Five years into capitalism's deepest crisis, which has led to cuts and economic pain across the world,
Against Austerity
addresses a puzzling aspect of the current conjuncture: why are the rich
still
getting away with it? Why is protest so ephemeral? Why does the left appear to be marginal to political life?
In an analysis which challenges our understanding of capitalism, class and ideology, Richard Seymour shows how ‘austerity’ is just one part of a wider elite plan to radically re-engineer society and everyday life in the interests of profit, consumerism and speculative finance.
But
is not a gospel of despair. Seymour argues that once we turn to face the headwinds of this new reality, dispensing with reassuring dogmas, we can forge new collective resistance and alternatives to the current system. Following Brecht,
argues that the good old things are over, it's time to confront the bad new ones.