The Rise of the Right: English Nationalism and the Transformation of Working-Class PoliticsThe shock Brexit result highlighted a worrying trend: underemployed white men and women who have seen their standard of living fall, their communities disintegrate and their sense of value, function and inclusion diminish, desperately want a mainstream political party to defend their interests. However, no such party exists. These men and women cannot connect their declining fortunes and growing frustrations to their true cause. Instead, immigrants are scapegoated and groups like the English Defence League (EDL) emerge. This book is the first to offer an accessible and uncompromising look at the EDL. It aims to alter thinking about working-class politics and the rise of right-wing nationalism in the de-industrialised and decaying towns and cities of England. The rise of the right among the working class, the authors claim, is inextricably connected to the withdrawal of the political left from traditional working-class communities, and the left’s refusal to advance the economic interests of those who have suffered most from neoliberal economic restructuring. Incisive, contentious and boundary-breaking, it uses the voices of men and women who now support far-right political groups to address the total failure of mainstream parliamentary politics and the rising tide of frustration, resentment and anger. |
Contents
one Introduction | 1 |
two Dead politics | 17 |
three The fickle parent | 45 |
four Redundant | 75 |
five The hated centre | 109 |
six The scapegoat | 153 |
seven Mourning and melancholia | 171 |
Begin from the beginning | 187 |
Brexit | 197 |
| 209 | |
| 215 | |
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Common terms and phrases
anger angry antagonism appeared believed Blairite Britain British can’t capitalism capitalist cause commitment competitive contacts Corbyn cultural groups deindustrialised democratic demonisation didn’t discourse dominant economic EDL supporters EDL’s elite England English ethnic everything exists force frustration fucking fundamental global going hate hatred hope identified identity politics ideological industrial inevitably insecure intellectual interests Islam issues Jeremy Corbyn keen kids Labour Party lads left-liberal left’s liberal class liberal left liberal middle class lives look mainstream politicians mass media mate middle class movement multiculturalism Muslim communities Muslim immigrants Muslims narrative nation neighbourhoods neoliberal Pakis piss political economy population position problems protests racist reality seemed sense shit simply social socioeconomic spoke struggle talk there’s they’re things tolerance traditional transformation UKIP vote voters Westminster Westminster bubble what’s happened white working class white working-class women working-class young