Facing the future: Progressives in a changing world

The populist radical right are not just gaining in the battle of votes but is also dominating the battle of ideas: about who the state is for, how it should be governed, its relationship to markets and the world, where the threats are coming from.

In a rapidly changing world, one resource is more valuable than all else: political imagination. The populist right wields it with ruthless effect. Progressives have the opportunity to do so too, but only if they engage more creatively with the big issues of the time, not as prophets of doom, but as sources of energy. 

This report is about recovering faith in our capacity to shape what lies ahead. It describes how the world, politics and the economy have changed since the last time Labour was in government, and maps assets available to progressives in a new era. We set out three ways in which the world has changed, and the questions that need answering if progressives want to change with it. 

1. A world between orders: national borders have been reasserted over global integration.
2. The common good without common ground: politics and the public sphere have fragmented and polarised.
3. Economics after neoliberalism: faith in free markets as the best way of organising economies has declined. 

Moments when the future direction of policy and politics are up for grabs tend to pass quickly. The longer the populist right are left to meet the moment unchallenged, the more they will define the ground and set it in their favour. It is time to take the fight to them, with a new progressive political project.