This is Only the Beginning

The Making of a New Left, From Anti-Austerity to the Fall of Corbyn

This is Only the Beginning
Michael Chessum
RRP:
NZ$ 44.00
Our Price:
NZ$ 35.20
Hardback
h234 x 156mm - 248pg
6 Oct 2022 UK
International import eta 7-19 days
9780755641284
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
The 2010s were a decade of foodbanks, riots, and the rebirth of political alternatives. Looking to escape a future of rising debt, falling living standards and climate meltdown, a set of movements were born across the globe, led by students, workers and the tent cities of Occupy. A new wave of optimistic, radical young people were building mass movements outside the political bubble, rejecting the neo-liberal consensus and the enrichment of the 1%, and laying the foundations of a new left. Eight years later, Bernie Sanders was favorite to clinch the Democratic Party nomination, and Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum had taken over the Labour Party in Britain, promising ' a new kind of politics' . But as the new left poured into Labour, it was overwhelmed by older, institutional forces on both left and right. Four years after Corbyn became leader, after bitter-infighting and a Brexit-fuelled strategic crisis, it all fell apart. This is the inside story of how the left came back to life in the 2010s, from a man who found himself at the centre of events - featuring unparalleled access and a range of interviews with key left-wing figures. Influential journalist and activist Michael Chessum explains how this movement was built, why it failed, and what it needs to do now.
Featuring "unparalleled access" and a range of interviews with left-wing figures including Owen Jones, Ash Sarkar and John McDonnell MP, this is the inside story of how the Left came back to life in the 2010s, and what it can (and should) do now. * The Bookseller * ' If I had to stick a book in a time capsule to explain UK left movement politics to future generations, it' d be this one. Michael' s insight is, to coin a phrase much in current use, "forensic". ' * Clive Lewis, MP * ' Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, however impossible you thought the Corbyn project, here is a rivetingly well-written view from inside the left' s capture of the Labour party. ' * Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist * ' Michael Chessum provides not just a necessary hard-nosed assessment of the Corbyn project from someone who was at the heart of its creation, he also poses the tough challenging questions that need to be addressed for the revival of the left. ' * John McDonnell, MP * ' This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand where the new left generation came from and where we go from here. Michael Chessum describes the mass movement that underpinned Corbyn' s leadership so richly that from the demonstrations to the committee rooms, you' ll feel like you' re there. ' * Nadia Whittome, MP * ' A fascinating insider' s assessment of the rise and impasse of the latest new left that gained political expression, but not realisation, through Jeremy Corbyn' s leadership of the Labour Party. At once both controversial and sympathetic , it is essential reading for creative strategic thinking in the future. ' * Hilary Wainwright, author of ' A New Politics From the Left' * With a lively combination of vivid first-hand reportage, insightful interviews and original analysis, This is Only the Beginning offers the most compelling account to date of the movements and circumstances that made the Corbyn moment possible, and of what needs to happen for the radical left to thrive rather than slip back into irrelevance. * Professor Jeremy Gilbert, University of East London, UK *
Michael Chessum is a journalist and activist. He has written for the Guardian and Observer, the New Statesman, The Independent, Vice, Novara, The London Review of Books and many others. He co-founded the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, playing a prominent role in the student protests of 2010 and the anti-austerity movement that followed. In 2016-17, he was a member of Momentum' s first Steering Committee, serving as its Treasurer, and worked as a press officer and speechwriter on Jeremy Corbyn' s second leadership campaign. As National Organiser for the left wing anti-Brexit group Another Europe is Possible, he became a dissident within Corbynism and a prominent voice in the public debate on Brexit and migrants' rights.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780755641284
Published: 6 Oct 2022
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Hardback
Height: 234mm
Width: 156mm
Pages: 248

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