Received September 4, 2019, Accepted for publication October 4, 2019, Published November 12, 2019.
Introduction
The United States finds itself at a crossroads, facing several social problems that require new and urgent responses. Whether it is the threat posed by climate change, growing economic inequality, mass incarceration, persistent racial inequality, the inhumane treatment of immigrants, the gender pay gap, the student loan debt crisis, or any other pressing social issues, the status quo cannot hold for much longer. Young Americans coming of age today seem less inclined to stand for complacency than many of their predecessors, and their futures and the future of our democracy
demand our commitment to bold new approaches.
A number of these topics are central to the work of Lawrence Eppard and Henry Giroux. These themes are front-and-center in America at War with Itself, American Nightmare, and the recently released The Terror of the Unforeseen (all from Henry Giroux), as well as the forthcoming Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality (from Lawrence Eppard, Mark Rank, and Heather Bullock). Additionally, Eppard and Giroux are currently working together on a volume titled On Inequality and Freedom, which explores how a variety of social inequalities
unnecessarily constrain many Americans’ agency and freedom.
Eppard and Giroux recently sat down for a series of discussions that touched on many of the topics above, as well as other vital issues. The following are highlights from those discussions, edited and arranged for this article.
