Charles Derber is professor of sociology at Boston College, USA. A lifelong social justice activist, his work focuses on the crises of capitalism, globalization, corporate power, militarism, the culture of hegemony, the climate crisis, and peace and global justice movements. His recent books include Turnout!: Mobilizing Voters in an Emergency (Routledge, 2020), Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It (Routledge, 2023), Who Owns Democracy?: The Real Deep State and the Struggle Over Class and Caste in America (Routledge, 2024), and How We Win: Energizing Strategies, Voters, and Agendas (Routledge, 2024).

Introduction: The great societal bonfire

1 The bonfire of social relations and democracy: The self-destructing society, tipping points of social disconnection, and the path to sociocide and policide

2 The bonfire of the new Robber Barons: Melting down productive relations and dissolving the workplace

3 The bonfire of the tech revolution: AI and social media, surveillance capitalism, and the sociocide of Silicon Valley

4 The bonfire of the vanities: The over-heated American Dream, me over we, and the culture of social media and the lonely

5 The bonfire of environmental devastation: Climate change, COVID19, and the sociocidal shock doctrine

6 The bonfire of the armed society: Packing heat, militarized America, and the new war system at home

7 The bonfire of American fascists: Racial and class policide, the anti-Democratic Party, and ballots to bullets in the Trump era

8 Beyond the bonfire: Historic lessons, sociophiliac movements, and creating deep democracy and community

Index