Introduction

This introduction provides an overview of the text, with an emphasis upon a plurality of considerations, rather than mere political alignment. Allies over one issue can be on the opposing side over other matters. The ethics of dissent is treated as a difficult navigation rather than simply a matter of choosing sides. Matters can seem otherwise, partly because distinctions of left and right continue to have various roles to play, and partly because social democracy continues to exercise an intellectual influence upon dissent. It is likely to do so long after social democracy’s institutional decline.