1 Solutionism A product of the "cyberutopianism" of Silicon Valley, solutionism sees problems everywhere and asssumes that all of them have nifty technological fixes. Identified as a concept by a sceptical Evgeny Morozov, this worldview favours these hypothetical fixes over possibly more effective, slower-moving, political and regulatory solutions. It often involves thinking outside the box when there's a perfectly reasonable solution inside the box (although this might involve something inconvenient, like taxes or hard work). The overwhelming faith in technology that solutionism represents is often indistinguishable from magical thinking (such as when industrialists reject climate-change regulation in favour of a technological solution that hasn't been invented yet).
2 Privilege awareness An understanding that some people have it harder than you. It involves acknowledging that skin colour, gender identity, class or sexual preference may grant certain advantages in society. It does not mean that being white or straight or upper class or male means a person cannot experience hardship, loss and mental anguish. It just means that in some ways they have advantages. In the old days people would have called acknowledging this "good grace". Yet it's a difficult concept for some people to grasp.
3 Postdemocracy The political scientist Colin Crouch argues that western countries could become "postdemocratic" societies, in which, despite having the institutions of democracy, our governments are constrained by narrow ideological debate and the interests of elites. In a recent interview he identified a postdemocratic society as "one that continues to have and to use all the institutions of democracy but in which they increasingly become a formal shell". (He doesn't think we're quite there yet.)
4 Blockadia A network of grassroots, anti-capitalist and environmentally focused movements organising around the world and identified by Naomi Klein in her book This Changes Everything. Klein hopes Blockadia will become a counterbalance to corporate power and governments compromised by corporate power.
5 A 21-hour week In 1930 John Maynard Keynes believed that the challenge of the late 20th century would be how to fill our ever-expanding leisure time and foresaw his grandchildren working a 15-hour week. He just assumed that advances in productivity would lead to us spending more time with our families, painting watercolours or having philosophical debates. By the 21st century we seem to have instead chosen to divide our society between the overworked and the underemployed. To tackle this problem the New Economics Foundation, in the UK, has advocated the adoption of a 21-hour working week, reasoning that it would address both unemployment and climate change and give us all some much needed work-life balance.
6 Living wage This is based on the simple idea that the lowest wages society should allow should be above the poverty line. Irish campaigners in favour of a living wage suggest a floor of €11.45 an hour. (The minimum wage is €8.65.)
7 Technocracy Some people believe that arts ministers should be artists, finance ministers should be economists and health ministers should be doctors. This is "technocracy", where expertise is favoured over democratic selection. Presidential governments, where the president can appoint unelected ministers, are typically more technocratic than parliamentary ones. During the financial crisis both Greece and Italy were handed to technocratic governments. During the same period some Irish pundits advocated moving towards a more technocratic "list system" of government. Policy wonks love the idea of technocratic government, because they believe it to be more efficient and because it prevents cleaners, factory workers and the unemployed from achieving high office. In our system this is instead achieved by classism.
8 Libertarian paternalism With classical economics and its notion of a "rational consumer" discredited by the financial crisis, policymakers sought a new master narrative – and found it in behavioural economics. These psychologically literate economists study our cognitive biases and the flawed ways we make decisions. But in explaining how we might make better choices they also demonstrate how interested parties could better influence us. Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler's Nudge, read by both Barack Obama and David Cameron, proposes a cake-and-eat-it approach to governance called libertarian paternalism. This involves politicians employing Derren Brown-style mind games to hack our brains and get us to make the "right" choices. Libertarian paternalism is paternalistic in that they subtly steer us towards what they think is the best decision but libertarian in that all our options are theoretically left open.
9 Direct democracy In a representative democracy people get to vote every four or five years for a government that then makes decisions on their behalf. Gore Vidal maintained that this wasn't democracy at all but elected oligarchy. Advocates of direct democracy believe that citizens should be allowed a more frequent say in how their country is governed, by vetoes or regular referendums or by introducing the power to recall disappointing politicians. Technocrats (see "Technocracy") think it's dangerous to allow the public such power. Cynics argue that it all sounds like hard work. Anti-austerity, populist campaigners across Europe are becoming louder and louder in arguing that we could at least give it a shot.
10 Zero-growth economics Classical economists, politicians and those who listen to them are obsessed with economic growth. Growth is unquestionably seen as a good thing. Back in the 1970s, economists such as Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, EF Shumacher and Herman Daly recognised the deleterious effects of limitless growth on a limited planet. They advocated the creation of sustainable steady-state or zero-growth economies. (The notion actually goes back at least as far as John Stuart Mill.) The idea has returned to relevance as we race towards peak oil in an orgy of ecologically destructive boom-bust cycles. Some people, however, think the aforementioned orgy sounds like great fun, and they put their hopes for survival in solutionism (see "Solutionism").
