Near Futures

Wendy Brown

In this incisive work of political theory, Wendy Brown examines how neoliberalism has transformed democratic institutions, citizenship, and public life by recasting individuals and communities as forms of human capital. She argues that market-centered values increasingly displace democratic principles, reshaping law, education, governance, and everyday political imagination in ways that are often subtle yet far-reaching. Combining philosophical analysis with contemporary political critique, the book explores what is at stake when democracy is reduced to economic calculation—and challenges readers to reconsider the conditions necessary for democratic self-rule.