For those monitoring the headlines, the Age of Morality hardly seems a likely title historians will use for the current period. But look closer—in the world’s neighborhood, workplace, or school—and what’s there are countless honest exchanges resting upon mutual trust. “We are all moral code writers,” writes Michael Ignatieff in his new book, The Ordinary Virtues.
Ignatieff, a writer, politician, academic, ex-journalist, and former head of Canada’s Liberal Party, has turned his restless gaze to cities, which he sees as the essential sites of this moral and ethical work. Urbanists talk about vertical policy integration—the way international, national, and local policies interact. Ignatieff, meanwhile, takes on the question of the vertical integration of morality: How do international humanitarian law and universal norms interact with local traditions and codes?
To answer that, Ignatieff embarked on trips to New York, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, and Fukushima—our new moral arenas and stages, he argues. “Moral life in the global city,” he writes, “should be seen as one of the most consequential experiments in mankind’s history.” This experiment is not abstract. It’s a question of jobs and policing, neighborly behavior and basic decency, unlocked doors and six-packs of beer. I spoke with with Ignatieff to learn more. The conversation that follows has been edited for length and clarity.
[For more on this story by IAN KLAUS, go to https://www.theatlantic.com/bu...ic-of-cities/545849/]
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