This is a sweeping book that cuts across the traditional disciplinary divides of political theory, epistemology, global political economy, and identity politics. Reflecting this meta-view, its goals are bold. Joseph M. Schwartz aims to: 1) recover the language of democratic solidarity as a legitimate democratic value and show how aligning around it can empower, rather than essentialize, traditionally aggrieved groups; 2) put the “political” back in political theory by demanding that it fully engage the vast and growing inequality brought on by “race-to-the bottom” globalization; 3) demonstrate the ideational process by which the twin mantras of deregulation and an unregulated free market became so normalized that the (moderate) Keynesian liberalism of mere decades ago now seems so untenable to political imagination(s) and public policy; 4) challenge those who presume the nation-state has no upward leverage for progressive social welfare policy, environmental regulation, and human/labor rights in this era of globalization; and 5) outline the specific reforms that an international democratic movement for just globalization should rally behind and demonstrate why social movements rooted in egalitarian solidarity are integral to this effort.

Clearly, no small orders! Schwartz's dialogue on each of these points challenges accepted theoretical oppositions and assumed “musts” surrounding globalization. He is largely successful. Some theorists will undoubtedly challenge his take on their particular work and the places where his theoretical treatment(s) is too neat. Scholars of political economy and globalization will take issue with some of his more optimistic depictions. And they should. But these specificities miss the volume's larger point: Schwartz does not take on these seemingly “settled” issues for mere provocation. Rather, he does so to reengage political theory (and political science) on a defining issue of the day: global capitalism and the inequality, environmental dilapidation, and labor/human rights violations that have accompanied it. He sees none of this as inevitable, and his book is a complete effort to show how exactly all the powers of discourse, solidarity as a binding democratic value, the nation-state, global organizations, grassroots organizing, and trade unions must be marshaled to undo the current terms of globalization.

The specific thesis of The Future of Democratic Equality is that a tragic intellectual “mismatch” assisted the hegemonic growth of the conservative movement and its two key ideas: that deregulation is functionally required by global markets and that social insurance is a thing of the past. The mismatch was that precisely as wealth and income inequality skyrocketed in the United States, and social mobility stagnated, contemporary democratic political theorists focused instead on the theoretical problems with universal democratic values. Global solidarity organized around equal moral worth was necessary for combating laissez-faire discourse, but radical democratic theorists “problematized” universals like solidarity, claiming that they improperly ignore the fluid, negotiated nature of identity. Schwartz stresses the contributions of these arguments but maintains that the nearly exclusive problematizing of universal democratic values left the field silent on the ravages of race-to-the bottom globalization and alternatives to it. He contends that poststructuralism must recognize the everyday agency necessary to raise the floor on globalization and that the solidarity this necessitates is mutually reinforcing for identity politics.

The theoretical half of this argument is logically developed in Chapters 2–4, while Chapters 5–7 provide the empirical evidence. In the empirical portion, Schwartz analyzes nation-states (mostly in continental Europe) that have not gone the Anglo-American route of “casino capitalism” and, while making shifts, kept generous public provision in place along with strong annual economic growth rates. These examples challenge the “inevitability” of the starkest forms of globalization, and show that egalitarian policies can be protected and, with layered solidarities, flourish. While he acknowledges that in the United States such solidarity is doubly difficult because of the way that “economic individualism” became associated with white racial resentment, Schwartz nonetheless champions such solidarity, arguing that when energized by trade unions, international organization, and grassroots politics, it can challenge “race-to-the-bottom” globalization.

As noted, all this boldly challenges many well-worn logics and talented intellectuals. Gaps in such broad arguments are to be expected. Perhaps most dramatic is Schwartz's tendency to present his political conclusions as logical inevitabilities. Big arguments require considerable generalization, but at times more development is necessary. A more specific weakness emerges in connection with his depiction of U.S. welfare policy development. Given his contention that solidarity is key for upending stark globalization, it is no surprise that he endorses a “solidarity born of crisis” as essential for U.S welfare state expansion. But his account of such a solidarity is too rosy, and it ignores what he himself acknowledges is the profoundly racialized character of the U.S. welfare state even at its best.

Another place for further inspection involves the relationship between diversity and solidarity. The volume convincingly argues that identity politics and universal solidarities of human worth can be mutually reinforcing. But the direction of the text's argument is that solidarity can help ensure resources for aggrieved groups and provide an impetus for rallying allies. What of the inverse? When identity politics comes in the form of group consciousness, there is evidence that it can also facilitate new solidarities that cut across difference. This solidaristic direction involves considerable political agency and coherent identity formation, and it warrants further attention, especially since it would further bolster the author's conclusions.

Lastly, there is some tension between Schwartz's claim that “the right won the ideological market debate” and the recent electoral devastation experienced by the Republican Party. To be fair, the book went to press prior to the 2008 election, and does distinguish between electoral dominance and normalizing market discourse. But the reader is left pondering where Barack Obama fits into Schwartz's narrative. Is he another co-opted third-wave Democrat? Or does his message of “the audacity of hope” draw on the solidarity that Schwartz so endorses?

Questions such as these remain to be further explored. All the same, The Future of Democratic Equality is an important book, and Schwartz succeeds in laying out a comprehensive and invigorating approach for challenging race-to-the-bottom forms of globalization. His book is both sharply argued and politically relevant, and attention to it is sure to benefit both the field of political science and the field of democratic politics itself.