Free and Equal

Brought to you by Penguin.

Despite the enormous problems we face and widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo, it’s surprisingly hard to find a coherent vision of what a better, fairer society would look like.

Free and Equal provides that vision. In this hugely ambitious and exhilarating debut, philosopher and economist Daniel Chandler argues that the ideas we need are hiding in plain sight, in the work of the twentieth century’s greatest political philosopher, John Rawls. Although they have transformed philosophy, his ideas have had little impact on politics – until now. In Free and Equal, Chandler shows us how they offer an intuitive yet powerful framework for addressing the urgent challenges we face, and an unparalleled resource for developing a transformative progressive politics.

Taking Rawls’s humane and egalitarian liberalism as his starting point, and drawing on evidence from the social sciences and on inspiring examples from around the world, Chandler builds a careful and ultimately irresistible case for fundamentally re-designing our basic institutions – from how we can protect basic freedoms of speech, religion and sexuality whilst transcending the culture wars, to a completely new way of funding political parties and the media, to an economic agenda that would give everyone a fair share not just of income and wealth, but of power and control, dignity and self-respect.

This is a book brimming with hope and possibility – a much-needed alternative to the cynicism that pervades our politics, setting out a ‘realistic utopia’ that can galvanise people from all walks of life. Free and Equal has the potential not only to transform contemporary debate, but to offer a touchstone for a modern, egalitarian liberalism for many years to come, cementing Rawls’s place in political discourse, and firmly establishing Chandler as a vital new voice for our time.