The second half of Touraine’s new book is his proposal to “think differently” — penser autrement. It is a continuation of an argument he has been developing in a series of books since 1992: that we don’t need faith in either God or Progress, but in ourselves.

I welcome the new responsibilities that accrue with age, and commit myself to trying to fulfill them. [Here’s] …what I will try to do in the next five years. And maybe longer, but let’s just take things one lustrum (5-year period) at a time. (2016.4.3)