Corbyn
The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics
Published on 17. May 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-78478-531-4 (ISBN)
Description
Jeremy Corbyn, the "dark horse" candidate for the Labour leadership, won and won big. With a landslide in the first round, this unassuming antiwar socialist crushed the opposition, particularly the Blairite opposition.
For the first time in decades, socialism is back on the agenda-and for the first time in Labour's history, it controls the leadership. The party machine couldn't stop him. An almost unanimous media campaign couldn't stop him. It is as if their power, like that of the Wizard of Oz, was always mostly illusion. Now Corbyn has one chance to convince the public to support his reforming ambitions.
Where did he come from, and what chance does he have? This book tells the story of how Corbyn's rise was made possible by the long decline of Labour and a deep crisis of British democracy. It surveys the makeshift coalition of trade unionists, young and precarious workers, and students, who rallied to Corbyn. It shows how a novel social media campaign turned the media's "Project Fear" on its head, making a virtue of every accusation they threw at him. And finally it asks, with all the artillery that is still ranged against Corbyn, and given the crisis-ridden Labour Party that he has inherited, what it would mean for him to succeed.
For the first time in decades, socialism is back on the agenda-and for the first time in Labour's history, it controls the leadership. The party machine couldn't stop him. An almost unanimous media campaign couldn't stop him. It is as if their power, like that of the Wizard of Oz, was always mostly illusion. Now Corbyn has one chance to convince the public to support his reforming ambitions.
Where did he come from, and what chance does he have? This book tells the story of how Corbyn's rise was made possible by the long decline of Labour and a deep crisis of British democracy. It surveys the makeshift coalition of trade unionists, young and precarious workers, and students, who rallied to Corbyn. It shows how a novel social media campaign turned the media's "Project Fear" on its head, making a virtue of every accusation they threw at him. And finally it asks, with all the artillery that is still ranged against Corbyn, and given the crisis-ridden Labour Party that he has inherited, what it would mean for him to succeed.
Reviews / Votes
Seymour is an essential voice on the left, and this book is a necessary intervention, explaining this daunting political moment and bringing the focus back to strategy. Not so much a call to arms as a call to brains. -- Laurie Penny One of our most astute political analysts turns his attention to Corbyn, and the result is predictably essential: not just to make sense of how we got to this unlikely situation, but for his thoughts on what the left might do next -- China Mieville No one writes about politics the way Richard Seymour does. He takes a very British story of the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, with all its peculiarities and details, and turns it into a revelation of the international crisis of parliamentary democracy. Whether you love Corbyn-or Sanders or Podemos or Syriza-or loathe him (and them), you'll find here the most sophisticated diagnosis of why men and women across the globe are turning to the left and why their aspirations are so continuously being frustrated. Seymour is a magnificent explainer: pointed without being pedantic, funny with out being flip, and always insisting that we take in the whole. -- Corey Robin, author of <i>The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin</i> The Anglophone left has been cheered by the surprising rise of Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in Britain. Richard Seymour's elegantly written book is a reminder of all the obstacles facing Corbyn. Even if you're not as pessimistic as Seymour about his prospects, you really need to pay attention to this critique. It will make you a better fighter of the necessary class war. -- Doug Henwood, author of <i>My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency</i> Long after the Labour left was thought to be dead, Jeremy Corbyn's emergence has inspired millions. There is no one better positioned than Richard Seymour to take a look at his emergence and whether Corbyn can actually turn Labour into a force for radical change. -- Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor of <i>Jacobin</i> Richard Seymour has a brilliant mind and a compelling style. Everything he writes is worth reading. -- Gary Younge Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics is the fullest and fairest account of Jeremy Corbyn's rise released to date. In avoiding much of the rhetoric espoused in similar accounts focusing on Corbyn's early career this book provides a frank account of how the unlikely leader took charge of the Labour party. It is a very readable account too. Richard Seymour writes plainly but effectively and his writing is both accessible and incredibly informative. -- Liam Young * New Statesman * Richard Seymour's Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics not only shows how, amid Labour Party decline, Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters challenged the neoliberal consensus, but also considers the possibility of success and what form that might take. * Times Higher Education [Books of 2016] * Laser-sharp analysis of British 'Labourism' and its contradictions . This book is terrifically astute -- Jamie Maxwell * The National * A witty and acute political and historical analysis from a position to the left of Corbyn ... Seymour is utterly unsentimental in his analysis. -- Robert Potts * Times Literary Supplement * A brilliant and incisive analysis by a long-term watcher of the party. -- Asa Winstanley * Middle East Monitor * Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics is the first serious analysis of Jeremy Corbyn's unexpected ascent. -- Yohann Koshy * Vice * A must-read for militants inside and outside the Labour Party. * rs21 * Corbyn is not about Corbyn in much the same way that Richard Seymour's earlier and much shorter book, The Meaning of David Cameron, wasn't really about its eponymous anti-hero. Rather it is an analysis-and an astute one-of the socio-political conditions which have given rise to Corbynism, its future prospects and the substantial obstacles it will inevitably face. -- Tom Mills * Ceasefire * The best, and the definitive, account of what Corbyn's victory the first time round meant. One year on the essential summer 2016 read. -- Mark Perryman * Philosophy Football * It is a point of contention whether the politics represented by Jeremy Corbyn offers a pathway out of the crisis or we are instead witnessing the last hurrah of Britain's harried and diminished workers' movement. That is one of the questions Richard Seymour tries to answer in his excellent new book.Seymour's analysis remains indispensable -- Alex Doherty * Red Pepper * The finest study of Corbyn yet written -- Stephen Bush * New Statesman * An excellent political biography * Choice * A highly opinionated study of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership, and the circumstances that gave rise to it ... full of insights -- Andy Beckett * Guardian *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
320 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78478-531-4 (9781784785314)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Richard Seymour is a writer, broadcaster and socialist, currently based in London. He writes regularly for the Guardian, the London Review of Books, Jacobin and many other publications.