FUTURE POLITICS

Politics in the Twentieth Century was dominated by a single question how much of our collective life should be determined by the state and what should be left to the market and civil society Now the debate is different to what extent should our lives be directed and controlled by powerful digital systems and on what terms Digital technologies from artificial intelligence to blockchain from robotics to virtual reality are transforming the way we live together Those who control the most powerful technologies are increasingly able to control the rest of us As time goes on these powerful entities usually big tech firms and the state will set the limits of our liberty decreeing what may be done and what is forbidden Their algorithms will determine vital questions of social justice In their hands democracy will flourish or decay A landmark work of political theory Future Politics challenges readers to rethink what it means to be free or equal what it means to have power or property and what it means for a political system to be just or democratic In a time of rapid and relentless changes it is a book about how we can and must regain control Winner of the Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize