Celebrating art and performance as practices capable of addressing social challenges is what Doris Sommer proposes in this book. To refresh the humanities' commitment to the world beyond the classroom, throughout the chapters she offers samples of reformist projects that inspire faith in what is possible because they achieve goals that would have been unattainable without art. The cases include top-down initiatives - such as those of Antanas Mockus, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, and bottom-up movements such as the Oppressed Theater created by Brazil's Augusto Boal. Likewise, Sommer's own initiative, Pre-Textos, is a literacy project in areas with few material resources, which relies on popular arts to interpret any text; in this way he develops both intellectual and civic skills.
With the slogan 'we are all cultural agents', "Art works in the world" demonstrates the urgent relevance of the aesthetic education proposed by Friedrich Schiller to avoid violence and achieve enlightenment. Sommer's book is a call to action and an invitation to play.