Taking Control!: Humanity and America after Trump and the Pandemic

Description

Last call for humanity? Americans can now secure or destroy the world. From Anthony Barnett, the creator and former editor-in-chief of openDemocracy, comes this blazing response to the confrontation between Trumpism and Biden in America, that sets out how the future of humankind is at stake. On 6 January 2021, Donald Trump tried to seize the US presidency by force. His aim- to consolidate his nativist rule. He was, and still is, supported by tens of millions of Americans. In response, Joe Biden's administration promises a massive economic shift while a decisive contest unfolds over voter suppression. This contest is of epochal importance. As the future of humankind passes through the prism of the most powerful country in the world, Barnett reflects on the stark, limited spectrum of possible outcomes. He shows that the frustration of Trumpism is thanks to the decades long resistance to market fundamentalism. But it remains divided and incoherent. It is time for the left to embrace an open, ecological politics or the world will be subordinated to the regimes of the Iron Men and their successors.

Anthony Barnett is a veteran thinker and activist. He's combined three careers- as a journalist and editor, culminating in co-founding openDemocracy in 2001; as an organiser for rights, liberty and democracy across Britain, as the first coordinator of Charter 88 in 1988; and as an author since the 1980s with books on on Cambodia, the Falklands war, Russia under Gorbachev, Blair and democracy, and with The Lure of Greatness, on Brexit and Trump.

"Up against the wickedness of those who choose to abuse their wealth and power, Anthony Barnett sees a slender chance for hope in the USA, and challenges us to rethink how we do politics. I hope he's right." -- Caroline Lucas. Green MP for Brighton Pavilion; "A marvellous book that reads like a thriller. It shows us how the fascist inclinations are innate to the neoliberal system and offers a solid way out of the global perils without hesitating to discuss the socialist option."-- Ece Temelkuran, poet, journalist and author of How to Lose a Country; "A moving exploration of political possibility and an essential guide for making sense of our historical moment... Barnett provides an impressive account of today's unequal global order, with the US at the center, as well as the potential for genuine change, with a concrete vision of what liberation might entail."-- Aziz Rana, Professor of Law, Cornell University and author of The Two Faces of American Freedom; "With discontent uniting so many of us, at a time when the climate crisis demands real change, how can we break through deadening polarization? How do we build the democratic movement and the structures essential for us to take control? Barnett has done a wonderful job in capturing so much. I applaud his coherent challenge to keep organizing."-- Larry Cohen, Board Chair, Our Revolution and past president, Communications Workers of America; "A wonderful book that tells a compelling story of a democratic awakening. A worldly optimist, conscious of past defeats, Barnett sets out a possible route to a democratic future."-- David Edgerton, author of The Rise and Fall of the British Nation; "Anthony Barnett writes beautifully and with sharp insight, and about the possibilities opened up by historical contingency and human creativity."-- Professor Nick Pearce, Director, IPR, Bath; Head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit 2008 to 2010; "In this superb analysis from the democratic (and romantic) left, sometimes withering, essentially optimistic, Anthony Barnett generously delivers a rebuke to the pessimism that is paralysing a scattered opposition. He has given a lifetime to the cause of a saner, more democratic politics and his memory is long."-- Ian McEwan