Anthony Crosland’s ‘The Future of Socialism’ was published 70 years ago and its influence on the Labour Party has lasted for decades. So does it have anything to tell us today? ARUN LEWIS has his doubts. ‘After years of deindustrialisation, deregulation, financial collapse, austerity and Brexit, Crosland’s prediction of ever-growing abundance and consensual politics seems...
Andy Burnham may not be standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection but his notion of ‘Manchesterism’ has gained much publicity in recent weeks. JONATHAN TIMBERS reviews a new book on the city that casts a critical light on decades of ‘state-led gentrification’ and working class displacement....
Blue Labour, soft left, hard left, Labour Together, Labour to Win … Labour it appears is riven with conflict. JOHN CUNNISON reviews an in-depth analysis of party factions that makes a bold attempt to bridge political rifts but ultimately misses the point....
Keir Starmer came to power on the back of ‘a deliberate and calculated act of internal political sabotage’, according to a new book on the party think tank behind his leadership. It reveals, says ERNIE JACQUES, ‘a secretive, deceptive campaign to dismantle the Labour left and extinguish social democratic principles’....
The Sheffield-based co-operative resource centre, Principle 5, has published its seventh pamphlet in a series highlighting the work of radical writers and co-operative groups from the South Yorkshire city....
A new book on Durham Coalfield communities is a timely testament to working class resilience, says MARY HULL, bringing together evocative tales of ‘marras’, meetings, strikes and marches as well as banners, brass bands and allotments. ...
Poet, campaigner and pioneering author – Blackburn ILPer Ethel Carnie Holdsworth was a radical writer of the early 20th century who made history as the first working class woman to have a novel published in Britain....
LSE Library has completed the first stage of a long-term project to digitise the ILP archive material held in its collection and make it freely available for all to view online....
MARIA GOULDING reviews Samantha Harvey’s prize winning Orbital, a novel that casts a distant eye on humanity’s smash and grab impact on planet Earth, a book of rare lyrical beauty and profound sadness that may just be what we need in these turbulent times....
MATTHEW BROWN reviews two recent books on the early Labour movement – a hefty historical novel focused on the ILP; and a slim pamphlet on the 1924 government....
CHRIS WILSON reviews a new collection of essays that aims to put Christianity at the heart of left politics, but fails to offer a coherent vision of a democratic socialist future....
The Sheffield-based co-operative resource centre, Principle 5, has published the sixth title in its series of pamphlets unearthing forgotten writings, writers and radical groups from the South Yorkshire city and its surroundings....