Search results for ""Lawrence Wishart Ltd""

Explores the little known history of the Bengali squatters' movement of the 1970s in East London.

Read more less

A new edition of the groundbreaking biography of activist, newspaper editor and community organiser, Claudia Jones. Featuring a preface by Black feminist writer, Lola Olufemi, and an appendix compiled by Marika Sherwood. This is the first book in Lawrence Wishart's new Radical Black Women Series.

Read more less

The rise of Podemos in Spain is part of a wave of European left political initiatives that are putting forward new ideas for change and innovative ways of thinking about politics. The traditional left in Europe has been in difficulties for some time now: the communist tradition is a shadow of its former self, while social democracy seems unable to meet the challenge of the financial crisis. The thinkers and activists of Podemos have been at the forefront of rethinking based on moving away from orthodoxies, bringing new hope to the left.In this book Inigo Errejo n of Podemos and political theorist Chantal Mouffe discuss the emergence of these new movements, and in particular of Podemos. They critically engage with both the older traditions and the newly emerging parties and movements. They explore new ways of creating collective identities, and building majorities, while also reflecting on the major political challenges facing the left. The conversation between them is an intervention from two people who are ideally placed to draw on the seminal earlier theoretical work of Mouffe with Ernesto Laclau, and to link it directly into the practice of the new politics.This book is therefore important reading for those interested in the state of the contemporary European left in general, and specifically in the strategic issues facing Podemos in Spain. It makes an essential contribution towards the creation of a new left politics.

Read more less

The neoliberal revolution, which began in the 1970s, was an extremely successful attempt to roll back the gains of the post-war welfare state and of liberation movements, and to restore the dominance of business interests across the world. In recent years, many Soundings articles have sought to interpret these developments through conjunctural analysis. This collection brings some of this work together, to explore what is at stake in our current and recent political battles and call into question the foundational assumptions of the neoliberal order. With contributions from Stuart Hall, Doreen Massey and Michael Rustin - the founding editors of Soundings - John Clarke, and an introduction by Sally Davison and Jonathan Rutherford, this volume represents a key moment in Soundings' analysis of neoliberalism. Throughout the collection, authors examine issues on which the whole of the left needs to focus, including political parties, activists, social movements, the trade unions and other civil society movements. Hegemonies, including the current neoliberal hegemony, can be disrupted at moments of crisis. Analyses of such moments, such as those in this Soundings collection, develop our understanding of how to politically intervene and how to formulate an alternative to neoliberal hegemonies.

Read more less

In this issue, Sureyya Evren's editorial examines the causes and consequences of the Gezi resitance in Istanbul in June 2013. Identifying the two-week occupation of Taksim Square and Gezi Park as the formulation of an temporary autonomous zone (TAZ), Evren discusses the police violence, state conservatism and threats to public space that led to this anarchist moment. Federico Campagna offers a poetic anarchist reading of the works of poet Fernando Pessoa. Pessoa lived through heteronyms, and Campagna explores how these different personalities offered Pessoa the potential to finally achieve 'free will'. Roy Krovel's article takes a theoretical approach in analysing how left libertarians and anarchists might develop a deeper understanding of global warming. Emphasising the urgency of locating such an understanding, Krovel argues that we need to fundamentally rethink our relationship to nature. Also in this issue, John Asimakopoulos identifies the failure to bridge the gap between utopian economic models of society and reality. Via the suggestions that corporations have boards of directors filled by lottery from the demos and the workers for the company, Asimakopoulos suggests that institutions of production need to be modified in order to achieve a society that resembles a distant utopia. Duane Rousselle and Saul Newman debate postanarchism, exploring the ethics of the movement and the fact that it is not located in a specific temporal period.

