The Political Economy of Dissent

In 2020 Noam Chomsky asserted that the time to panic about the existential threats posed by nuclear war, global warming, and the stifling of informed debate in supposedly open and democratic societies was upon us, and that it was the duty of concerned citizens to act accordingly. Hastened by the lingering aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the proxy war in Ukraine, the decline of US economic hegemony, and increasing hostility between the US and China, he concluded in early 2023 that unless the US could be persuaded to cooperate with its declared adversaries and capitalism could be overthrown or ‘defanged’, there was little hope for survival. The authors of this book argue that achieving these ends will depend greatly on effective individual and collective worldwide dissent.

The book analyses and exemplifies dissent in the main domains of institutionalised capitalist control and the manufacture of uninformed consent, namely: political economy; education; the media and IT; work and trade unions; the commons and communities; and culture. And thereby gives voice and hope to the downtrodden and marginalised, including indigenous peoples and those of the global south. It provides an uplifting counter to the otherwise seemingly overwhelming expression of uninformed consent, one that will inspire by example and be an antidote to the fear and defeatism instilled by capitalist intransigence, indoctrination, and control.

The book is addressed to students, scholars and researchers primarily, but its breadth of coverage, authenticity and plain writing style will appeal to activists, community organisers, and concerned citizens, both in industrialised countries and the global south.