Abstract
In this reflection, we assess the theoretical faultline running through the contested
current of Corbynist thought and politics at present. On one hand, we find a
techno-utopian strand preoccupied with automation and the end of work. On the
other hand, a nascent politics of social reproduction with a foreshortened potential
to realise the promise of a continental-style solidarity economics in the United
Kingdom. Both represent the latest in a series of left attempts to confront the crisis of social democracy that rages across Europe, a crisis to which the British Labour
Party has not been alone in succumbing despite recent appearances otherwise.
Deindustrialisation collapsed labour’s role in everyday life, and a crisis in the
society of work eventually passed over into its representative party’s electoral
decline. Subsequent financial crisis and subsequent austerity have only made
things worse. A poverty of ideas prevails that all sides of social democracy’s
unsteady compromise seek desperately to solve. However, the recent UK General
Election shows evidence that Corbynism has renewed Labour’s fortunes to some
extent. Surveying the competing intellectual currents behind its rise, we suggest
that the politics of social reproduction offer a better route forward for the Labour
Party than the popular siren call of postcapitalism, and reflect on what the recent
general election result suggests for their future development.
current of Corbynist thought and politics at present. On one hand, we find a
techno-utopian strand preoccupied with automation and the end of work. On the
other hand, a nascent politics of social reproduction with a foreshortened potential
to realise the promise of a continental-style solidarity economics in the United
Kingdom. Both represent the latest in a series of left attempts to confront the crisis of social democracy that rages across Europe, a crisis to which the British Labour
Party has not been alone in succumbing despite recent appearances otherwise.
Deindustrialisation collapsed labour’s role in everyday life, and a crisis in the
society of work eventually passed over into its representative party’s electoral
decline. Subsequent financial crisis and subsequent austerity have only made
things worse. A poverty of ideas prevails that all sides of social democracy’s
unsteady compromise seek desperately to solve. However, the recent UK General
Election shows evidence that Corbynism has renewed Labour’s fortunes to some
extent. Surveying the competing intellectual currents behind its rise, we suggest
that the politics of social reproduction offer a better route forward for the Labour
Party than the popular siren call of postcapitalism, and reflect on what the recent
general election result suggests for their future development.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 423-434 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Capital and Class |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Oct 2017 |
Keywords
- accelerationism, Corbynism, Fragment on Machines, Labour party, Marxism, postcapitalism, social democracy, social movements, social reproduction, utopia