Read more less

Railways have always been at the heart of British politics, from their early beginnings in the 1830s through to the present day. And the sharpest debates have been on the issue of ownership and accountability. The book charts the railways under nationalisation (1948-1993) and outlines rail privatisation in both the UK and other European countries. Paul Salveson gives credit to recent achievements but attacks the fragmentation, increased costs and higher fares that have become a feature of Britain's privatised railways. Arguing against the return to a centralised 'British Rail', Salveson instead suggests a new model which goes with the flow of current plans to devolve rail responsibilities within the English regions. The author was the originator of the highly successful community rail movement, and he argues for more direct involvement of local communities in their railways. He outlines recent examples of local social enterprises bringing thriving services back to semi-abandoned stations, and shows how Britain's heritage railway sector has been a successful model for not-for-profit rail enterprise. Combining historical analysis with personal experience and political theory, Salveson's research suggests an alternative ownership system for the rail networks and a possible future for Britain's transport system. The book also includes a foreword by Maria Eagle, the shadow secretary of state for transport.

Read more less

Welsh miners made up one of the largest contingents within the British Battalion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Coming from the valleys all across South Wales, they brought with them a political tradition unique in Britain in its combination of trade union militancy, radical extra-parliamentary activity and internationalism. Hywel Francis draws on a wide variety of contemporary sources to paint a vivid picture of the tumultuous politics of South Wales in the 1920s and 1930s - the context for the decision made by so many to volunteer. The book describes the process of volunteering, the militant role played by the Welsh volunteers, and the mass movements of political solidarity with Spain within Wales. It also includes many illustrations, and reproduces letters written by volunteers to their relatives and friends back in Wales. This updated 2012 edition includes a new preface and a newly compiled complete list of all Welsh volunteers.

Read more less

Metaphors of money have shaped theories of sexual psychology ever since Enlightenment doctors explained the mind-body as an 'animal economy' whose currency was desire, figured as a liquid form of energy that could be spent or saved, profitably invested or pleasurably squandered.In this erudite and groundbreaking book, David Bennett explores the power of economic language to mould both scientific and popular thinking about desire from the eighteenth century to the present, on topics as disparate as onanism and advertising, psychoanalysis and shopping, Christianity and communism, prostitution and revolution.The Currency of Desire combines intellectual history with modern critical theory to shed new light on the interactions between money and desire, homo oeconomicus and homo psychologicus.

Read more less

Twenty years after the demise of the Communist Party of Great Britain, eight former members, all of whom who stayed in the party until the bitter end, reflect here on some of the personal, political and cultural changes of the last twenty years. The paths of Dave Cope, Andy Croft, Alistair Findlay, Stuart Hill, Kate Hudson, Andy Pearmain, Mark Perryman and Lorna Reith have followed very different political trajectories since 1991 - taking them into the Green Party, the Labour Party, the CPB, SLP, Respect and no party at all. But most have remained politically active. Combining personal and political history, analysis and autobiography, anecdote and argument, the contributors consider the consequences of the CP's dissolution for British political and intellectual life.

Read more less

Gramsci's writings on culture have been hugely influential for western critical thinking during the last forty years. This volume brings together a wealth of these writings, ranging from appreciations of theatre, literature and other forms of artistic production to notes that break new ground in cultural theory. Gramsci was interested in both popular and high-art culture, and the writings in this selection include his reflections on Futurism as well as the detective novel, on linguistics and journalism, on 'national-popular' culture and folklore. The volume's extensive introductory material and explanatory notes offer useful background information on the wider context of Gramsci's work.

Read more less

Arthur Horner (1894-1968) was a miners' leader from the 1926 general strike to his retirement as general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1959. During his life, he played a crucial role in the fight for a national mineworkers union, and in the development of the National Coal Board; he was a champion of the Republicans in Spain; he was imprisoned several times for his views; and, he was in constant demand as a speaker. But it was his warmth, good humour and enthusiasm which made 'little Arthur', as he was affectionately known by his union colleagues, really memorable.

