The Future of Trust

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A revealing exploration into how trust defines our lives, how it can be won and lost, and what its future might look like, in this fascinating title in the Melville House’s FUTURES series.

In a society battered by economic, political, cultural and ecological collapse, where do we place our trust, now that it is more vital than ever for our survival? How has that trust – in our laws, our media, our governments – been lost, and how can it be won back? Examining the police, the rule of law, artificial intelligence, the 21st century city and social media, Ros Taylor imagines what life might be like in years to come if trust continues to erode.

Have conspiracy theories permanently damaged our society? Will technological advances, which require more and more of our human selves, ultimately be rejected by future generations? And in a world fast approaching irreversible levels of ecological damage, how can we trust the custodians of these institutions to do the right thing – even as humanity faces catastrophe?”Interesting, thought-provoking… a really good read” – Times Radio

“Ros Taylor is onto something big which, to my astonishment, nobody before her has ever given the focus or scholarship she brings. Her analysis lies just beneath the surface of our 21st century’s crisis of confidence in democracy.” – Matthew Parris, author of Parting Shots: Undiplomatic Diplomats – The Ambassadors’ Letters You Were Never Meant to See

“Trust is the foundation of all societies. What happens when it goes? Ros Taylor describes a vicious spiral which can consume democracies: the state can’t keep its promises to voters, so they lose trust, which makes the state less powerful… and shows this terrifying future is already here, in many places and areas of life.” – Andrew Brown, author of Fishing in Utopia: Sweden and the Future that Disappeared

“Witty, dry, unflinching and insightful. Ros Taylor expertly maps out where we are as a society and provides a compelling – and frankly terrifying – vision of where we might go next.” – Ian Dunt, author of How Westminster Works… and Why it Doesn’tRos Taylor is a journalist and contributing editor at Podmasters, where she presents the podcasts Oh God, What Now?, The Bunker, and Jam Tomorrow. She is also a freelance editor for Open Society Foundations and has worked for the BBC. Previously she was a senior journalist at the Guardian, research manager for the Truth, Trust & Technology Commission at the London School of Economics, the co-editor and co-author of The 2018 Democratic Audit, and edited LSE research on COVID and Brexit. The Future of Trust is her first book.DK

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