Talk on The Politics of Love

Philip McKibbin is an advocate and campaigner for bringing the values of love into politics. In The Politics of Love, Philip McKibbin courageously proposes that we co-create a more compassionate world, which seems to me to be an incredibly brave thing to do – especially in the current local, national and international political conditions. HOT’s Zelly Restorick writes.

Please join local vegan advocate, Kim Stallwood, for a free talk about The Politics of Love with Philip McKibbin at the Hastings Bookshop on Tuesday, June 20, at 6pm. Philip is a long-standing vegan animal rights activist and PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, Australia.

In the chapters of The Politics of Love, McKibbin, the values of love are clear: care, concern, compassion, listening, trust, collaboration, kindness, creativity, generosity, warmth, commitment, individual and collective responsibility, honesty, forgiveness, courage, respect, fairness, humility, moral equality, mutuality and understanding…  

An evolving list.

His vision is for ‘an actively inclusive framework… a round space with love at its centre’ for humans, non-humans and our shared planet.

“Anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-speciesist – and opposed to all forms of domination.”

“An ethical framework as well as a political approach.”

This love “extends inwards and outwards… an ethic that we can embody as individuals and as communities”.

Love is global

Loving values are found all over the world.

Within the human populations and also the non-human.

A global phenomenon.

Survival of the fittest? Or the supported?

For me, the theory of survival of the fittest, the strongest, is only one hypothesis. Not ‘THE Hypothesis of Survival’. From my understanding of Darwin, this wasn’t even his own scientific conclusion.

A friend, Philip, told me recently about the co-supporting world of lichen, trees and plants… not dog eat dog – and we must bear in mind that these species have been around a whole lot longer than us – have survived every mass extinction to be living today. As have we.

Maybe we could learn a lot from them?

The power of love

Love isn’t a weakness. Rather: immensely, deeply powerful.

I don’t underestimate the power of love. Do you?

Imagine what embodied living love does – around the world.

In Hastings and St Leonards, I am very aware of the HUGE amount of care, time, commitment and energy that keeps our towns’ heads above the water, fuelled by people loving and caring enough to do something.

Take love out of our human equation and our eco-systems – and ask yourself: what would we be left with?

“We should also recognise the importance of individuals standing-up – alone if necessary – for what is right – and working in good faith to make our world a better place , especially when it seems that not enough people are.”

* * *

Philip McKibbin is a writer from Aotearoa New Zealand. He is of Pākehā (New Zealand European) and Māori (Ngāi Tahu) descent. He has written for the Guardian, Renegade Inc, and Takahē. He holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from The University of Auckland, and a Diploma in Te Pīnakitanga ki te Reo Kairangi (Māori Language Excellence) from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. He first wrote about the Politics of Love in 2015, with his friend and fellow New Zealander Max Harris. In 2018, they hosted “The Politics of Love: A Conference” at All Souls College, Oxford. His book Love Notes: for a Politics of Love is published by Lantern Books, in New York. (Good Reads)

 

Also in: Literature

« VG Lee provides appetiser for Hastings Book Festival
Radical Chains: Why Class Matters »