Ben Little

A growing discontent: class and generation under neoliberalism

This article discusses how young people are one of the groups most affected by neoliberalism. This is not because of a wealth transfer from young to old, or a neglect of the interests of the young simply because they don’t vote: it is part of a strategic restructuring of how our economy and society work in favour of capital, which focuses its efforts on the weakest points of resistance – which include the economy’s newest and most vulnerable entrants. An inter-generational alliance across is therefore the best hope for securing the future of the generation who have grown up under the restraint of neoliberalism.

Hybrid Media Celebrity

This chapter traces Brand’s self-fashioning into a cross-media celebrity and film star and his move from digital television and radio presenting to Hollywood acting, then into political journalism and the creation of his YouTube channel The Trews. It uses this account of Brand’s career trajectory to identify the contradictory elements of his celebrity brand, its differentiation across the hybrid media system and the strongly divided responses it provokes. It identifies how he successfully adapts to new genres and cultural contexts despite periods of crisis such as ‘Sachsgate’ that threaten his public reputation. A close analysis of his notorious interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight leads into an account of how he repurposes his celebrity and skills as a comedian and entertainer to seek influence in the political field.

The National in the Network Society: UK Uncut, the English Defence League and the Challenge for Social Democracy

Social democracy, as embodied in the institutions created in the post-war settlement, is on the brink of collapse. As Social Democratic Parties struggle to re-imagine themselves after a string of electoral defeats across Europe, unrestrained neoliberalism is consolidating its hold on power. This moment of political vacuum on the left is leaving Europe-wide austerity measures almost unopposed by the political mainstream. But it is also taking place at a time when the power of new technologies to facilitate dissent and make demands for democratic representation can no longer be dismissed as faddish. From Barack Obama’s unlikely presidential nomination to the recent revolutionary waves in the Middle East, new social networking tools are having palpable effects within the formal political sphere. And new forms of popular movements, which we term ‘identity networks’ — like the Tea Party in the USA and the student opposition to fee rises in the UK — are wielding power in ways to which formal political structures are struggling to respond. This chapter seeks to describe these shifts in the possibilities of collective action and to propose the beginnings of a new relationship between Social Democratic Parties and the emerging ‘identity networks’ of the left, through a reclamation of the discourse of the nation.

“just hanging out with you in my back yard”: Mark Zuckerberg and Mediated Paternalism

Abstract In a video that showcases a new Facebook feature, Mark Zuckerberg chats to his users, telling them that he’s “just hanging out with you in my backyard.” In this video-which is on his Facebook page-Zuckerberg discloses the domestic space of his backyard, revealing his interaction with family and friends. Depicted hosting a barbeque while watching the electoral debate, Zuckerberg performs an affective white postfeminist paternity (Hamad, 2014) by talking about hunting, eating meat, and being a father. This video is key in explaining how Zuckerberg affectively models patriarchal power. We argue that this PR exercise (for both him and Facebook which are portrayed as inextricably linked) functions to represent Facebook as enabling an empowered “community,” rather than being just an instrument of data accumulation. In particular, Zuckerberg’s affective paternalism is also a means to recoup and obfuscate patriarchal power structures. Zuckerberg’s Facebook page constructs an intimate paternalism in relation to his domestic sphere, but also to his followers, and this works to legitimate his corporate and global paternalism. The ways in which he is portrayed through signifiers of an emotional fatherhood work to gloss his power as the third richest man in the world.

Generation: The politics of patriarchy and social change

In this first instalment of our Soundings series on critical terms, we look at the idea of ‘generation’, a term which has become highly prevalent within political discourse since the financial crisis. As with all the concepts in this series, the idea of generation is differently mobilised by different political actors. Right-wing thinkers use generation in a sense that can be traced back to Edmund Burke to mean the transmission of property and culture through time, while other commentators draw on meanings derived from Mannheim to refer to the experiences of particular cohorts at times of rapid political change. For activists on the left, it is important to distinguish between these different connotations of generation. The Burkean approach has regressive implications, for example in the justification of austerity as a way of protecting future generations from debt; and the Mannheimian understanding, although not as conservative, needs to be connected to an intersectional analysis that looks at other identity markers alongside those of age - such as class, race, gender and sexuality - so as to avoid flattening differences within cohorts and impeding solidarities between generations.

Stand-up Comedy

This chapter explores how Brand is positioned in the history of British comedy and by the distinctions in taste that structure this cultural field. It identifies his ‘signature practices’ through analyses of his major stand-up performances placing particular emphasis on the way he uses self-reflexive autobiography, language and wit, bodily expression and therapeutic discourses to develop a distinctive style of comedy that crosses class boundaries. It culminates with a detailed analysis of the Messiah Complex show in which he marshals these comedic techniques to create a quasi-shamanic ritual of spiritual and political transformation. Whether his comedy should be condemned as exploitative entertainment or admired as an audacious form of truth-telling divides the judgements made about Brand’s cultural value as a performer, thereby creating an unstable assemblage with diverse effects.

From Celebrity Apparatus to Political Assemblage

The final chapter uses the theoretical model advanced in Chapter 1 to provide a detailed exploration of four examples of Brand’s interventions into politics: the celebrity pseudo-event Buy Love Here in Los Angeles; his guest editing of the political magazine the New Statesman; his contribution to housing campaigns in East London; and finally his pre-election interview on The Trews with Labour Party leader Ed Miliband. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari, the chapter argues that the precise form of the apparatus formed to make each of these interventions influences the kind of assemblage produced in response. It demonstrates that while in celebrity terms Brand’s interventions have been hugely successful in gaining media attention, the results have been very mixed in achieving their intentions or having a lasting political impact.

Parties, causes and political power

Key indicators for participation in political parties are at an all-time low. Much of the energy that once went into parties now finds itself in cause-based campaigns. This article asks how and if political parties can renew themselves. It looks at the heyday of political parties in the 1950s and 1960s, the challenge posed to them by a pincer movement of consumerism and identity politics since that period, and at the current relationship between political parties, campaigners and ideas of power, particularly in an age of digital media. It argues that political parties and their manner of wielding power has become ‘abject’ but that traditional campaign groups cannot simply fill that role as it goes against their very design. Instead a new formation and structure must take the place of the old political party, but it is not yet clear what shape that organisation will take.