It's hard to shake the feeling that we've lost control of the things that matter most in our lives. Our politics is fragmenting, the world is less stable than ever before and the economy seems to operate solely for the enrichment of distant shareholders. Across western democracies, people are feeling that life is getting harder and more unfair. In the face of such uncertainty, how can we regain our autonomy and rebuild a brighter, fairer future?

In Control, Claire Ainsley argues this profound loss of agency over the forces shaping our lives is the central challenge of our time. Endless pressures have left citizens increasingly disenfranchised, and in this gap between expectation and reality, trust is eroded, anxiety spirals and populist narratives gain traction by exploiting society's base fears.

Drawing on psychology, political strategy and Claire's own experience of policymaking in Westminster, this timely and arresting book proposes a new philosophy of control to better equip us – as individuals and as a society – to take on the myriad challenges of our time. We can only break the deadlock and navigate our collective malaise by taking back control from all-powerful markets and hamstrung states, unlocking our individual freedoms in the process.

Robust in its analysis and hopeful in its proposals, Control offers a practical roadmap for rebuilding trust in democracy by putting us back in the driving seat of our own lives.