Centrism

From the creators of the chart-topping podcast Origin Story , a series of short books telling the stories of popular - but often misunderstood - political terms>

Auteur
Ian Dunt spent many years working in the heart of Westminster as editor of Politics.co.uk. He is a columnist for the i newspaper, host on the Oh God What Now and Origin Story podcasts, and regularly appears as a political pundit on TV and radio. He is the author of two previous books - Brexit: What the Hell Happens Now and How to be a Liberal.

Texte du rabat

From the creators of the chart-topping podcast Origin Story, a series of short books telling the stories of popular - but often misunderstood - political terms

Résumé

AN ORIGIN STORY BOOK

'Provides clarity, scholarship, wit and essential insight into why our world is the way it is' Adam Rutherford
'I wish I could make Ian and Dorian's work mandatory' Sathnam Sanghera

A coherent political philosophy or a vacuous cop-out? A pragmatic middle way between the extremes of left and right or a cynical strategy to secure power and neuter debate?

Politicians have long invoked centrism as both a term of abuse (Margaret Thatcher) and a badge of pride (Tony Blair). Figures as important as John Maynard Keynes, Roy Jenkins, Bill Clinton and Emmanuel Macron have all had different ideas about how to make sure the centre holds. But for a term that purports to describe consensus, it's ironic just how little agreement there is over what 'centrism' actually means.

In Centrism: The Story of an Idea, Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey trace the evolution of centrism from ancient Greece to the French Revolution, the Second World War to the 2024 elections. They find a story that is much bigger than the sum of its parts - and that raises some uncomfortable questions about tribalism and compromise.