Tariq Ali joins Conter to discuss the future of democracy under capitalism and the context for Scottish independence.
About this event
Capitalism used to legitimise itself as the democratic way of life. However, a generation of triumphant neoliberalism left a very different legacy: a scarring democratic deficit, economic decline and the rise of authoritarian populism. Donald Trump may be the most obvious sign of system failure, but no country has escaped, and leftist responses have been consistently confused, as illustrated by the Brexit debacle.
In this lecture, one of the world’s leading public intellectuals addresses the future of democracy under capitalism. Tariq Ali, a longstanding advocate of Scottish independence, will discuss the global context for our thinking about popular sovereignty.
Ali rose to global prominence with his role in resisting the Vietnam War. As a leader of the global New Left, he befriended the likes of Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Since the sixties, he has remained at the forefront of leftist thinking in a variety of capacities. He is an editor of New Left Review and the author of dozens of books, including The Extreme Centre: A Warning.