Author | Simon Reid-Henry |
---|---|
Language | English |
Subject | History |
Publisher | John Murray |
Publication date | 2019 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
Pages | 870 |
ISBN | 978-1-451-68497-1 |
321.8 |
Empire of Democracy (strapline: The Remaking of the West Since the Cold War, 1971-2019) is a 2019 book by British geographer and scholar Simon Reid-Henry about the transformation of Western democracy arising from neoliberalism and its impacts on political processes.
Reid-Henry said he was inspired to write the book following the 2011 far right wing attacks in Norway (which took place on the last day of his honeymoon), and a desire to identify the underlying trends that had disrupted the liberal and democratic order of the West, rather than write about the perpetrator per se. Although Reid-Henry had intended to focus on the geopolitics of the post-1989 world, the book ended up looking at political economy and social trends more broadly, and from an earlier starting point. The title of the book comes from Alexis de Tocquevilles' book Democracy in America which described the trans-national, transforming and expanding nature of American democracy that de Tocqueville witnessed. [1]
The book starts with the period of economic dislocation and social unrest arising out of the 1960s that led to the Nixon shock. Over time a resetting of the post-War political economic order across the Western World as monetarism and market deregulation replace the Keynesian consensus. This order reaches its peak in the Post–Cold War era but flounders after 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and especially during the Great Recession. Governments are unable to marshal the necessary political will and creativity to resolve inherent contradictions, and with liberalism having lost its legitimacy and public trust corroded, authoritarian leaders emerge. [2]
Empire of Democracy is split into three parts. Part I (Democracy Unbound) starts with the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system and progresses through the 1970s and 1980s up to the Revolutions of 1989. The confidence of the post-Cold War period, marked by the 1990s United States boom is covered in Part II ( Novus ordo seclorum . Part III (Victory without Peace) serves as the dénouement, rudely starting with the September 11 attacks and concluding with the 2017 inauguration of President Trump.
A prologue (Two Helicopters) covers Charles de Gaulle's mysterious departure from Paris during the May 68 events, and President Nixon's departure on Marine One following his resignation – events which demonstrated there was significant momentum in the West for the existing political order to be upended [3]
The key existential themes of the changes in Western society are explored. The book concludes that it remains possible for collective action to rescue democracy, through understanding why capitalist prosperity failed to curb the rise of illiberalism, and having the patience to make the necessary structural changes.
Reviews of Empire of Democracy were generally positive. Writing for The Washington Post , Mario Del Pero wrote that Reid-Henry narrated the wide span of recent history with "elegance and gusto", identifying the contradictions that emerged in a "consumerist democracy", but criticised the absence of coverage of economic developments outside the West, a lack of nuance in differentiating different economic policies, and a number of factual mistakes. [4]
The Nation's Richard J. Evans appreciated that book's account of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the depth applied in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of neo-liberalism, but noted the book was plagued by generalisations and limited discussion about the impacts of specific individuals. [5]
Dominic Sandbrook's review in The Times criticised the lack of originality and specificity in Reid-Henry's arguments made with sweeping, overconfident generalisations, as well as not including enough perspectives of individuals. [6]
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