The Blair Supremacy

The Blair Supremacy

Author: Lewis Minkin

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2014-06-16

Total Pages: 855

ISBN-13: 1847799019

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Lewis Minkin has immense experience of the Labour Party and has acted as adviser to two major internal reviews of the internal party organisation. As the author of two widely acclaimed and original studies on the Labour Party, The Labour Party Conference and The Contentious Alliance, he possesses an unrivalled grasp of the subtleties and nuances of Labour’s internal relationships. The Blair Supremacy is groundbreaking in its investigation of the processes, methods, character and politics of party management, during a period when Blair strengthened his own position as he and his allies and managers drove the party through a ferment of new developments under the name ‘New Labour’. For this book Minkin has been able to draw on a wealth of sources unavailable to other scholars. What is uncovered here is revealing and at times startling. It includes an extensive covert internal organisation, a culture which facilitated manipulation and what can be described as a rolling coup. These developments are rigorously and critically examined with a strong focus on three fundamental questions: How were these changes achieved? Was it, as it was often represented, a complete supremacy? Why did it end so badly with Blair being forced, in effect, to step down? The study challenges many misconceptions and sheds new light on the Blair legacy and on the intense controversies surrounding him. It also adds greatly to our understanding of some acute contemporary problems in British political life.


Book Synopsis The Blair Supremacy by : Lewis Minkin

Download or read book The Blair Supremacy written by Lewis Minkin and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2014-06-16 with total page 855 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lewis Minkin has immense experience of the Labour Party and has acted as adviser to two major internal reviews of the internal party organisation. As the author of two widely acclaimed and original studies on the Labour Party, The Labour Party Conference and The Contentious Alliance, he possesses an unrivalled grasp of the subtleties and nuances of Labour’s internal relationships. The Blair Supremacy is groundbreaking in its investigation of the processes, methods, character and politics of party management, during a period when Blair strengthened his own position as he and his allies and managers drove the party through a ferment of new developments under the name ‘New Labour’. For this book Minkin has been able to draw on a wealth of sources unavailable to other scholars. What is uncovered here is revealing and at times startling. It includes an extensive covert internal organisation, a culture which facilitated manipulation and what can be described as a rolling coup. These developments are rigorously and critically examined with a strong focus on three fundamental questions: How were these changes achieved? Was it, as it was often represented, a complete supremacy? Why did it end so badly with Blair being forced, in effect, to step down? The study challenges many misconceptions and sheds new light on the Blair legacy and on the intense controversies surrounding him. It also adds greatly to our understanding of some acute contemporary problems in British political life.


Searching for Socialism

Searching for Socialism

Author: Leo Panitch

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2020-04-21

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1788738519

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Jeremy Corbyn's rapid ascent to the leadership of the Labour Party, driven by a groundswell of popular support particularly among the young, was met at the time by a baffled media. Just where did Jeremy Corbyn come from? In Searching for Socialism, Leo Panitch and Colin Leys argue that it is only by understanding Corbyn's roots in the Bennite Labour New Left's long struggle to transcend the limits of 'parliamentary socialism' and democratise the party, as a precondition for democratising the state, can you understand his surge to become leader of the party. Closely analyzing the forces inside the party aligned against Corbyn's leadership, Panitch and Leys explain what happened between the validation of the Corbyn project in the 2017 election, while advancing an ambitious programme of democratic socialist measures unmatched anywhere since the 1970s, and the electoral defeat amidst the Brexit conjuncture of 2019. They argue that while this defeat marked the farthest point to which the generation formed in the 1970s was able to carry the Labour new left project, it seems unlikely that the new generation of activists will quickly see any other way forward than continuing the struggle inside the Labour Party, so as to fundamentally change it. In the face of the contradictions being generated by twenty-first-century capitalism, and the need for discovering and developing new political forms adequate to addressing them, this book is required reading for democratic socialists, not just in Britain but everywhere.


