Exploring Empathy: Its Propagations, Perimeters and Potentialities

Popular interest in empathy has surged in the past two decades. Research on its origins, uses and development is on the rise, and empathy is increasingly referenced across a wide range of sectors - from business to education. While there is widespread consensus about the value of empathy, however, its supposed stable nature and offerings remain insufficiently examined. By critically exploring different perspectives and aspects of empathy in distinct contexts, Exploring Empathy aims to generate deeper reflection about what is at stake in discussions and practices of empathy in the 21st century. Ten contributors representing seven disciplines and five world regions contribute to this dialogical volume about empathy, its offerings, limitations and potentialities for society. By deepening our understanding of empathy in all its complexity, this volume broadens the debate about both the role of empathy in society, and effective ways to invoke it for the benefit of all.

Rebeccah J. Nelems is a Senior Consultant who is conducting her PhD on empathy and youth at the University of Victoria (UVic), Canada. She is a 2015 Trudeau Scholar, and a recipient of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Federation of University Women awards.

LJ (Nic) Theo is the Head of the Film Programme at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa, where he teaches screenwriting and communications science. His work is on narrative architectures in visual and print media, and vocational curriculum design and implementation.