Future politics : living together in a world transformed by tech

533 Pages·2018·3.54 MB·English

by  Sussking, Jamie

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F U TUR E P OL IT IC S
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JAMIE
SUSSKIND
LIV I N G T O G E T H E R I N A W O R L D T R A N S F O R M E D B Y T E C H
F U T U R E
P O L I T I C S
1
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3
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© Jamie Susskind 2018
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This book is dedicated to my parents,
Michelle and Richard
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I could not have written this book without the help of my friends,
colleagues, and family.
Most of Future Politics was completed during a Fellowship at
Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.
The Center is a special place, and its staf and Fellows are a constant
source of inspiration. I am also indebted to the staf and members of
Littleton Chambers, who have tolerated my absences and supported
my work with great patience and loyalty.
I have been lucky to fnd, in Dominic Byatt, the ideal editor:
always insightful, frequently critical, and generally indulgent of my
foibles. My agent, Caroline Michel, has looked after me from the
beginning and I am always thankful to have her on my side. It has
been a pleasure to work with the fne teams at Oxford University
Press and Peters Fraser + Dunlop: Tim Binding, Alexandra Clif,
Tessa David, Kate Farquhar-Thomson, Phil Henderson, Dan Herron,
Erin Meehan, Laurie Robertson, Sarah Russo, and Olivia Wells. Chris
Summerville expertly copy-edited the fnal text.
I am grateful to Luciano Floridi, Vicki Nash, and Susannah Otter,
whose early guidance helped to get the project of the ground.
Fred Popplewell’s research was enormously useful. I have beneftted
deeply from conversations with Yochai Benkler, Alex Canfor-
Dumas, Amber Case, Matt Cliford, David Cox, Primavera De
Filippi, Gabriella Fee, Howard Gardner, Josh Glancy, Philip Howard,
Laurence Lessig, Andrew Perlman, Michael Sandel, Bruce Schneier,
Carina Namih, Beth Simone Noveck, David Weinberger, Owain
Williams, Ellen Winner, Tom Woodward, and Jonathan Zittrain.
David Wilkins has been an invaluable source of wisdom and counsel.
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viii Acknowledgements
Suzanne Ashman, James Boyle, Lizzie Gaisman, Nicholas Gaisman,
Dorita Gilinski, Philip Howard, and Martha Minow ofered invalu-
able commentary on various drafts, and Ifeoma Ajunwa and Maxine
Mackintosh provided feedback that dramatically improved Part V.
I will always be grateful to Olivia Wollenberg for her encourage-
ment and advice as the writing process got underway.
Several readers were kind enough to read the manuscript in full:
Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Matt Cliford, Alex Canfor-Dumas, Kim
FitzGerald, Matthew Flinders, Howard Gardner, Beeban Kidron,
Laurence Mills, Marius Ostrowski, Fred Popplewell, Susannah
Prichard, Dov Seidman, Daniel Sleat, Owain Williams, and Tom
Woodward. Their many (many) points of criticism have made it a
much better book. Throughout, Pavithra Mahesh encouraged me,
for better or worse, to write with my own voice. Philippa Greer
made a big diference in a short space of time.
The great Matt Orton has been an unfailing source of writerly
wisdom, feedback, and motivation. Chris and Diana Orton kindly
let me squat in their Edinburgh cottage while I fnished writing.
If there is any good political theory in these pages, it is down to
Simon Caney, who fred my passion for the discipline as an under-
graduate and, ten years later, reviewed the manuscript of this book
with his customary rigour.
Finally, I wish to thank my family. I am always amazed by how
fercely my mum, Michelle, believes in my work. I would be nowhere
without her love and support. She is my surest source of strength and
encouragement. My sister Ali has been a rock: I trust her judgement
entirely and have leaned on it countless times. Her painstaking
labours in the closing stages helped me to get the m anuscript over
the line ( just about) in time.
Writing about the future has become a kind of weird family busi-
ness for the Susskinds. Some readers will know that my dad, Richard
Susskind, has been writing about the impact of technology since
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Acknowledgements ix
the early 1980s; and that he and my brother Daniel Susskind (an
economist) co-authored a book called The Future of the Professions
in 2015. If you read that book, you will see the extent of my intel-
lectual debt to them both. Daniel has been my most thoughtful and
generous reader, as well as my fercest supporter.
I do not have the words to describe what I owe to my dad or
how grateful I am to him. It’s been the greatest joy and good fortune
of my life to have him as my best friend, mentor, and guide. We’ve
been in constant conversation for nearly thirty years, and for the
last few we’ve mostly been talking about this book. His infuence
and inspiration are present on every page.
Jamie Susskind
London
May 2018