Book Synopsis Searching for Socialism by : Leo Panitch

Download or read book Searching for Socialism written by Leo Panitch and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jeremy Corbyn's rapid ascent to the leadership of the Labour Party, driven by a groundswell of popular support particularly among the young, was met at the time by a baffled media. Just where did Jeremy Corbyn come from? In Searching for Socialism, Leo Panitch and Colin Leys argue that it is only by understanding Corbyn's roots in the Bennite Labour New Left's long struggle to transcend the limits of 'parliamentary socialism' and democratise the party, as a precondition for democratising the state, can you understand his surge to become leader of the party. Closely analyzing the forces inside the party aligned against Corbyn's leadership, Panitch and Leys explain what happened between the validation of the Corbyn project in the 2017 election, while advancing an ambitious programme of democratic socialist measures unmatched anywhere since the 1970s, and the electoral defeat amidst the Brexit conjuncture of 2019. They argue that while this defeat marked the farthest point to which the generation formed in the 1970s was able to carry the Labour new left project, it seems unlikely that the new generation of activists will quickly see any other way forward than continuing the struggle inside the Labour Party, so as to fundamentally change it. In the face of the contradictions being generated by twenty-first-century capitalism, and the need for discovering and developing new political forms adequate to addressing them, this book is required reading for democratic socialists, not just in Britain but everywhere.


Labour and working-class lives

Labour and working-class lives

Author: Keith Laybourn

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2017-04-30

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 1526100118

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British labour history has been one of the dominating areas of historical research in the last sixty years and this book, written in honour of Professor Chris Wrigley, offers a collection of essays written by leading British labour historians of that subject including Ken Brown, Malcolm Chase and Matthew Worley. It focuses upon trade unionism, the co-operative movement, the rise and fall of the Labour Party, and working-class lives, comparing British labour movements with those in Germany and examining the social and political labour activities of the Lansburys. There is, indeed, some important work connected with the cultural developments of the British labour movement, most obviously in the essay written by Matthew Worley on communism and Punk Rock.


Book Synopsis Labour and working-class lives by : Keith Laybourn

Download or read book Labour and working-class lives written by Keith Laybourn and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-30 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British labour history has been one of the dominating areas of historical research in the last sixty years and this book, written in honour of Professor Chris Wrigley, offers a collection of essays written by leading British labour historians of that subject including Ken Brown, Malcolm Chase and Matthew Worley. It focuses upon trade unionism, the co-operative movement, the rise and fall of the Labour Party, and working-class lives, comparing British labour movements with those in Germany and examining the social and political labour activities of the Lansburys. There is, indeed, some important work connected with the cultural developments of the British labour movement, most obviously in the essay written by Matthew Worley on communism and Punk Rock.


A Century of Labour

A Century of Labour

Author: Jon Cruddas

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2024-01-03

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1509558357

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Britain’s first Labour government took office on 22 January 1924. Its centenary provides an opportunity to reassess the party's performance over the last 100 years, and with an election pending, the character and purpose of the modern party. Labour defined the dominant political settlement of much of the Twentieth Century: the welfare state. It has achieved much in pursuit of material change, social reform and equality. It has challenged patriarchy, racism and the legacy of imperialism, promoted human rights and delivered democratic and constitutional renewal. Yet any honest assessment must acknowledge a century littered with failures and missed opportunities. In this compelling book, Jon Cruddas, one of the country's foremost experts on Labour politics, details the vivid personalities and epic factional battles, the immense achievements and profound disappointments that define a century of Labour. Uniquely framed around competing visions of socialist justice within the Party, he provides a way to rethink Labour history, the divisions and factions on the left and to reassess key figures at the helm of the movement from Keir Hardie through to Keir Starmer.


Book Synopsis A Century of Labour by : Jon Cruddas

Download or read book A Century of Labour written by Jon Cruddas and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2024-01-03 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain’s first Labour government took office on 22 January 1924. Its centenary provides an opportunity to reassess the party's performance over the last 100 years, and with an election pending, the character and purpose of the modern party. Labour defined the dominant political settlement of much of the Twentieth Century: the welfare state. It has achieved much in pursuit of material change, social reform and equality. It has challenged patriarchy, racism and the legacy of imperialism, promoted human rights and delivered democratic and constitutional renewal. Yet any honest assessment must acknowledge a century littered with failures and missed opportunities. In this compelling book, Jon Cruddas, one of the country's foremost experts on Labour politics, details the vivid personalities and epic factional battles, the immense achievements and profound disappointments that define a century of Labour. Uniquely framed around competing visions of socialist justice within the Party, he provides a way to rethink Labour history, the divisions and factions on the left and to reassess key figures at the helm of the movement from Keir Hardie through to Keir Starmer.