Read more less

Imagined Nation: England after Britain Mark Perryman (ed) The break-up of Britain has begun but, unlike the rest of its constituent parts, England remains an imagined nation. Scotland has a Parliament, and Wales and Northern Ireland have Assemblies. What does England have as a nation state - apart from a team to cheer and a flag to wave? Imagined Nation explores the possibilities for England after Britain - as a multicultural nation, capable of addressing the legacies of history, yet confident enough to construct an inclusive future. The contributors to this book put forward a variety of ideas in an effort to begin to create a new imaginary for an old country. Rejecting racialised ideas of Englishness, they outline the prospects for a hybrid nation, and offer a vision of a green and pleasant land as an alternative national future. 'Some of the sharpest thinking around on both the pitfalls of nationalism and the potential for a progressive English identity' Gary Younge 'Mark Perryman has long been one of the more articulate commentators on issues of national identity' Andrew Shields, Time Out 'Mark Perryman, the supreme documenter of English fandom' Brian Appleyard, Sunday Times Mark Perryman is writer and regular TV commentator on Englishness and football, and a lecturer in sports journalism at Brighton University. He is convenor of the London England Fans supporters' group, co-founder of Philosophy Football and author of a number of books, including Ingerland: Travels with a Football Nation and (as editor) The Blair Agenda.

Read more less

Communism was one of the defining political movements of the twentieth century. Viewed from different perspectives, it was at once a utopia, an ideology, a system of government, an apparatus of terror and an international political movement stretching to almost every corner of the globe. None of these aspects of its history will be overlooked in "Twentieth Century Communism". Nevertheless, the journal's primary concern is with communism as an international movement of unparalleled scope and cohesiveness. Since the collapse of the USSR and its satellites nearly twenty years ago, this phenomenon has given rise to a rich historical literature, informed both by the accessibility of communist archives and wider developments in social, political and cultural history. "Twentieth Century Communism" is a peer-reviewed journal of 256 pages appearing annually in May. As well as peer-reviewed research and discussion articles, it includes reviews, conference reports, key and a noticeboard section. The core of each issue will be provided by a themed section.

Read more less

Marx lived in London as a political exile from 1849 until his death in 1883. This book links the story of Marx's life in London to the places he lived and worked, and is aimed at visitors who are interested in seeing the places with which he was particularly associated. It is fully illustrated with photographs, maps and illustrations, and includes transport details to places of interest. Marx spent most of the first years in London in Soho, before moving to Kentish Town in 1856. Other places of significance to his life include the British Museum Reading Room, where he worked on Capital, Covent Garden, where the meetings of the First International took place, and Hampstead Heath, where Marx and his friends spent family Sundays.

Read more less

The British trade unionist and Labour MP A. A. Purcell (1872-1935) once enjoyed international notoriety. An outspoken champion of Soviet Russia, he nevertheless performed the highest labour movement responsibilities and was a leading figure on the TUC General Council. Purcell was a member of the earliest British labour delegations to Russia and his presidency of the International Federation of Trade Unions coincided with the TUC's energetic promotion of the cause of Anglo-Russian trade union unity, culminating in the publication of a glowing TUC report on the Soviets in 1925. However, as a leading TUC 'left' his credibility was badly dented by the failure of the General Strike in 1926, and the following year he lost his position with the IFTU. He ended his career in the relative obscurity of the Manchester and Salford Trades Council.

Read more less

Since culture is the mediator between the individual and society, it is not surprising that it is a crucial part of politics. This is recognized by New Labour. Chris Smith, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in a speech soon after the 1997 Labour election victory, stated that "Culture is what gives us a sense of identity both as individuals and as a nation". He argued that culture lies at the very heart of the mission of the new government. This book presents a series of differing inflections of the relationship between politics and culture. The editors argue that it is crucial to analyze the culture of New Labour; but also that any politics in the age of "the triumph of capitalism" needs to be informed by cultural theory.

