Manchester University Press How to Save Politics in a Post-Truth Era: Thinking Through Difficult Times

The rise of populism, Donald Trump's election and the result of the EU referendum in the UK have been widely interpreted as a rejection of the post-war liberal order - the manifestation of a desire to undermine the political system that people feel has let them down. Yet mainstream politicians and analysts have been slow to grasp the changing situation, instead relying on a rhetoric of 'hard data' and narrow economic arguments while failing to properly engage with the politics of identity. This book argues that the relationship between methodology and politics is now more important than ever - that politics, if it is anything, is about engaging with people's interpretations and narratives of the world in which they find themselves. Politics in this new 'post-truth' era will require an appreciation of the fact we live in an uncertain world of endless diversity and potential for change. This thoughtful book addresses how we might think about and do politics in these strange new times. -- . From the Inside Flap This is a book that we have been, or should have been, waiting for. It is written not only for those who are distressed with the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit decision in the United Kingdom, but even more importantly, for those who are not distressed by the two eventsFrom the foreword by Professor Tracy B. Strong, University of Southampton and University of California, San Diego The results of the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election took the world by surprise, casting doubt on the validity of expert opinion and polling data, and raising the spectre of a post-truth era. In the view of many commentators, they also signalled a rejection of the post-war liberal order, as large numbers of people attempted to fight back against a political system they saw as having failed them. But were those people right? And what comes next? In this book, Ilan Zvi Baron argues that politics has failed. It has failed all of us. Using a combination of political theory, public commentary and personal reflection, he explores why the polls got both results so wrong, why our leaders prefer populism and anti-immigrant rhetoric to real engagement with the politics of identity, and whether our political discourse over-emphasizes the role of statistics and hard data while dismissing the crucial importance of identity and narratives. Ultimately, Baron shows that for politics to survive in the post-truth era it needs to change the way it engages with peoples interpretations of the world. Identity matters, but not in some superficial, politically correct way, and taking it seriously requires a recognition not just of competing claims but also of our own fallibilities. Only by accepting responsibility in this way can we build a politics that will endure the turbulent times to come. From the Back Cover "This is a book that we have been, or should have been, waiting for. It is written not only for those who are distressed with the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit decision in the United Kingdom, but even more importantly, for those who are not distressed by the two events..." From the foreword by Professor Tracy B. Strong, University of Southampton and University of California, San Diego The results of the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election took the world by surprise, casting doubt on the validity of expert opinion and polling data, and raising the spectre of a "post-truth" era. In the view of many commentators, they also signalled a rejection of the post-war liberal order, as large numbers of people attempted to fight back against a political system they saw as having failed them. But were those people right? And what comes next? In this book, Ilan Zvi Baron argues that politics has failed. It has failed all of us. Using a combination of political theory, public commentary and personal reflection, he explores why the polls got both results so wrong, why our leaders p