In this wide-ranging and perceptive work of cultural criticism, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter shatter the central myth of radical political, economic and cultural thinking. The idea of a counterculture that is, a world outside of the consumer dominated one that encompasses us pervades everything from the anti-globalisation movement to feminism and environmentalism. And the idea that mocking the system, or trying to jam it so it will collapse, they argue, is not only counterproductive but has helped to create the very consumer society that rad icals oppose.

In a lively blend of pop culture, history and philosophical analysis, Heath and Potter offer a startlingly clear picture of what a concern for social justice might look like without the confusion of the counterculture obsession with being different.