Read more less

Following her successful book "A New Modernity?", which looked at ways in which we could rethink Enlightenment values to include more of the world of the emotions and the body, in this volume Wendy Wheeler gathers together essays which explore the complex nature of the contemporary "self", which - as she argues - is the starting point for politics. Wheeler's contributors show that looking creatively and imaginatively across the different disciplines, art, literature, science, psychology - one can see the emergence of new ideas about the nature of politics, and of the human beings which are the subject of politics. In particular, one can see the poverty of much contemporary political discourse, which tends to lose sight of human beings in its focus on managerialism, efficiency and a rather narrowly defined realism. By rethinking fundamental questions about the nature of political subjects, we can begin to develop a new and more humane politics. The book has a historical section which looks at ways in which ideas about the self have been both shaped by past political cultures and reflected in them. The contemporary section includes essays on psychoanalysis, crowd psychology, modernization, colonialism, political poetry, complexity theory, emotional literacy, ethics, masculinity and computer prosthetics. Wheeler's trawling of the disciplines in her quest for a new politics has resulted in an original and illuminating series of reflections on new ways of "doing politics".

Read more less

First published in 1867, "Capital Volume 1" is now established as Marx's most important work, and a classic text for students of politics, philosophy and economics. This unabridged paperback edition is based on the first translation into English by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, which was edited by Frederick Engels. The book focuses on capitalist production, and analyses capitalism's workings through detailed research and observation of what was the most advanced industrial country of the 19th century.

Read more less

When "The Who"s Pete Townshend donned a union jack jacket in the 1960s, it was a satirical statement from a young English reactionary railing against an Establishment soaked in an archaic notion of Britishness. Now, Townshend has become part of the establishment. Kevin Davey's book looks at several similar examples of the changing nature of 20th century British identity, and identifies the problems facing modernizers hampered by traditional nationalism, which fails to engage with the complexities of contemporary culture. Drawing upon the work of pre- and post-war critics of dominant notions of Britishness, including J.B. Priestley, Herbert Read, Edward Lear, and Lewis Carroll, Davey relates their views to the work of more recent challengers of traditional notions of Englishness. As well as Townshend, Davey analyses Vivienne Westwood, who invented anti-fashion and has since become a leader of "haute couture". These two are placed in context alongside contemproary icons such as Guyanan poet David Dabydeen, and young British artist Mark Wallinger. The text places the discussion of the contradictions involved in the construction and inheritance of an Anglo-British identity in the context of the Blair government's plans for the modernization of British culture.

Read more less

This is a guide through contemporary political thought. Drawing on a wide variety of expertise and experience, the contributors chart the emergence of new political ideologies, outlining the most important concepts and the most influential thinkers; they also list the key events and debates within each discipline, providing readers with an effective framework to organize their understanding. The world of politics has seen many changes in the latter part of the 20th century, with major new movements emerging - from fundamentalism of all descriptions to the playfulness of postmodernism, from green thought to the authoritarianism of the new right. These changes have also meant that established political theories have been recast in the light of contemporary realities. The book maps out these changes, and is written for all those who want to understand modern politics.

Read more less

This work captures the dynamism of the West-African student movement in Britain, and the struggle to articulate a coherent, anti-colonial politics. The emergence of the West African Students Union (WASU) and its alliances with influential Labour MPs, the Communist Party of Great Britain, as well as organizations in Africa, paved the way for the successful independence movements to influence so many African states. Hakim Adi documents the achievements of the student movement in overcoming racism and the "colour bar", and shows how the hostility of British society served only to create a sense of unity, which allowed WASU the ideological and political space to question and, ultimately, to expose the illegitimacy of colonial rule. More than an account of Africans within the context of British soceity, the book emphasizes the effects these pioneers have had on a world stage. Hakim Adi is the author of "The History of African and Caribbean Communities" and "African Migrations", and co-author of "The 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress Revisited".

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, this volume contains the correspondence between Karl Marx and Frederick Engels from the latter part of the 19th century. The series contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

This English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, contains the second volume of "Das Capital", the classic text of Marxism for economists, social scientists, philosophers, students and political activitists alike.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

Antonio Gramsci was an innovative and wide-ranging thinker whose interpretations of Marxism helped rescue it from determinism and economic reductionism. In the words of Stuart Hall: 'Reading Gramsci has fertilised our political imagination, transformed our way of thinking, our style of thought, our whole political project'. Gramsci's creative use of terms such as hegemony, civil society and historic block adds a new dimension to political vocabulary. But the fragmentary nature of his writings, especially in the Prison Notebooks, means that it is not always easy to grasp the full significance of his ideas. This book, completely revised in 1991 and further revised in 2015, provides an account of Gramsci's work which makes his writing accessible and comprehensible for the contemporary reader.

