A new political story to get out of the neoliberal wreckage – Open Democracy

Progressive initiative

Throughout Out of the Wreckage, Monbiot makes tangible his discursive proposal with a wide review of progressive political initiatives from all over the world, in fields as diverse as electoral systems, taxes, environment and employment.

For instance, Monbiot explains innovative policies such as different forms of basic income put in place around the world. However, the major strength of the authors compilation of innovative policies is those projects that simultaneously meet different aims (participation and social justice, protection of the environment and popular empowerment...). One of these examples is the community bill of rights set up by certain American cities, which has allowed some communities to legally reject threats to the local environment such as fracking an example that suggests that re-municipalising politics can pave the way to more progressive and inclusive policies, as shown by Ada Colaus government in Barcelona.

In a similar sense, Monbiot explains how participatory budgets have succeeded in improving Brazilian cities social policies, reducing infant mortality and reinforcing healthcare. The book also pays great attention to community-related projects, such as Rotterdams dense network of 1,300 cultural and social community projects, which range from cultural hubs to care cooperatives and green projects.

The gender dimension is not excluded from Monbiots analysis, but the book would have benefited from a more explicit adoption of a feminist approach. The long list of political proposals reviewed by Monbiot shows that todays societies are not as paralysed as the ruling elites would like, but in some points the explanation reaches such a high degree of detail that the reader might forget the main thesis of the book: the need for building a new political tale.

Regardless of the degree of efficacy or feasibility of each one of the policies addressed by Monbiot (some are short-term reforms while others are more ambitious), Out of the Wreckage has the major virtue of proposing a courageous utopia, which at some moments seems slightly naive, but never stops being inspiring.

This book is particularly valuable in a period in which short-term issues monopolize parliamentary politics in many countries. State institutions all over the world seem impermeable to the major questions faced by modern societies: which kind of economy do we want? How to guarantee sufficient living standards for all? How to slow climate change and guarantee a fair ecological transition?

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A new political story to get out of the neoliberal wreckage - Open Democracy