The modernisation of the Labour Party, 1979–97

The modernisation of the Labour Party, 1979–97

Author: Christopher Massey

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2020-07-06

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1526144441

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This monograph recasts the modernisation of the Labour Party and sheds new light on Labour's years in the wilderness between 1979 and 1997. The monograph uniquely traces the party's major organisational changes across its eighteen years of opposition. Labour's organisational modernisation in this period fundamentally altered the party's internal structures, policy-making pathways and constitution. The study begins with an investigation into the scene inherited by Labour's leadership in the early 1980s and examines Neil Kinnock's quest for a stable majority on the party's ruling National Executive Committee between 1983 and 1987. From this position the monograph surveys the major organisational changes of the Labour Party in their period of opposition: the Policy Review (1987-92), One Member, One Vote (1992-94), Clause IV (1995-96) and Partnership in Power (1996-97). Through a re-examination of Labour's modernisation, in the light of new source material and extensive primary interviews, this research significantly contributes to the understanding of the rise of New Labour.


Book Synopsis The modernisation of the Labour Party, 1979–97 by : Christopher Massey

Download or read book The modernisation of the Labour Party, 1979–97 written by Christopher Massey and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-06 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph recasts the modernisation of the Labour Party and sheds new light on Labour's years in the wilderness between 1979 and 1997. The monograph uniquely traces the party's major organisational changes across its eighteen years of opposition. Labour's organisational modernisation in this period fundamentally altered the party's internal structures, policy-making pathways and constitution. The study begins with an investigation into the scene inherited by Labour's leadership in the early 1980s and examines Neil Kinnock's quest for a stable majority on the party's ruling National Executive Committee between 1983 and 1987. From this position the monograph surveys the major organisational changes of the Labour Party in their period of opposition: the Policy Review (1987-92), One Member, One Vote (1992-94), Clause IV (1995-96) and Partnership in Power (1996-97). Through a re-examination of Labour's modernisation, in the light of new source material and extensive primary interviews, this research significantly contributes to the understanding of the rise of New Labour.


Read This to Get Smarter

Read This to Get Smarter

Author: Blair Imani

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Published: 2021-10-26

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1984860542

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An approachable guide to being an informed, compassionate, and socially conscious person today—from discussions of race, gender, and sexual orientation to disability, class, and beyond—from critically acclaimed historian, educator, and author Blair Imani. “Blair answers the questions that so many of us are asking.”—Layla F. Saad, author of Me and White Supremacy We live in a time where it has never been more important to be knowledgeable about a host of social issues, and to be confident and appropriate in how to talk about them. What’s the best way to ask someone what their pronouns are? How do you talk about racism with someone who doesn’t seem to get it? What is intersectionality, and why do you need to understand it? While it can seem intimidating or overwhelming to learn and talk about such issues, it’s never been easier thanks to educator and historian Blair Imani, creator of the viral sensation Smarter in Seconds videos. Accessible to learners of all levels—from those just getting started on the journey to those already versed in social justice—Read This to Get Smarter covers a range of topics, including race, gender, class, disability, relationships, family, power dynamics, oppression, and beyond. This essential guide is a radical but warm and non-judgmental call to arms, structured in such a way that you can read it cover to cover or start with any topic you want to learn more about. With Blair Imani as your teacher, you’ll “get smarter” in no time, and be equipped to intelligently and empathetically process, discuss, and educate others on the crucial issues we must tackle to achieve a liberated, equitable world.


