False Necessity

Book excerpt: This new edition of "False Necessity" marks the beginning of Verso's reissuing of Roberto Mangabeira Unger's major works in political and social thought, first published together as "Politics." Unger's ideas have helped to inspire progressives across the world who look for alternatives to the ruling political and economic orthodoxy. Here he develops a radical explanation for society that is different from both Marxism and neoliberalism, and offers a program for change. His new and comprehensive introduction explores the limits to our understanding of society and politics and reconsiders the proposals in the book as examples of many untried intellectual and political possibilities.