This book asks what it takes for people to encounter one another ethically when practices, worldviews and imaginations clash. It engages over 40 contributors across geographies, disciplines, art forms and practices in a conversation that touches on topics ranging from the climate catastrophe to the disintegration of the welfare state and the erasure of certain bodies from public spaces. It is concerned with how these 'big' questions play out in 'small' everyday encounters in classrooms, rehearsal rooms, arts projects, charity events or city markets. The book's polyphonic text does not present answers to its central questions in the way a typical research publication might do. Instead, it creates a flow and invites the reader to join a conversation. By refusing to deliver an argument, the book opens new possibilities for relating to others in the academy and arts.

Maggie Kubanyiova is Professor of Language Education at the University of Leeds, UK, where she is Director of the Centre for Language Education Research. Her research interests cut across sociolinguistics, education and arts. She led an Arts and Humanities Research Council project, Ethics and Aesthetics of Encountering the Other (ETHER), one of the outcomes of which is this book.

Parinita Shetty is a postdoctoral researcher, public library assistant and children's book writer. She is interested in exploring online fan communities of popular media, children's literature, critical literacies, fan podcasts, public pedagogy and intersectionality. She is passionate about including diverse voices in academic and cultural spaces, and finding creative ways to make knowledge accessible to diverse audiences.