BRATTLEBORO-Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) and partners are hosting two events this weekend focused on the film The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism and the book version published this year by Penguin Random House.
The public is welcome to register for a Friday virtual Literary Cocktail Hour with authors and film creators Peter Hutchison (joining from Brooklyn) and George Monbiot (joining from London). On Sunday, all are welcome to view The Invisible Doctrine at Brattleboro's Latchis Theatre to be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Peter Hutchison, moderated by Guilford's Chuck Collins, author and senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.
According to a news release, these events are designed to examine neoliberalism, the "invisible forces behind economic inequality, climate disruption, disinformation, and an increasingly unstable world order" that affect nearly every aspect of our lives, insidiously and, usually, with anonymity.
Neoliberalism, which Monbiot calls "capitalism on steroids," emerged worldwide in 1938 and, since the 1970s, "has dominated the political and economic agenda of the West."
This "business-backed ideology committed to cutting taxes, busting trade unions, gutting government regulations, and privatizing public services, is the dominant political and economic philosophy of our time.
"Yet despite capturing both major parties and shaping and controlling virtually every aspect of our lives, it's a term that's rarely mentioned in mainstream media and politics, let alone explained or scrutinized," the news release reads.
Seeing clear threads
In both the book and the crowdfunded film - recently named one of the best documentaries of 2025 by Vogue - Monbiot and Hutchison make a case that "neoliberal policies are incompatible with the preservation of life on Earth as we know it."
The team offers critical insight into the causes of the political, environmental, and social crises that have come to define our times. Drawing on recent studies that refute the pervasive notion that we are self-serving individuals by nature, it dissects neoliberalism and offers a humanistic way forward.
Monbiot, an award-winning British author and journalist, has been dedicated to environmental research and worldwide activism, as well as to creative efforts toward community building and civic engagement.
Hutchison, a filmmaker, author, educator, and activist, has created critically acclaimed films, including Requiem for the American Dream (featuring Noam Chomsky), The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to Auschwitz, Devil Put the Coal in the Ground, and Healing from Hate: Battle for the Soul of a Nation.
Hutchison noted that he and filmmaker Lucas Sabean have made several films together.
"When you look back, you see these clear threads. A lot grew out of this initial project I did with Chomsky about inequality in the United States, where he talked about neoliberalism. And at the time, I personally thought, Oh, yeah, neoliberalism - I know what that is."
He admits, though, that the more he investigated, the more he saw what a broad and deep topic it is and its "huge impact and imprint on our lives."
His needing to do a deeper dig led to Monbiot.
"Lucas and I came across an op-ed that George had done in The Guardian - the most clear, concise, engaging, informative editorial I'd ever seen on neoliberalism explaining what it is and its roots," he recalled.
They immediately saw Monbiot as "the guy we want to work with around this."
With "a lot of people feeling disenfranchised," he added, there's a pervasive trend of "othering," leading people to "anger and violence [and] towards a more fascist or authoritarian kind of structure."
Sabean recalled that for Devil Put the Coal in the Ground, Hutchison traveled to West Virginia to "get some interviews with angry white men."
When he came back from that trip, Hutchison said, "I didn't get a lot of angry white men, but I got a lot of really hurting people on camera."
These subjects were "people who are boots on the ground, suffering at the hands of neoliberal policies," he said.
Insidious impact
"With The Invisible Doctrine, we were looking to do a bigger-picture look at neoliberalism through a finer lens," Hutchison said.
They sought to explore neoliberalism's effect, which transcends political parties, making it "so insidious people can't even clearly define what it is or how it impacts our lives," Hutchison said.
The shoot, Sabean explained, happened in England, where Monbiot lives.
Of the author's command of the material in the film, he added, "He's digested this material so much that once you step on the conveyor belt of the film, you're hooked - like, this guy is telling you something."
The film, organized in chapters, covers roots to branches of neoliberalism from slave labor to think tanks, monopolies to corporations' yield to oligarchy, tactics of distraction to destruction of the environment.
Hutchison admitted that things look grim now, but said we have to "remind ourselves that we live in one of the most open fluid societies that holds the greatest democratic potential for change."
That requires engagement and organization.
"If we want to sit around and complain about how horrible things are, we really, at the end of the day, only have ourselves to blame, right?" Hutchison said. "Because we haven't taken advantage of the system that gives us the potential and the levers and the structure for change."
A way forward
At the end of the film and book, the filmmakers/authors offer a way forward, an avenue for the revitalization of community, and the crafting of a new narrative.
"We explore different policies and initiatives that are happening right now that really hold the potential for change in terms of economic justice, balancing out inequality - things are happening on a very small scale, but happening around the world," Hutchison explained.
"They're even happening in the United States - everything from worker-owned corporations and businesses to cooperatives - participatory democracy and budgeting," he said.
Urging a leveling of the playing field, the film highlights the notion of the commons as a vehicle for social change, of democratic participation and of reclamation of government, especially at a local community level calling for systemic, long-term change.
The new narrative it envisions depends on human action and interaction, because, Monbiot noted, humans are the supreme collaborators.
"We flourish when we work together," he said.
Up next for Hutchinson and Sabean, who both have ties to Brattleboro: a film with a working title Just Futures, which is about building an economy that benefits everyone.
These events are made possible in partnership with the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Latchis Theatre, Brooks Memorial Library, Vermont Independent Media, Everyone's Books, and with support from the Vermont Humanities Council. To register and get a Zoom link for the Friday, March 14 Literary Cocktail Hour and for more information, visit windhamworldaffairscouncil.org/events. That link will also lead to registration for a community screening of the documentary at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro on Sunday, March 16, at 5 p.m. Both events are free; a $10 donation is suggested.
This Arts item by Annie Landenberger was written for The Commons.