Alan Finlayson
@ProfAFinlayson
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Professor: I teach & research political ideas & rhetorics, digital political culture, Brit Politics (& protest songs).
UK
Joined July 2010
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To be fair, I sometimes feel much like this myself.
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As a teenager my grasp of politics was little more than that uptight greedy bastards ruin it for everyone. Then I learned sophisticated theories of interests, structures & ideologies. Now in late middle-age, I find that Uptight Greedy Bastard Theory has amazing explanatory power.
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For unexpected (personal) reasons I’m looking to go by train from Norwich to Swansea return, in a day, in a fortnight. For 2 adults (with railcard) the price (standard fare) is £705.40. That’s not a typo.
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Quick portent update. Ancient symbol of English virtue and purity euthanised by the keepers of order.
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So, basically, if someone at university says things the government disagrees with I must report them to the authorities under Prevent. If they are to say things with which the government agrees then I’m obliged to host them and shouldn’t publicly disagree. And this is freedom.
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Been conversing (on and offline) with grassroots Brexitists again. Really struck by their intense lack of interest in the details of how to make it happen – verging on hostility to it, as if the search for practical steps to make it work is a trap (1/9)
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I wonder what the effect is on the national economy of being pretty much unable to go east-west efficiently & affordably? I’ve seen data showing cities’ productivity decrease with commuting times. Still, at least it’s making money for shareholders & sustaining ideological dogma.
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Scientists often worry about the public’s low-level of scientific literacy (contrasted with social science/humanities). But for those who teach/research Politics, a tweet like this is the equivalent of someone publicly (proudly?) declaring that they don’t know what CO2 is.
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“I assure you officer, I’ve only broken international law in a very specific and limited way"
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There must have been a meeting to review proposals including the online timed ticketing system when someone said ‘No. They must be seen to queue. For miles. For days”. That person’s a political-marketing genius with 17thC style insight into the mystificatory needs of state power.
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I think that’s one more piece of evidence for the fact that Brexitism is a species of Utopian ideology, for which the belief in its happening is more important than its actually happening (2/9)
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Is the explanation of Covid19 policies that they reflect national ideologies of welfare? Nordics & Southern Europe protecting societies/families; US & UK: making individuals responsible for protecting the Market & minimising cost to ‘the taxpayer’.
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Events are conspiring to reveal that education in the UK isn't designed to spread learning or knowledge, nor to give true snapshots of attainment at particular moment. Its function is to produce a stable, accepted, vertical ranking, useful in economic, social & political sorting.
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Of course, this is grassroots Brexitism I’m describing. Elite Brexitism is a whole other (decadent) thing (9/9).
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The actuality of Brexit will always be a let-down compared to the dream so there is an (unconscious?) need to prolong the dream and protect it from mundane reality (3/9)
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In the 1980s Stuart Hall called Thatcherism ‘Authoritarian Populism’. Johnson-ism now is an Authoritarian Clientelism. The latter is an effect of the former: governing hollowed-out civic institutions, with 'common good' overtaken by selfish individualism.
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There’s also definitely a ‘carnivalesque’ dimension to it all – a utopian and very un-Conservative investment in overthrowing everything about the present, undermining things which think they are 'sophisticated' and fouling the public square (6/9)
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The Q for Remainerists isn't who wins a 2nd Ref. It's what happens afterwards. If Remain wins what do the 40%+ who voted Leave do? What happens when they all vote in a GE for an ERG/Farage party with a manifesto commitment to no deal? Am seeing a lot of politicking not politics.
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Truss’s* use of Foucault, in that context, is familiar to me from years of following online fringes of the anti-liberal right-wing internet. Govt. ideology is crowd sourced from hysterical forums discussing books people ain’t read. This is how it works now.
*her speechwriter’s
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These are all reasons why it doesn’t fit ‘left-right’ and why it confounds political science models which don't usually have yearning or desire or fantasy as variables. It’s a bit like what Marx & Engels mocked as “Feudal Socialism” - “half lamentation, half lampoon...(7/9)
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Its wish is to become/embody an archetype - an ideal sort of (English) person, cleansed of Un-English things and with the power to make anything happen (like English Gods of old) (5/9)
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“… half an echo of the past, half menace of the future; at times, by its bitter, witty and incisive criticism, striking the bourgeoisie to the very heart’s core; but always ludicrous in its effect, through total incapacity to comprehend the march of modern history” (8/9)
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This is one of those grains of sand through which you can glimpse the collapsing universe of the British state & its political economy. It ought to be on the front page of every newspaper.
Since 2013, Royal Mail has channelled £1.5 bn to shareholders, the biggest of which is Vesa Equity (owned by Daniel Kretinsky).
A historic public service has been transformed into a vehicle for shareholders, many of which are global investment funds.
Chart:
@adammarqalmeida
.
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Most commentators are out of their depth on Brexit. Luckily a lot of scholars aren't & you can read them for free.
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This article contains a good, clear and accurate account of the successful reorganisation of far-right politics: its unity, its internationalism, funding sources, use of social media, political style and skill at exploiting media professionals’ naïveté:
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I do feel like I wasted a lot of time learning (and teaching) elaborate theories for explaining outcomes in British Politics, on the day it becomes evident the determining factor is that the people in charge are utter dipshits.
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But it’s not a utopianism aimed at the future – it is animated by a spirit of ‘hope’ (that ‘anything can happen’) but the ideal it wishes for isn’t a future society (4/9)
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Is there a name for a political system in which ordinary working people are expected to act as unpaid members of state security, informing on those around them, and punished if they don’t?
