Naomi Klein's 'No Logo' told us what was wrong. Now, George Monbiot shows us how to put it right. Provocative, brave and beautifully argued, 'The Age of Consent' is nothing less than a manifesto for a new world order. 'Our task is not to overthrow globalisation, but to capture it, and to use it as a vehicle for humanity's first global democratic revolution.' All over our planet, the rich get richer while the poor are overtaken by debt and disaster. The world is run not by its people but by a handful of unelected or underelected executives who make the decisions on which everyone else depends: concerning war, peace, debt, development and the balance of trade. Without democracy at the global level, the rest of us are left with no means of influencing these men but to shout abuse and hurl ourselves at the lines of police defending their gatherings and decisions. Does it have to be this way? George Monbiot knows not only that things ought to change, but also that they can change. Drawing on decades of thinking about how the world is organized and administered politically, fiscally and commercially, Monbiot has developed an interlocking set of proposals all his own, which attempts nothing less than a revolution in the way the world is run. If these proposals become popular, never again will people be able to ask of the critics of the existing world order, 'we know what they don't want, but what do they want?' Fiercely controversial and yet utterly persuasive, the ingenious solutions Monbiot suggests for some of the planet's most pressing problems mark him as perhaps the most realistic utopian of our time and a man whose passion is infectious and whose ideas, many will surely come to agree, are becoming irresistible.
The Age of Consent
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
'A bracing challenge to the complacency of all varieties of establishment thinking. Argues powerfully that protest is not enough. An arresting contribution to new thinking.' Independent 'A book that must be engaged with. A simple and revolutionary Manifesto, a weighty political vision. At last, the global justice movement has found a vision as expansive and planet-wide as that of the US neoconservatives. Let the battle of ideas commence.' Independent on Sunday 'An extremely important book. A searchingly rigorous analysis of the sources of American power. Monbiot presents a package of proposals that would radically redraw the present world order. It is breathtaking in its radicalism, but for anyone who is serious about tackling the current US hegemony, it is difficult to fault the logic. This is not a whinge, but a very well argued statement of a positive alternative agenda. And if it is far too radical for some tastes, can they suggest any lesser options that will produce the same vast improvement in world justice and prosperity? The floor is theirs.' Michael Meacher, Guardian
About the Author
George Monbiot, 40, the son of a former President of the Conservative Party, has been persona non grata in seven countries, had a life sentence in absentia given to him by an Indonesian court, has been shot at, beaten up by military police, shipwrecked and stung into a coma during seven years of investigative journeys across Africa, Asia and the Americas. He was even pronounced clinically dead of cerebral malaria in Kenya, only to rise again, return to Britain's comparative safety, and turn himself into the country's most articulate, most enterprising and most effective non-conformist political commentator.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What are you waiting for?,
This review is from: Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order (Paperback)
April 2004 - When a group organised a program opposite the World Social Forum with the protest that the WSF was "not radical enough" I asked, why aren't you painting the walls of Reliance Industries? Are they radical enough?