Read more less

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Read more less

This work lays out the main outlines and most important turning points of British history - from the point of view of ordinary people. The book has remained in print for more than 50 years.

Read more less

As leaders of a ‘people’s university’, part of the vast post-1960s expansion in British higher education, UEL’s first generation of educationalists was committed to innovation and to creating a new democratic identity for their institution. They were also determined to extend access to higher education to those previously excluded, and to offer East Londoners, at a time of social deprivation and political turbulence, the vocational education to meet their aspirations. In this book, leading figures in UEL’s history describe its radical accomplishments across a broad range of subject areas including Architecture, Cultural Studies, Fashion Textiles, Independent Studies, Law, and Refugee Studies. These chapters, including three by former students, evoke the excitement of an environment in which there was so much opportunity to invent, to do things differently. The book is an excellent and detailed resource for all those with an interest in the history and future of higher education in the UK, and particularly the legacy of polytechnics and new universities. At a time of intense marketisation in the UK’s higher education sector, this book insists on the possibility of democratic educational innovation and renewal.

Read more less

Who were the women who fought back at Grunwick and Gate Gourmet? Striking Women gives a voice to the women involved as they discuss their lives, their work and their trade unions. Striking Women is centred on two industrial disputes, the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute that erupted in 2005. Focusing on these two events, the book explores the nature of South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for workers’ rights in the UK labour market. The authors examine histories of migration and settlement of two different groups of women of South Asian origin, and how this history, their gendered, classed and racialised inclusion in the labour market, the context of industrial relations in the UK in the two periods and the nature of the trade union movement shaped the trajectories and the outcomes of the two disputes. This is the first account based on the voices of the women involved. Drawing on life/work history interviews with thirty-two women who participated in the two disputes, as well as interviews with trade union officials, archival material and employment tribunal proceedings, the authors explore the motivations, experiences and implications of these events for their political and social identities.

Read more less

“Jeremy Corbyn has re-packaged socialism into something progressive and essential, something that isn't archaic as we've been told it is for so long. Striving for justice and fairness isn’t a sign of our weakness but the sign of our great strength. That’s The Corbyn Effect for me and this book explains why.” - Maxine Peake Labour’s performance in the June 2017 General Election came as a surprise to almost everyone. Few, from the most committed supporters of Jeremy Corbyn to seasoned political commentators, expected the Labour vote share to rise so dramatically and seats to be won with such substantial swings. The Corbyn Effect is the first serious attempt to understand this exciting new phenomenon in British politics. In specially- commissioned essays, writers, academics and activists from across political generations explore the meaning, limitations and potential of Corbynism. How has Corbyn changed the Labour Party? Is his support inside and outside the party likely to last? What can we expect a Corbyn government to achieve?

Read more less

There is a big hole in the history of the LGBT movement in Britain. Each step towards equality for LGBT people, every positive move in public opinion, was the result of campaigning. But while individuals and lobby groups loudly promote their role in the victories, one major player has been written out of this history: the unions. This book fills the gap. From the first strike action organised by trade union members to save the job of a victimised gay colleague in the 1970s, through the mutual solidarity of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, to the Trades Union Congress taking the initiative to save London Pride in 2012, and much more, trade unions have contributed immensely to the successes achieved, all the while protecting jobs and securing equality for thousands of LGBT working people. Peter Purton was the TUC’s first LGBT officer. His book, of interest to everyone interested in equality and trade union history, reveals how LGBT trade union members organised to win recognition, then support, and how trade unions supported the struggles of LGBT communities in Britain and across the world. This is an inspiring tale, and in the dangerous world of the twenty-first century, it is a warning call to the LGBT community and those supporting it, to wake up to new threats, to remember how past victories were achieved. The labour movement has much potential as an active participant in the unfinished fight for equality, but this book shows the need for mutual engagement to make change possible.

