Neil Davidson on Nation-States: Consciousness and Competition

Neil Davidson's latest work, Nation-States: Consciousness and Competition is composed of a series of extended essays dealing with themes such as the rise of national consciousness under capitalism, the validity of concepts such as "ethnicity", and the role of the state in guaranteeing accumulation and advancing the interests of national capital on the world stage through competition. Neil engages widely with both Marxist and non-Marxist theories of nationalism and capitalist development in order to advance an argument for treating both terms in the hyphenated formula "nation-state" as moments within the mediated totality of the capitalist system - in other words, the connection between the "nation" and the "state" is systemic, even necessary, rather than contingent, as has been argued both by mainstream theorists and some schools within Marxism.

  

Neil is doing a launch event in London on Thursday 11 August 6.30pm at Bookmarks bookshop, 1 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QE. £2 entry, refreshments required.  For more info, see Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/981383828626705/

 

SHS meeting - Liberty's Apostle: the Life and Times of Richard Price 1723 - 91

Socialist History Society Public Meeting Liberty's Apostle: the Life and Times of Richard Price 1723 - 91  Speaker: Paul Frame 2pm, 1st October 2016 MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY 37a Clerkenwell Green EC1R 0DU - nearest tube Farringdon FREE TO ATTEND – ALL WELCOME

Dubbed by an eminent historian as 'Britain's first left-wing intellectual' the Reverend Richard Price was a major figure in the Enlightenment. A supporter of the American and French Revolutions it was a Price sermon that provoked Edmund Burke into writing Reflections on the Revolution in France in answer to what he viewed as Price's 'wicked principles'. This talk will look broadly at Price's life, the nature of his wide-ranging contribution to political ideas and explain his continuing relevance. Speaker: Paul Frame A Welsh historian of the Enlightenment period and author of the book, Liberty's Apostle: the Life and Times of Richard Price, University of Wales Press, 2015. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in Aberystwyth.

CfP: Populism in historical perspective

'Populism in historical perspective'

Symposium

 2^nd November 2016, European Institute, University College London

The last decade has seen the rise of politicians, parties and governments to whom the label 'populist' can usefully be applied. This is true not only in Europe, but also in North and South America, Turkey, India and elsewhere. British media responses to this global shift have focused on the 'Brexit' referendum result and the short term consequences of the 2008 financial crash. There has been less interest in historicising these phenomena or locating them in an analysis of twentieth and twenty first century democracy. Yet this would be a useful endeavour, involving study not only of twentieth century populists like Pierre Poujade or Juan Perón, but also a wider project investigating the development of modern mass society since the late nineteenth century.

The UCL European Institute and UCL Centre for Transnational History therefore invite abstracts for papers covering topics in twentieth and twenty-first century populism across a broad geographical range, with the aim of exploring the factors which shape its form, as well as the reasons for its apparent recent upsurge. While operating with an historical focus, we aim to bring together sociologists and political scientists, as well as modern and contemporary historians. We aim to discuss populism in a global perspective, and therefore especially welcome papers that deal with the subject outside of the European context, or which examine transnational connections between populists.

The symposium is co-organised with Passionate Politics (http://passionatepolitics.eu/about/) a research group at University College London which explores the relationship between politics and the world of the emotions. As such, we are particularly interested in the affective content of populist politics, and the means by which emotions are mobilised to political ends.

In order to facilitate dialogue between our speakers and encourage lively and engaged discussions between conference attendees, the conference will be organised in three thematic panels, preceded by an opening plenary which will help to orientate the discussion. The panels are as follows.

The People

Populists tend to portray themselves as standing for the marginalised. Yet they seek to be majoritarians, and their coalitions often encompass a large range of publics, characteristically cutting across divides (socio-economic, cultural, regional, occupational) which other political formations treat as normative. What is the class composition of populist movements and to what extent is the formulation 'the people' used to shape a politics that lies outside class (or other) conflict? Who in turn lies outside the people?

Populist values

Populists characterise themselves as defenders of a particular set of values, often under attack by a distant elite. What social structures, cultural practices and economic interests shape these values? How do these values translate into political decisions? How do they inform notions of legitimacy, democracy, and authoritarianism.

Languages of populism

Populism often deploys the language of 'common sense', both as a persuasive rhetorical tool and an articulation of the subjectivity of a group which feels it has been neglected or ignored. How are these knowledges formed, communicated and mobilised? What is the role of the media, both as a mouthpiece for populist politics, a force in shaping the context in which it emerges, or as a focus for anger on the part of publics. What role have new forms of media played in allowing contemporary populists to communicate with their publics?

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Abstracts

Please send 250-400 word abstracts for papers of 15-20 minutes to team@passionatepolitics.eu. Please indicate the panel to which your abstract applies, and attach a short CV. Please direct any questions to harry.stopes@gmail.com or alessandro.arcangelis.13@ucl.ac.uk

Matthew Caygill on “The Left and the Counterculture..."‘

The London Socialist Historians Group were very sorry to learn of the tragic passing of Matthew Caygill, a socialist and historian based at Leeds Beckett University - by way of tribute we are putting up this talk he gave about his research on the 1960s counter-culture earlier this year at a conference organised with the support of the Socialist History Society at UEA.  A sad loss to the movement - our condolences to his friends and comrades. RIP.