Taking Control

The Liverpool Salon is a forum for debate on Merseyside. Part of a global network, based in cities as far a field as Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, London, New York and Zurich, the Liverpool Salon fosters thought-provoking, critical conversations around contemporary issues in welcoming and convivial surroundings.

The Liverpool Salon

Peter Ramsay, Professor of Law, London School of Economics discusses his book Taking Control: Sovereignty and Democracy after Brexit.

The Athenaeum

Three years after Brexit many are asking what benefits has it delivered.The promises of national sovereignty and democracy still divide, with Brexiteers claiming gains, Rejoiners trumpeting losses, but very little seems to have changed politically. Few could deny that politics at Westminster currently look even more decrepit and incompetent than before the Brexit earthquake. Peter Ramsay argues that both sides got Brexit wrong. The European Union is neither a supranational nanny state nor an internationalist project for peace and prosperity, but rather the way in which European elites have tried to to evade accountability to voters as the political life of their own nations has decayed. The nation-states of Europe were transformed into EU member-states as governments were forced to rule the void where representative politics used to be. Leaving the EU has fully exposed this chasm between rulers and ruled but done nothing to close it. Neverthess, the abiding legacy of Brexit has been to place what were previously abstract questions of the people, the state, sovereignty and representation back at the centre of political life. The need to address these questions and build wider democratic engagement has never seemed so urgent. This book argues for a radical, forward-looking reconstitution of the British nation-state through strengthening representative democracy. But is the idea of taking control hopelessly utopian in today’s globalised world? And with the return of war in Europe, might the re-constitution of nation-states be dangerously dystopian? Join the discussion at the Liverpool Salon, with Peter Ramsay, Professor of Law, London School of Economics and co-author of Taking Control: Sovereignty and Democracy after Brexit (Polity 2023). The event runs until 1.45 pm, but you are invited to stay to continue the conversation over drinks or lunch in the Athenaeum’s historic newsroom. All welcome.Copies of the book will be available at a discount on the day. Or if you would like to read it in advance:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taking-Control-Sovereignty-Democracy-Brexit/dp/1509553207https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=taking-control-sovereignty-and-democracy-after-brexit--9781509553198

<a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=taking-control-sovereignty-and-democracy-after-brexit--9781509553198" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Taking Control</a>“This is the most important book to come out of the struggles over Britain’s membership of the EU, and it makes all other works on the subject look trivial. The authors provide a profound analysis of the issues involved, and show how only thorough-going changes in Britain’s political and constitutional arrangements will be able to respond to the challenges of this near-revolutionary moment.” Richard Tuck, Professor of Government Theory, University of Harvard“This book forcefully argues that Brexit was no more than the first step in a long process of rebuilding a democratic nation-state, indeed a democratic nation, out of the ruins of a politics without national sovereignty. Sovereign democracy requires effective institutions of civic representation that disempower a political elite content with ruling the void. This book is a breakthrough for democratic theory and a milestone for political debates on the future of democracy.” Wolfgang Streeck, Emeritus Director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne, Germany“The condition of post-Brexit Britain is grim. This excellent book shows that this has little to do with having lost the putative benefits of EU membership. Far more important is the British state's steady incapacitation and the decay of neoliberal political parties. The promise of “taking control” remains, but only if Britain undergoes a democratic and social transformation.”Costas Lapavitsas, Professor of Economics, SOAS London

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Taking Control

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Taking Control

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