Poetry from the Future: Why a Global Liberation Movement Is Our Civilisation’s Last Chance

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The past is forgotten, and the future is without hope. Dystopia has become a reality. This is the new normal in our apocalyptic politics - but if we accept it, our helplessness is guaranteed. To bring about real change, argues activist and political philosopher Srecko Horvat, we must first transform our mindset. Ranging through time and space, from the partisan liberation movements of Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia to the contemporary culture, refugee camps and political frontlines of 21st century Europe, Horvat shows that the problems we face today are of an unprecedented nature. To solve them, he argues in this passionate call for a new radical internationalism, we must move beyond existing ways of thinking: beyond borders, national identities and the redundant narratives of the past. Only in this way can we create new models for living and, together, shape a more open and optimistic future. What is democracy? Have our democratic societies turned into a form of totalitarianism? If so, how do they get away with it? The past is forgotten, and the future is without hope. Dystopia has become a reality. Capitalism and historical revisionism are part of the fabric of this new world of normalized apocalyptic politics. Our passivity is guaranteed if we believe there is no future - this is a radical manifesto for hope in democracy, union and internationalism. Srecko Horvat, a leading European philosopher, calls for a radical internationalism in order to bring true democracy to Europe. A Letter to the Future PROLOGUE The First Sound from Occupied Europe PART ONE The Sounds of Occupation 1. Summer in Hamburg: Back to the Future 2. The Circle of Machinic Enslavement 3. It’s the End of the World (as We Know It …) 4. The Leftovers in Europe 5. Make Margaret Atwood Fiction Again! INTERLUDE Auschwitz on the Beach? PART TWO The Sounds of Liberation 6. Summer in Athens: Hope without Optimism 7. Islands Outside Capitalism? 8. Mamma Mia! There Are No Islands Any More 9. For a Global Liberation Movement 10. Poetry from the Future Notes Soundtrack – There Is No Liberation without Music Acknowledgements – There Is No Book without Comrades Index