Disposable Futures

Drawing inspiration from Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle and a wide range of other free thinkers and intellectuals, Brad Evans and Henry A. Giroux analyze how today's dominant economic system--neoliberalism--uses consumerism, privatization, and mass media to neutralize and control the public's participation in its own affairs. The consequence, they argue, is a "mode of existence that encourages us all to become voyeurs of suffering, while denying us the ability of connecting subjugation and willful oppression to wider systemic forces." Brimming with ideas and insights, Disposable Futures offers a sweeping, big-picture critique of consumption-driven society and how state and corporate power use and abuse violence to redefine citizenship, national security, and economics in order to enrich the few. From movies and entertainment to extreme weather and acts of terror, Evans and Giroux take readers on a fascinating exploration of politics, culture, and power to expose how the production of spectacle shapes and controls social realities while diminishing meaningful civic life and community. Centered on the power of public education, Evans's and Giroux's critique is rooted in a deep sense of hope in humanity and the emancipatory possibilities for dignified and nonviolent forms of living, learning, and resisting. "Disposable Futures poses, and answers, the pressing question of our times: How is it that in this post-Fascist, post-Cold War era of peace and prosperity we are saddled with more war, violence, inequality and poverty than ever? The neoliberal era, Evans and Giroux brilliantly reveal, is defined by violence, by drone strikes, 'smart' bombs, militarized police, Black lives taken, prison expansion, corporatized education, surveillance, the raw violence of racism, patriarchy, starvation and want. The authors show how the neoliberal regime normalizes violence, renders its victims disposable, commodifies the spectacle of relentless violence and sells it to us as entertainment, and tries to contain cultures of resistance. If you're not afraid of the truth in these dark times, then read this book. It is a beacon of light."--Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination "Disposable Futures confronts a key conundrum of our times: How is it that, given the capacity and abundance of resources to address the critical needs of all, so many are having their futures radically discounted while the privileged few dramatically increase their wealth and power? Brad Evans and Henry Giroux have written a trenchant analysis of the logic of late capitalism that has rendered it normal to dispose of any who do not service the powerful. A searing indictment of the socio-technics of destruction and the decisions of their deployability. Anyone concerned with trying to comprehend these driving dynamics of our time would be well served by taking up this compelling book."--David Theo Goldberg, author of The Threat of Race: Reflections on Racial Neoliberalism Brad Evans and Henry A. Giroux are internationally renowned educators, authors, and intellectuals. Together, they curate a forum for Truthout.com that explores the theme of "Disposable Futures." Evans is director of histories of violence project at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. Giroux holds the global TV network chair professorship at McMaster University.