Join us for this talk with Alec Ross about his latest book, The Raging 2020s, which through interviews with the world’s most influential thinkers and stories of corporate activism and malfeasance, government failure and renewal, examines the economic and political forces that brought us to where we are today and looks at the trends shaping the decade to come.
For 150 years, there has been a social contract. Companies hold the power to shape our daily lives. Governments hold the power to make them fall in line. And the people hold the power to choose their leaders. But now, this balance has shaken loose. Today’s global companies are as powerful as countries and on issues ranging from privacy to sustainability to diversity and workers’ rights, we are more governed by companies than we are by governments. Whether the future looks more like Star Trek or more like Mad Max comes down to a very human question that we cannot outsource to algorithms: will we come together to rewrite our social contract? As the world rages amidst pandemic, rising inequality and increasingly frequent climate disasters, Alec Ross offers a path forward in The Raging 2020s.
You can order the book, THE RAGING 2020s: Companies, Countries, People — and the Fight for Our Future, (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.
Meet our speaker and chair
Alec Ross (@AlecJRoss) is a Distinguished Professor at l’Universitá di Bologna, an author, entrepreneur and investor. His book The Raging 2020s is about the collision that has taken place at the intersection of government, business and citizens. His prior book The Industries of the Future has been translated into 24 languages and been a best-seller on 5 continents. He is a Board Partner at Amplo, a global venture capital firm and sits on the board of directors for companies in the fields of technology, finance, education, human capital and cybersecurity. Alec served as the convenor for technology and media policy on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and served as Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He began his career with Teach for America and co-founded and helped lead a technology-focused social enterprise.
Andrés Velasco (@AndresVelasco) is Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
More about this event
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A podcast of this event is available to download from The Raging 2020s: companies, countries, people — and the fight for our future.
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