We are far less free than we like to think.
In Creating Freedom, Raoul Martinez exposes the mechanisms of control that pervade our lives and the myths on which they depend. Exploring the lottery of our birth, the coercive influence of concentrated wealth, and the consent-manufacturing realities of undemocratic power, he shows that our faith in free media, free markets, free elections and free will is dangerously misplaced. Written with empathy and imagination, this scholarly, fierce and profoundly hopeful manifesto makes a dazzling case for creating freedom on our own terms.
"What makes it exceptional is its sophisticated philosophical argument. . . This year's essential text for thinking radicals" - * Guardian *
"Strong arguments . . . epic in scope . . . [A] manifesto . . . to enlighten citizens stuck in an illusion of democracy" - * Financial Times *
"Thought-provoking . . . sound and persuasive . . . Eminently readable with a an elegance of style not often found in theoretical works. It is no less than a rallying cry to take back the substance rather than the illusions of our freedoms" - * New Internationalist *
"An impassioned social and political critique with glimmers of hope for change . . . An intelligent, rigorous manifesto" - * Kirkus *
"Creating Freedom presents a stunning treatise; the freedoms within our society are illusory or entirely antithetical to actual liberty... The author, and the arguments within his book, have a tendency to leave a reader feeling enlivened, stirred and provoked... Martinez has arguments to make your head spin... The difficulty of imagining this new moral landscape seems daunting, but in the company of Raoul Martinez it seems a tiny bit more likely" - * Irish Times *
"Every now and then you read a book that's so good you want to recommend it to everyone. [This] is such a book. It's a clear and convincing plea for freedom and democracy, and against capitalism and inequality, and it really opens your eyes to things that you might have felt, but couldn't yet formulate" - * Vice *
