A deep read into the history of the classically liberal Economist, the book under review shows a magazine fronting for empire building, militarism and the triumph of finance capital.
With its elite decision-makers and opinion-formers—and over 1.5 million copies sold per week—The Economist has exerted tremendous influence on popular liberal discourse for more than a century. The book author finds its reputation undeserved.
Charting worldwide disaffection with liberal democracy, the book is a deep dive into Trumpism, Macronism, Brexit and question marks over the European Union, as well as mass movements weary of voting corrupt politicos in and out of office.
This book, writes reviewer Tebble, "not only gives an account of the different meanings that have been ascribed to liberalism and evoked in its uses." It also "recovers some of those meanings that have been eclipsed, distorted and eroded."
Tracing the history of an idea, the author charts liberalism’s two century Jekyll and Hyde existence as a credo on freedom and an ill-fitting defender of mass democracy.
The author of this book, writes reviewer Quish, "makes a powerful case for a 'socialist constitutionalism' that deserves a place in contemporary debates on the Left."
Reader Comments: 2018 Elections, Winning Red States, Socialism and Liberal Politics; Space Force?; Asbestos: Killer Embraced by Trump; Announcements M4BL Author's Webinar; Defeat Kavanaugh Rallies; Socialists and the 2018 Elections Webinar; more...
How do socialist demands become liberal common sense? The history of the New Deal offers a useful lesson. It had a recognition that a good society rests on a sense of mutuality, reciprocity, and community spoke to what was wrong with a market society
What we need is a form of political leadership that frees democracy from liberalism through supporting citizens in asserting their popular sovereignty over the conditions of material daily life by getting organised as workers, as hospital users, as teachers, as students, as parents – and as citizens capable of mutual self-government.
What an impoverished small town tells us about the dangers of not taking class seriously.
Spread the word