Dystopia Nonfiction Book Club: Invisible Doctrine

Join us each month to discuss issues in politics and society, and explore how powerful forces are exploiting our world and dystopian imaginings are becoming present-day realities.

June’s book is Invisible Doctrine: the Secret History of Neoliberalism by journalist George Monbiot and filmmaker Peter Hutchison. Copies of the book are available to borrow in print, eBook, and eAudiobook formats. Book club attendees are encouraged to read the book in advance of the meeting.

Invisible Doctrine argues that neoliberalism has been transformed from a “fringe philosophy in the 1930s” to “the dominant ideology of our time”, an “extreme creed” accepted by many as “a kind of natural law” which champions “competition as the defining feature of humankind”. “One of the most pernicious effects has been to make our various crises—from climate disasters to economic crashes, from the degradation of public services to rampant child poverty—seem unrelated. In fact, they have all been exacerbated by the “invisible doctrine,” which subordinates democracy to the power of money. Monbiot and Hutchison… trace a direct line from neoliberalism to fascism, which preys on people’s hopelessness and desperation.”

In addition, we will be discussing Chapters 4, 7 & 8 of Breaking Free of Neoliberalism: Canada's Challenge: What It Will Take to Deal With American Decline, Inequality and the Climate Crisis by sociologist and former senior civil servant Alex Himmelfarb.

Drop in. No registration required.

Please note: the Dystopia Nonfiction Book Club will not be meeting in July. Our next meeting is August 17.