"Concern over the present state of the world - its tensions and disparities - fosters in many people the uneasy combination of two sensations: those of urgency and powerlessness. We feel that something must be done before it is too late, but we have little idea of what we as individuals, or as families, or as groups of friends, can possibly do to stem the tide." "This book explores the choices we have. It considers the options for civil society, and for the individual, within today's political culture. It offers a strong critique of the prevailing model of modernity in developed countries, a model that is being exported and imposed on the rest of the world." "We need to re-think the choices we make on a day-to-day basis. We must look at the ways we use our time, our family lives, the sorts of goods and services we consume, and the quality of democracy that we are able to exercise. The solution, says Ginsborg, lies in our own hands."--Jacket.