I am as wary of cheap sneers and easy dismissals as I am wary of anything calling itself a "manifesto for a new world order." The fact is, it's not so easy to dismiss the prevailing world order. So, in considering George Monbiot's latest book, we must first grudgingly look beyond the bold capitals on the cover declaring "For Sale in the Indian Subcontinent Only," not unlike so many dams, discontinued contraceptives, unapproved pharmaceuticals & pesticides. In this case the intention is to protect the profits of the publisher in other markets. Overlooking that as well, we can appreciate the effort involved in proposing a constructive program amidst a familiar cacophony of dissent. Monbiot's Age of Consent appeals to those from all stripes of the Global Justice Movement seeking common goals, namely to "replace the system which works for the powerful with one which works for the weak ... to replace a world order built on coercion with one which emerges from below, built upon democracy" (p.67-68). He evaluates the existing systems such as the United Nations, which have also been founded with such noble intentions and calls for the UN General Assembly to be democratized, capturing the powers now vested in the Security Council. Along with this he proposes a democratically elected World Parliament, and International Clearing Union for timely debt clearances and a Fair Trade Organisation. Details of these proposals draw from historical experiences and ideas which have been put forward in other times and places, which Monbiot believes deserve a chance to succeed here and now. To popularise and reach consensus on this program Monbiot proposes to "publish pamphlets and web pages ...in as many languages as we possess." (pg. 89) The trouble is, it's precisely those people who are most oppressed whose languages and communication technologies, knowledge paradigms are not represented in writing or in websites. A system that excluded these people would give disproportionate weight to the already powerful. While he understands that it will require extra efforts "to reach people who are illiterate," (p. 126) is he aware that the illiterate may be trying to reach us? What efforts could we make to be better reached? Sadly, he can't envision a scenario in which all have an equal voice or even an equal opportunity for a voice. Monbiot acknowledges, "We may have to start without some regions of the world." (p. 93) Missing from this manifesto is an appreciation for those who practice the solutions RIGHT NOW - without any big budgets or World Parliaments. An immediate benefit of a manifesto that demands, as Monbiot's does, to be taken seriously, due to the fine blend of passion and humility with which he argues for it, is that it generates debate, criticism and alternatives. He knows that his proposals will "horrify all right thinking people" yet he gets past the horror and elaborates them anyway. He is right to do this. Yet I object to the "at last" factor with which the manifesto is being pushed. At last the anti-globalisation movement will tell us what it is "for." This is grossly unjust. Though they may not make the evening news, the rural majority of India as well as the world works every day to keep Monsanto out of their fields, the World Bank out of their pockets, and Uncle Sam's war machine out of their faces, so that they may simply live. Their societies, cultures, and economies present a living alternative to globalisation. These are disappearing not to embrace modernity but simply because the spaces where they flourish are being bulldozed into oblivion. The Age of Consent A Manifesto for a New World Order George Monbiot Harper Collins 2003 Rs. 250 Can we not propose to change the world from the multiple manifestos in myriad languages of these spaces? An inexorable problem with this and numerous other such alternatives dependent on love, human kindness, and the distribution of "anti-power" is simply the low probability of it happening. But what do we mean by happening? On the global scale, everywhere at once? In the cities and on the information superhighway? Monbiot would perhaps argue that our solution needs to happen there as well in order to threaten those who now make war on the planet. Is this possible? If enough people are ready to find out, why not? Hoarse from shouting slogans, on the long train and bus journeys home, in the late night chats after all the meetings, no one disputes that we need something new. To read "The Age of Consent" is to be provoked, and left with no excuse for inaction. Because, whether we agree with Monbiot's plan or not, we cannot ignore his final question, "Well, what are you waiting for?" It is a question not for the "affected people" but for the dissidents among those insufficiently disturbed by the status quo to still enjoy the pleasure of reading. ' published at http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/apr/rvw-consent.htm
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solutions to the problems of globalisation,
By
This review is from: Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order (Paperback)
I support the review given by the other reviewer (Alednam) to date (1 June 2009). I can also recommend a solution to the problems of globalisation: The International Simultaneous Policy Organisation is able to provide the means for control of the excesses of international capitalism and private banking.
6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Idealistic Book with Good Ideas,
By Alednam (NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order (Paperback)
This book is about a fairer deal for the poor countries of the world. It espouses the idea of a World Parliament and an International Clearing Union. The former is aimed at making the nations of the world accountable for their actions and the latter at redressing what the author sees as the economic anomalies of the world, whereby rich nations reap an undue benefit from the poorer worlds' resources.
The author quotes his sources extensively but I feel that he could have drlled down deeper in many instances where another author is his source. Nevertheless, there are many disturbing facts in this book which should make readers aware of problems that they may not have previously considered. His analysis of the effect (and the effectiveness) of the IMF and the World Bank is very interesting and well worth reading. A major weakness of this book is the author's failure to address the effect of incentives on human behaviour. To a degree he does cover incentives for nations to behave in a manner which benefits the world and I believe that this also will contribute significantly to the debate. However, many of the great breakthroughs and inventions of the world, which have had a huge impact on living standards and longevity, have resulted due to the financial rewards flowing from such discoveries. George Monbiot is to be congratulated for having the gumption to challenge current assumptions about democracy and economies and to put forward ideas that might help to make the world fairer and safer. I recommend his book highly to persons interested in achieving those goals.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
