyn Pedwell discusses the nature of empathy as a modern-day cure for all problems. She asks if being able to see from another’s perspective actually opens up communication and dialogue, or whether it works paradoxically to highlight and enforce the divide. Concluding that empathy is ambivalent and fallible, Dr Pedwell summarises that ‘in a world where hope and opportunity are distributed unequally, we need to ask what kind of connections we want’. Read the full article ‘Is our culture of empathy perpetuating inequality?’ online.
Dr Pedwell is the author of Affective Relations: The Transnational Politics of Empathy (Palgrave: 2014).