The Travails of Trumpification

nature of international capitalism that does not mention political parties even once and that assumes away cultural and group differences between consumers and workers at the ends of international supply chains by invoking common interests in freedom and justice strikes me as unconvincing. McKean would no doubt answer by doubting the capability of the ubiquitous sovereignty of states to deliver the results he wishes and by invoking the power of participation aimed at reducing injustice to change orientations. I would agree. I do not think that appeals to states to promote the outer limits of freedom are realistic either, especially across political boundaries. But the use of state power, pushed by political parties and social movements, is, I think, more likely to succeed than McKean’s less complicated vision. I also think such a combination is more likely to accomplish the disorientation from neoliberalism McKean wants. Disenthralling whole societies from the very real illusions of neoliberal freedom will take some long boring on very hard boards. I think it will take a combination of the dislocating experience of social movements and the consistent effort of democratic participation through political parties to attempt it. I should say a few final words about the effort that went into this book. I disagree with McKean about his final recommendations, but this is a substantial intellectual product. Indeed, I found his originality and rigor both stimulating and unsettling. I will have more thinking to do as a result of reading Disorienting Neoliberalism and it will lead me to reassess my initial responses to questions of social activism in the future. My guess is that, whatever our disagreements about strategy, McKean would be satisfied with such a result.