Shared Power, Shared Futures: Global Practices for Societal Resilience

Humanity is entering an age of accelerating, overlapping crises: climate shocks, democratic erosion, conflict and violence, large-scale migration, public health emergencies, technological disruption and deepening social fragmentation. These pressures increasingly interact, reshaping governance, trust and institutional stability across societies worldwide. At the same time, institutions and communities across regions have developed concrete, often under-documented practices that have allowed them to recover, adapt and rebuild after rupture. Societal resilience, as the capacity of societies to adapt and recover in the face of disturbances and rupture, is actively built through these practices.

Documenting how such practices can and have been implemented through distributed forms of power (rather than authoritative measures) can help illuminate pathways toward more democratic, legitimate and sustainable futures. By doing so, we aim to explore both the potential and the limitations of concrete power-sharing practices to allow societies to adapt to changing conditions.

This webinar convenes scholars, practitioners, policymakers and innovators to explore what works when societies face breakdown, with a focus on identifying practices, ideas, and institutional arrangements—particularly power-sharing arrangements—that support long-term resilience. Rather than advancing a single solution or sectoral approach, the event is designed as a space for comparative learning across domains and contexts.

About the Panelists

• Danielle Allen (keynote and moderator), James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, Harvard University and author of “Justice by Means of Democracy”
• Valeriya Ionan, advisor to the minister of defense of Ukraine and to the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and former deputy minister of digital transformation of Ukraine (2019–2025)
• Adam Kahane, co-founder of Reos Partners and author of “Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don’t Agree with or Like or Trust”
• Fathali Moghaddam, professor in the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University and author of “Threat to Democracy: The Appeal of Authoritarianism in an Age of Uncertainty”
• Paulius Yamin, policy fellow at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, Harvard University, former scientific director of the Paris Institute for Advanced Study and former managing director of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics

Event Details

This is an online event. Registration is required.

The Ash Center encourages individuals with disabilities to participate in its events. Should you wish to inquire about accommodations, please contact the events team in advance.

For additional information, please contact: pyamin@hks.harvard.edu

Organized by the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School