Arts
Published by Verso, 'Inventing the Future: Folk Politics and the Left' is a bold new manifesto for life after capitalism which, following the wave of left-populism across the continent, offers concrete alternatives to the cycle of debt and austerity and the drudgeries of work. From Jeremy Corbyn’s landmark victory in the Labour leadership election to the rise of Podemos in Spain and Syriza in Greece, the European left is once more resurgent. Interrogating how ideas that long seemed marginalised and discredited have recently captured the imaginations of millions, authors Williams and Srnicek ask how these ideas might be used to create a more sustainable and equitable world. Demanding a high-tech economy capable of advancing living standards, liberating us from work and developing technologies which expand our freedom, Williams and Srnicek join us to present their new blueprint for a new world—one of full automation, unconditional universal basic income, media reform, full unemployment and freedom from work. Williams and Srnicek talk to Emma Dowling, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Middlesex University.