Why Folk Politics Fails and How the Left Can Invent the Future

In recent decades, the political landscape of the left has been dominated by grassroots activism—occupations, protests, and community organizing that emphasize immediacy and local engagement. While these actions have energized many and created spaces for solidarity, they fall short of challenging the vast, interconnected forces of global capitalism. This phenomenon is what some theorists term 'folk politics.' It privileges direct, unmediated action and localism, often avoiding the complexities of systemic change and long-term strategy.

Folk politics is characterized by its temporal immediacy—actions are spontaneous and focused on the present moment. Spatially, it centers on the neighborhood or local community, and conceptually, it shuns abstraction in favor of tangible, direct engagement. While this approach fosters empowerment and community, it risks becoming symbolic theater without durable political impact. For example, mass protests like Occupy Wall Street captured global attention but struggled to translate that energy into lasting policy changes.

Meanwhile, neoliberalism, once a fringe intellectual project, quietly built a hegemonic position through decades of strategic thinking. Key to its success was the creation of think tanks and intellectual networks that patiently shaped elite opinion and public discourse. Organizations like the Mont Pelerin Society coordinated economists and philosophers to reimagine the role of the state—not as a minimal actor but as an active architect of markets. This ideological infrastructure reframed freedom as market freedom, embedding neoliberal ideas deeply into culture and policy.

The left’s challenge, therefore, is to move beyond the confines of folk politics and build a counter-hegemonic project capable of matching neoliberalism’s scale and sophistication. This involves reclaiming modernity—the ideals of progress, reason, and universal emancipation—from neoliberal co-optation. Modernity is not a relic of the past but a contested terrain where new visions of freedom and solidarity can be forged.

Moreover, the crisis of work under capitalism—with growing unemployment, precarious labor, and structural exclusion—demands rethinking the centrality of wage labor to social life. Advances in automation and proposals like universal basic income offer pathways to a post-work society where freedom is redefined as 'synthetic freedom'—expanded capacities supported by social and technological means.

Inventing the future requires building power that scales from local to global, constructing new cultural narratives, and renewing left institutions with fresh organizational and intellectual capacities. The path is challenging but filled with hope, inviting us to actively engage in shaping a more just and emancipated world.

By understanding these dynamics, activists and thinkers can better navigate the complexities of contemporary politics and contribute to a transformative movement for the future.

References: Srnicek & Williams, Inventing the Future; reviews and analyses from Amazon, Orbistertiusnet, SoBrief, EdRooksby