In Crisis, On Crisis: Essays in Troubled Times

In 2022, the Collins Dictionary announced that its word of the year was “permacrisis,” which it defined as “an extended period of instability and insecurity, especially one resulting from a series of catastrophic events.” Have we reached a breaking point, arrived at the moment of truth? If so, what now? If not, why do so many people say we’re living through a period of unprecedented crises? Drawing on social research, pop culture and literature, as well as his experience as an activist, father and teacher, James Cairns explores the ecological crisis, Trump’s return to power amid the so-called crisis of democracy, his own struggle with addiction and other moments of truth facing us today. In a series of insightful essays that move deftly between personal, theoretical and historical approaches he considers not only what makes something a crisis, but also how to navigate the effect of these destabilizing times on ourselves, on our families and on the world.

About the Author :
James Cairns lives with his family in Paris, Ontario, on territory that the Haldimand Treaty of 1784 recognizes as belonging to the Six Nations of the Grand River in perpetuity. He is a professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies, Law and Social Justice at Wilfrid Laurier University, where his courses and research focus on political theory and social movements. James is a staff writer at the Hamilton Review of Books, and the community relations director for the Paris-based Riverside Reading Series. James has published three books with the University of Toronto Press, most recently, The Myth of the Age of Entitlement: Millennials, Austerity, and Hope (2017), as well as numerous essays in periodicals such as Canadian Notes & Queries, the Montreal Review of Books, Briarpatch, TOPIA, Rethinking Marxism, and the Journal of Canadian Studies. James’ essay “My Struggle and My Struggle,” originally published in CNQ, appeared in Biblioasis’ Best Canadian Essays, 2025 anthology.

Review :
"The Myth of the Age of Entitlement helps to puncture the invented entitled status that has been foisted onto millennials and provides an array of examples where millennials are bucking this myth, demanding their democratic entitlements, and telling the Margaret Wentes of the world to STFU (an acronym that Cairns also helpfully spells out on page 133)." - Nora Loreto - Briarpatch "[The Myth of the Age of Entitlement] is interesting reading for scholars and students in the social sciences and for people who are interested in culturally perpetrated inequality and the consequences of neoliberalism." - Contemporary Sociology A "refined, timely, well-documented yet easy-to-read book. Its vivid descriptions and inspiring stories should be of interest to scholars and the general public alike. . . . [The Myth of the Age of Entitlement is] for anyone desiring an equal and just society." - Wei-Fei Chen - Journal of Consumer Culture