E4 George Monbiot

How can you fight something if you don’t know it exists? Legendary environmentalist and Guardian columnist George Monbiot takes on the ideology that controls our lives.

An iconoclast unafraid to speak truth to power, George Monbiot has been fighting for a better future for our planet for decades. Now, returning to the festival, he joins journalist and broadcaster Anu Anand to share the history of the ideology that preys on every aspect of our lives – and help us to find a better alternative worth fighting for.

How was a fringe philosophy from the 1930s hijacked by a group of wealth elites, determined to guard their fortunes and power? How does the system they created affect our education and our jobs; our healthcare and our leisure; our relationships and our mental wellbeing; even the planet we inhabit – the very air we breathe?

So pervasive has it become that, for most people, it has no name. It seems unavoidable, like a natural law. But the truth is that neoliberalism is not inevitable nor immutable. Now, by understanding its history, we can bring it into the light — and begin to fight back.

Praise for the works of George Monbiot:  

‘With a dazzling command of science and a relentless faith in people, George Monbiot writes about social change with his eyes wide open. I never miss reading him.’ – Naomi Klein

‘There is no writer willing to dispense of bullshit, tell us the truth, and take on powerful forces and perceived wisdom like George Monbiot.’ – Lucy Jones

‘George Monbiot is a very skilful writer… He seems to see more fully than almost anyone else in this field.’ – Philip Pullman

George Monbiot is an author, Guardian columnist and environmental campaigner. His best-selling books include Feral: Rewilding the Land, Sea and Human Life and Heat: How We Can Stop the Planet Burning; his latest is Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet. George co-wrote the concept album Breaking the Spell of Loneliness with musician Ewan McLennan, and has made a number of viral videos. One of them, adapted from his 2013 TED talk, How Wolves Change Rivers, has been viewed on YouTube over 40 million times. Another, on Natural Climate Solutions, which he co-presented with Greta Thunberg, has been watched over 60 million times