Radicals Chasing Utopia Inside the Rogue Movements Trying to Change the World

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” —George Bernard Shaw Within each society are sub-cultures—groups that believe that our problems require radical solutions. Journalist Jamie Bartlett, an expert on these groups, takes readers into the strange worlds of the innovators, disrupters, idealists, and extremists who think we can do better, and believe they know how. From the Islamic State to transhumanists, from followers of Bernie Sanders, Beppe Grillo, and Jeremy Corbyn to citizens of Liberland, the world's first libertarian nation—all these groups are grappling with very real problems in our society. Their methods may be extreme, scary, or outlandish, but Bartlett argues that they must be taken seriously. The success of democratic societies hinge on our ability to grapple with—and in some cases learn from—the radical movements in our midst. It has been true throughout our history, and it is true today. In chasing utopia, these groups are challenging what is possible in politics and previewing the ways in which our society will change.