Liberal thinker and Catholic University of Leuven Postdoctoral Research Fellow Anton Jäger is something of an expert on the ways that capitalism and democracy intertwine, in particular how the former impacts the latter. Appearing in magazines and newspapers like The Guardian, Jacobin, and The New Statesman and having already published a few books, he is an increasingly prominent voice in the field. On the basis of his latest, the relatively brief Hyperpolitics, it’s easy to see why.
Across scant more than 100 pages, he covers the ways that modern society evolved from being highly involved in community and therefore politics, through an era where the organizations that engendered that state of being came apart (or were dismantled), and into the situation we now find ourselves experiencing. He astutely posits that we now exist in an era of hyperpolitics, in which many people are now interested in getting involved in or expressing their opinions on the matters of the day, but where that involvement is typically fleeting and inconsequential thanks to a lack of any real organization.
Attendance in unions, churches, civic groups, and political parties has been dropping for decades and only continues to do so. Combined with the flight of many citizens from more densely packed cities and the rise of isolating activities brought about by the ubiquity of smart phones, it’s no wonder that any sense of community has been all but nearly wiped out. Jäger suggests that this lack of cohesion and leadership is why so many modern political movements fizzle out without affecting any real change, especially on the left but to at least some degree from every persuasion. I would add that shrinking attention spans also have a role to play here, but he raises some valid points.
Of course, fitting so much of human history into so few pages means that many of the events he looks at are glided over, but the brisk pace and clear prose make the book fly by, feeling more akin to a lengthy New Yorker article than a typical political book. It’s all the better for it. Jäger includes only what he really needs to in order to get his point across, avoiding the excessive padding endemic to many other releases of the type. While he ponders solutions to issues, he avoids outright prescribing any, even suggesting there might not be one and maybe doesn’t need to be. It’s an enlightening look at our current society, where nearly everything has become “politics” to at least some degree, and the winding path that brought us here that will leave readers with much to ponder. ★★★★
★★★★★ = Excellent | ★★★★ = Very Good | ★★★ = Good | ★★ = Fair | ★ = Poor
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