Book Synopsis Read This to Get Smarter by : Blair Imani

Download or read book Read This to Get Smarter written by Blair Imani and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An approachable guide to being an informed, compassionate, and socially conscious person today—from discussions of race, gender, and sexual orientation to disability, class, and beyond—from critically acclaimed historian, educator, and author Blair Imani. “Blair answers the questions that so many of us are asking.”—Layla F. Saad, author of Me and White Supremacy We live in a time where it has never been more important to be knowledgeable about a host of social issues, and to be confident and appropriate in how to talk about them. What’s the best way to ask someone what their pronouns are? How do you talk about racism with someone who doesn’t seem to get it? What is intersectionality, and why do you need to understand it? While it can seem intimidating or overwhelming to learn and talk about such issues, it’s never been easier thanks to educator and historian Blair Imani, creator of the viral sensation Smarter in Seconds videos. Accessible to learners of all levels—from those just getting started on the journey to those already versed in social justice—Read This to Get Smarter covers a range of topics, including race, gender, class, disability, relationships, family, power dynamics, oppression, and beyond. This essential guide is a radical but warm and non-judgmental call to arms, structured in such a way that you can read it cover to cover or start with any topic you want to learn more about. With Blair Imani as your teacher, you’ll “get smarter” in no time, and be equipped to intelligently and empathetically process, discuss, and educate others on the crucial issues we must tackle to achieve a liberated, equitable world.


The Record of Murders and Outrages

The Record of Murders and Outrages

Author: William A. Blair

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2021-09-13

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1469663465

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After the Civil War's end, reports surged of violence by Southern whites against Union troops and Black men, women, and children. While some in Washington, D.C., sought to downplay the growing evidence of atrocities, in September 1866, Freedmen's Bureau commissioner O. O. Howard requested that assistant commissioners in the readmitted states compile reports of "murders and outrages" to catalog the extent of violence, to prove that the reports of a peaceful South were wrong, and to argue in Congress for the necessity of martial law. What ensued was one of the most fascinating and least understood fights of the Reconstruction era—a political and analytical fight over information and its validity, with implications that dealt in life and death. Here William A. Blair takes the full measure of the bureau's attempt to document and deploy hard information about the reality of the violence that Black communities endured in the wake of Emancipation. Blair uses the accounts of far-flung Freedmen's Bureau agents to ask questions about the early days of Reconstruction, which are surprisingly resonant with the present day: How do you prove something happened in a highly partisan atmosphere where the credibility of information is constantly challenged? And what form should that information take to be considered as fact?


Book Synopsis The Record of Murders and Outrages by : William A. Blair

Download or read book The Record of Murders and Outrages written by William A. Blair and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2021-09-13 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the Civil War's end, reports surged of violence by Southern whites against Union troops and Black men, women, and children. While some in Washington, D.C., sought to downplay the growing evidence of atrocities, in September 1866, Freedmen's Bureau commissioner O. O. Howard requested that assistant commissioners in the readmitted states compile reports of "murders and outrages" to catalog the extent of violence, to prove that the reports of a peaceful South were wrong, and to argue in Congress for the necessity of martial law. What ensued was one of the most fascinating and least understood fights of the Reconstruction era—a political and analytical fight over information and its validity, with implications that dealt in life and death. Here William A. Blair takes the full measure of the bureau's attempt to document and deploy hard information about the reality of the violence that Black communities endured in the wake of Emancipation. Blair uses the accounts of far-flung Freedmen's Bureau agents to ask questions about the early days of Reconstruction, which are surprisingly resonant with the present day: How do you prove something happened in a highly partisan atmosphere where the credibility of information is constantly challenged? And what form should that information take to be considered as fact?


State Transformations: Classes, Strategy, Socialism

State Transformations: Classes, Strategy, Socialism

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-07-05

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 9004462260

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This volume addresses the ‘impoverishment of state theory’ over the last decades and insists on the continued salience of class analysis to the study of capitalist states – neoliberal restructuring, the political architecture of imperialism, and the potentials for democratic transformation.


Book Synopsis State Transformations: Classes, Strategy, Socialism by :

Download or read book State Transformations: Classes, Strategy, Socialism written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-07-05 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses the ‘impoverishment of state theory’ over the last decades and insists on the continued salience of class analysis to the study of capitalist states – neoliberal restructuring, the political architecture of imperialism, and the potentials for democratic transformation.


UNITE History Volume 6 (1992-2010)

UNITE History Volume 6 (1992-2010)

Author: Adrian Weir

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2023-11-01

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1802075771

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This is the final book in a series of volumes on the history of the Transport & General Workers’ Union (T&G). After the neo-liberal assault on the unions and working people more generally carried through by Margaret Thatcher and John Major in the 1980s and 1990s, the unions, including the T&G, were faced with making some tough decisions about their future. The T&G initially turned to restructuring and engaged US management consultants to make recommendations about how the union should be moulded to fit the fast approaching new millennium. In other parts of the world at this time, particularly in the US and Australia, forward thinking unions were realising that the way out of the crisis was to switch from what was called the servicing model, where the union did things for its members, to an organising model, where the union did things with its members, and early in the millennium, the political and industrial logic of forming a large general workers’ union became more and more apparent. This fascinating volume looks at this history of the T&G, and considers how a three way union merger eventually became a reality with the merger of the T&G and Amicus to form Unite.


