The global triumph of democracy was announced thirty years ago, promising an age of consensus in which the dispassionate consideration of objective problems would give birth to a world at peace. Today, these grand hopes have been destroyed, and the era touted as new and exceptional has turned out to be remarkably similar to the old order - but not simply due to the aggression of external forces. Instead, we must look to the nature of consensus itself, which, in the view of leading radical philosopher Jacques Rancière, is revealed as a violent, absolutized capitalist machine whose output is ever more inequality, exclusion and hate.This book delivers a frank and piercing assessment of the globalised capitalist consensus. The invasion of Iraq, the riots on Capitol Hill and the rise of the European far right all provide evidence of the consummation of consensual realism, as does the current state-sanctioned racism which exploits the disenchanted progressive tradition and is led by an intelligentsia that claims to be left-wing. At the same time, Rancière also praises the dynamism of social movements which affirm the power of the assembly of equals and its capacity for worldmaking: autonomous protest collectives have proven themselves capable of opening breaches in the consensual order and challenging the post-1989 system of domination.

PrefacePart One. The violence of consensusChapter One. The new racism: a passion from aboveChapter Two. A modest proposal to help the victimsChapter Three. An elusive populismChapter Four. Unravelling the confusions serving the dominant orderChapter Five. On freedom of expressionChapter Six. The Hatred of EqualityChapter Seven. Fools and sages. Reflections on the end of the Trump presidencyChapter Eight. A golden opportunity? Reflections in the time of lockdownPart Two. Moments of democracyChapter Nine. The pandemic and inequalityChapter Ten. Interpreting the event 68: politics, philosophy, sociologyChapter Eleven. OccupationChapter Twelve. Nuit Debout: Desire for Community or Egalitarian Invention?Chapter Thirteen. The virtues of the inexplicable. On the Gilets JaunesChapter Fourteen. Beyond the hatred of democracyChapter Fifteen. Speech at the assembly of railway workersNotes