Abstract

In opposition to the neoliberal destruction of solidarities, a new progressive collectivism has begun to emerge, re-establishing the idea of the demos in a way that challenges many of the assumptions of liberal democracy. The internet has played an important role in these emergent publics, enabling the return of a critical discourse based on inequality and the destruction of public goods. But it has also revealed crucial problems in the realization of mediated solidarity and collective politics, and in particular the difficulties with the notion of ‘political value’ in this new commons. Natalie Fenton explores these issues in relation to pluralism and horizontalism, freedom and autonomy, solidarity and the problem of ‘politics in common’ in the digital age.