Read more less

'the first man from the midst of the working class who completely understood them, completely championed them ...never deserted them, never turned his back on a single principle which he had professed, never drifted away from his class in thought, in feeling or in faith.' John Bruce Glasier'France had her Jaures, Germany her Bebel and Liebknecht, Austria her Victor Adler, Russia her Lenin. Britain produced, and continues to produce, men to carry on the struggle of the poor, but no one who more personifies the spirit of that struggle than the miner from the coalfields of Lanarkshire.' James Maxton

Read more less

Forewords by Mike Jackson and Sian James MP The film Pride has reignited interest in the struggles of the miners in the South Wales valleys in the strike of 1984-5. A new chapter in this re-issued book shows why the Welsh miners were in a unique position to forge an alliance with Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners Group. Hywel Francis, MP for Aberavon, as a historian and active participant in the strike, had a unique insight into the way in which the struggles for jobs and communities broadened out to become a powerful national movement in Wales, involving trade unions, political parties, churches, the Welsh Language Society, and community, peace and women's support groups, as well as their lesbian and gay supporters. This very personal history, which explains why the South Wales valleys were the strongest and most loyal of all the British coalfields, is based on the author's personal diaries, and his articles and essays in a number of Welsh and British journals. It tells the story of the individual and collective courage and pain of Welsh miners, their families and their communities - and is an important contribution to our understanding of a defining moment in modern Welsh history.

Read more less

The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics will be the biggest single sporting event in the UK in our lifetimes. The memories of that summer of sport will remain with us forever, but what did those four weeks tell us about ourselves, our society's values and its possibilities? This collection of critical reflections is not anti-Olympics nor against sport. The writers instead imaginatively address the reality of the Games' impact, question what the ceremonies and Team GB represented, and deconstruct the organisers' claims of economic regeneration and boosting participation. This an essential and exciting read for all who understand and appreciate that London 2012 meant something, but are unsure what. Contributors include world-class experts in Olympism, writers and journalists who reported on and were inspired by the Games, social and cultural critics, sports policy consultants and sport campaigners.

Read more less

What did the 2012 Olympics tell us about who we are, who we were, and who we want to be? This book takes 2012 as a starting point for a debate on national identity, community cohesion, urban regeneration and the persistence of inequalities in British society - from the vantage point of East London not only as the main Olympic venue as but the main reason that Britain won its Olympic bid. The first half of the book looks at East London from the inside - including voices from East London communities and the Olympic Park workers - and from the outside - in the imagination of artists, social commentators and reformers. The second half examines the cultural strategies that were used to present an 'Olympian' vision of London to the world, and explores the rhetoric and reality of regeneration and legacy. On the Wrong Side of the Track is a counter-narrative centred on an area once described by a LOCOG official as a 'pretty terrible part of town', but whose residents now carry the burden of representing the nation's hopes of economic recovery; it challenges the arguments of Olympophiles for whom the Games can do no wrong as well as Olympophobes for whom they can do no right. The book includes a photo essay on the Olympic site, and original photographs by Jason Orton and John Claridge.

Read more less

Contributors to this book investigate issues as diverse as: the century-old divorce between psychological and economic explanations of human behaviour and current efforts to repair it; the gender-politics, ethics and psychology of economists' attempts to explain today's rolling crisis in money markets; psychoanalytic theories of financial investment, risk and the 'jouissance' of devastating loss; the rise and cataclysmic fall of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme; the squandering of fortunes on rubbishy art in times of financial crisis; the attraction of Deleuzian speculation versus Freudian investment; the nexus between political economy and libidinal economy; the mystifying effects of treating 'the market' as a subject capable of 'speaking', 'reacting' and 'punishing'; and the fate of desire in postmodern, hyper-commoditised culture.

Read more less