Book Synopsis UNITE History Volume 6 (1992-2010) by : Adrian Weir

Download or read book UNITE History Volume 6 (1992-2010) written by Adrian Weir and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2023-11-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the final book in a series of volumes on the history of the Transport & General Workers’ Union (T&G). After the neo-liberal assault on the unions and working people more generally carried through by Margaret Thatcher and John Major in the 1980s and 1990s, the unions, including the T&G, were faced with making some tough decisions about their future. The T&G initially turned to restructuring and engaged US management consultants to make recommendations about how the union should be moulded to fit the fast approaching new millennium. In other parts of the world at this time, particularly in the US and Australia, forward thinking unions were realising that the way out of the crisis was to switch from what was called the servicing model, where the union did things for its members, to an organising model, where the union did things with its members, and early in the millennium, the political and industrial logic of forming a large general workers’ union became more and more apparent. This fascinating volume looks at this history of the T&G, and considers how a three way union merger eventually became a reality with the merger of the T&G and Amicus to form Unite.


Rethinking Revolution

Rethinking Revolution

Author: Leo Panitch

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2016-12-01

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1583676341

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One hundred years ago, “October 1917” galvanized leftists and oppressed peoples around the globe, and became the lodestar for 20th century politics. Today, the left needs to reckon with this legacy—and transcend it. Social change, as it was understood in the 20th century, appears now to be as impossible as revolution, leaving the left to rethink the relationship between capitalist crises, as well as the conceptual tension between revolution and reform. Populated by an array of passionate thinkers and thoughtful activists, Rethinking Revolution reappraises the historical effects of the Russian revolution—positive and negative—on political, intellectual, and cultural life, and looks at consequent revolutions after 1917. Change needs to be understood in relation to the distinct trajectories of radical politics in different regions. But the main purpose of this Socialist Register edition—one century after “Red October”—is to look forward, to what might happen next. Acclaimed authors interrogate and explore compelling issues, including: • Greg Albo: New socialist strategies—or detours? • Jodi Dean: Are the multitudes communing? Revolutionary agency and political forms today. • Adolph Reed: Are racial minorities revolutionary agents? • Zillah Eisenstein: Revolutionary feminisms today. • Nina Power: Accelerated technology, decelerated revolution. • David Schwartzman: Beyond global warming: Is solar communism possible? • Andrea Malm: Revolution and counter-revolution in an era of climate change.


Book Synopsis Rethinking Revolution by : Leo Panitch

Download or read book Rethinking Revolution written by Leo Panitch and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One hundred years ago, “October 1917” galvanized leftists and oppressed peoples around the globe, and became the lodestar for 20th century politics. Today, the left needs to reckon with this legacy—and transcend it. Social change, as it was understood in the 20th century, appears now to be as impossible as revolution, leaving the left to rethink the relationship between capitalist crises, as well as the conceptual tension between revolution and reform. Populated by an array of passionate thinkers and thoughtful activists, Rethinking Revolution reappraises the historical effects of the Russian revolution—positive and negative—on political, intellectual, and cultural life, and looks at consequent revolutions after 1917. Change needs to be understood in relation to the distinct trajectories of radical politics in different regions. But the main purpose of this Socialist Register edition—one century after “Red October”—is to look forward, to what might happen next. Acclaimed authors interrogate and explore compelling issues, including: • Greg Albo: New socialist strategies—or detours? • Jodi Dean: Are the multitudes communing? Revolutionary agency and political forms today. • Adolph Reed: Are racial minorities revolutionary agents? • Zillah Eisenstein: Revolutionary feminisms today. • Nina Power: Accelerated technology, decelerated revolution. • David Schwartzman: Beyond global warming: Is solar communism possible? • Andrea Malm: Revolution and counter-revolution in an era of climate change.