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10 - A Politics for the End of Time

from Part III - The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal ‘Movement Regime’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2023

Abby Innes
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
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Summary

The UK languishes under a political economic orthodoxy at the height of its structural power, but built on a demonstrably mistaken blueprint that can no longer command broad social support. This chapter argues that, so long as the UK’s parliamentary parties remain committed to this materialist utopia, the country will continue to suffer the decadent politics characteristic of the late Soviet era: a fate examined with reference to the dissident literature of that period. The Soviet system was ended by revolutions for democracy, albeit fatally timed at the height of neoliberalism. Innes closes by suggesting that the UK now stands at a critical juncture with highly uncertain outcomes. She suggests that if the UK's political parties relinquished their failing paradigm they could find renewed social, moral and economic purpose in the resolution of the ecological emergency. This paradigm shift to empiricism and new social purpose is urgent. Like Soviet communism, neoliberalism is a materialist utopia: a politics for the end of time. But in the era of the intensifying ecological emergency, its perpetuation has the capacity to hasten the end of human history, for all time, for real.

Type
Chapter
Information
Late Soviet Britain
Why Materialist Utopias Fail
, pp. 371 - 391
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • A Politics for the End of Time
  • Abby Innes, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Late Soviet Britain
  • Online publication: 14 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009373647.014
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  • A Politics for the End of Time
  • Abby Innes, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Late Soviet Britain
  • Online publication: 14 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009373647.014
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A Politics for the End of Time
  • Abby Innes, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Late Soviet Britain
  • Online publication: 14 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009373647.014
Available formats
×