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The Blurb On The Back:
Liberals blame the global retreat of liberal democracy on globalisation and authoritarian leaders. Only liberals, so they assume, can defend democratic rule against multinationals or populists at home and abroad. In this provocative book, Adrian Pabst contends that liberal democracy is illiberal and undemocratic - intolerant about the values of ordinary people while concentrating power and wealth in the hands of unaccountable elites.
Under the influence of contemporary liberalism, democracy is sliding into oligarchy, demagogy and anarchy. Liberals, far from defending open markets and free speech, promote monopolies such as the new tech giants that undermine competition and democratic debate. Liberal individualism has eroded the social bonds and civic duties on which democracy depends for trust and cooperation. To bank liberal democracy’s demons, Pabst proposed radical ideas for economic democracy, a politics of persuasion and a better balance of personal freedom with social solidarity.
This book’s defence of democratic politics against both liberals and populists will speak to all readers trying to understand out age of upheaval.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Adrian Pabst is a Reader in Politics at the University of Kent and a leading thinker in the ‘Blue Labour’ movement. In this disappointing polemic that relies on straw man arguments, generalisations and doesn’t define what he means by “liberal democracy”, he parrots the known arguments about the rise of populism and the disconnect between voters and politicians and offers a “solution” of return to grassroots mutualism that no one is asking for.
THE DEMONS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY was released in the United Kingdom on 1st March 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Liberals blame the global retreat of liberal democracy on globalisation and authoritarian leaders. Only liberals, so they assume, can defend democratic rule against multinationals or populists at home and abroad. In this provocative book, Adrian Pabst contends that liberal democracy is illiberal and undemocratic - intolerant about the values of ordinary people while concentrating power and wealth in the hands of unaccountable elites.
Under the influence of contemporary liberalism, democracy is sliding into oligarchy, demagogy and anarchy. Liberals, far from defending open markets and free speech, promote monopolies such as the new tech giants that undermine competition and democratic debate. Liberal individualism has eroded the social bonds and civic duties on which democracy depends for trust and cooperation. To bank liberal democracy’s demons, Pabst proposed radical ideas for economic democracy, a politics of persuasion and a better balance of personal freedom with social solidarity.
This book’s defence of democratic politics against both liberals and populists will speak to all readers trying to understand out age of upheaval.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Adrian Pabst is a Reader in Politics at the University of Kent and a leading thinker in the ‘Blue Labour’ movement. In this disappointing polemic that relies on straw man arguments, generalisations and doesn’t define what he means by “liberal democracy”, he parrots the known arguments about the rise of populism and the disconnect between voters and politicians and offers a “solution” of return to grassroots mutualism that no one is asking for.
THE DEMONS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY was released in the United Kingdom on 1st March 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