University College London threatening personal £20k fine of lecturers not carrying out hostile environment spot checks on students
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The BBC broadcast the most egregiously anti-Semitic part of Giuliani's conspiracy theorising, not to refute it but as a way into a debate about whether or not men should use hair dye. And people will ask me what explains the mainstreaming of once obscure far-right chan content.
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It takes years of training in cult fringe groups - like O’Neill’s outfit the Revolutionary Communist Party - to so easily parrot the word of your masters and not blink at the doublethink.
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Got to hand it to the leader of the opposition* for so effectively showing that Johnson’s and the Tories interest in ‘levelling up’ and helping our ‘red wall’ regions ends as soon as they think they might have to pay a bit for it.
*Andy Burnham.
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Extraordinary idea. Govt. recommends that instead of hospitals acting as individual purchasers, they work together like some kind of coordinated nationwide cooperative. I wonder if this has been thought of before. It could really catch on.
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Not gonna be shy. This website reporting on our research into English protest songs is *really* good. Find about out 400 years of songs (their context, lyrics etc.) hear interviews with songwriters, read our analyses. Enjoy
@SubversiveSong
!
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You don’t need a conspiracy theory. Just a textbook which includes a chapter on the sociology of elites.
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To be clear I don’t mean this polemically but literally. The speechwriter (let alone Truss) won’t read Burke, Oakeshott, Hayek. Not even Thatcher’s speeches. They read Reddit threads, tweets and watch cheap ideologues on YouTube.
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So, there's this pizza restaurant. Faced by a reduction in demand for pizza it decides to "streamline its offer" by ceasing to sell salads & pasta, scrap plans for doing coffee & cake & concentrate on selling only Margheritas. What happens next?
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Margaret Thatcher’s politics was - accurately - named ‘authoritarian populism’. Boris Johnson’s creating a very different regime: ‘Authoritarian Clientelism’; power based not on claims to Right or Reason but on grift & the ties it binds (& the removal of all obstacles to it).
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This is interesting (to me, anyway). A political phenomenon I've been watching over the last few years is themes & phrases rising from fairly obscure anti-liberal forums, onto YouTube, into comments on news articles, into the op-eds & then into Hansard. This is one of them.
Conservative MP Nick Fletcher says Doctor Who being played by a woman has pushed young men into crime.
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Spare a thought this season, for those for whom it means going to functions, dos and parties where, ineluctably, strangers find out that you teach Politics &, if they don’t leave immediately, will (though no good can come of it) ask: What. Do. You. Think. About. Brexit.
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This is an unedifying spectacle - and at some level the country has to know that what it's looking at is a mirror, reflecting back its own collective delusion of grandeur, detached from reality, unable to accept that we are not a law unto ourselves.
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Thought for the day: what if instead we studied politics by looking at how historic ideologies circulate, develop & change, at how these shape people’s thinking about their material & ideal interests, and at how parties use rhetoric to show how they will satisfy those interests?
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Watching Blair's AI boosterism you just know he doesn't have to use helpline chatbots, has someone else do his multi-factor authentication & hasn't been subject to IT-led 'change management'. Probably - as in '97 when he was doing this last time - he doesn't actually use email.
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Sometimes I really wish I'd not made Politics my 'specialist subject'. I could've studied biology, or film history or something, got a nice job in a small company writing reports or whatever and never feel obliged to look the horror in the face and attempt to understand it.
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David Davis’ presentation on research methodology comes unstuck after a simple question about quantitative vs. qualitative methods reveals he missed the lectures, didn’t do the reading, skipped seminars and forgot to copy answers from his neighbour Michel.
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*SO* proud our passports will be dark blue. It takes my mind off the vast numbers of homeless on the streets, the families using foodbanks and the lazy showoffs in the Cabinet. It’s a good thing national identity is about paperwork rather than how we treat our fellow citizens.
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Full text of a pretty extraordinary letter from the VC of Cambridge, published in The Times; he accepts that turning students into customers has harmed their education, Universities and the country.
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A prize for prognostication for this guy.
prediction: Brexit will get to the verge of collapse then at the last minute a couple of Labour right geniuses will somehow accidentally get us the hardest Brexit by trying to own Corbyn
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I've not been canvassing for 25 years - until today. Why? Because I finally have an MP I like and respect:
@labourlewis
for Norwich South!
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@daniellambach
Yes - so the ideal can always be preserved as long as there are people to blame for 'betrayal'.
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Somewhat bewildered to find people debating ‘big state vs. small state’ as if British Politics is an A’Level essay question from 1987, rather than 'how can the ship of state stay afloat when government has spent 10+ years deliberately scuttling it'.
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Going to take a moment this 'vaccine-day' to reflect on the capacities of human ingenuity, of organised collective intelligence & focused effort, to understand nature & act within it to the benefit of all. Once it's disseminated I've a list of other things we might do together.
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@jemgilbert
@leninology
Respond to the Libs, saying that while working to win you accept a hung Parliament is possible & would want to work with any MPs supportive of green investment, regional investment banks etc. Claim the high road, show you ‘get’ the new politics, force Libs to show their position.
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A way to reduce student anxiety/mental health problems: scrap one semester modules; have year-long courses. Give students time to learn, struggle and fail and then recover before they are assessed (and teachers time to get to know them).
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New country imminent - as well as good news for Bougainvilleans this is good news for anyone on Pointless with
@richardosman
next year and asked for countries beginning with B, with more than 8 letters or smaller than Wales.
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Why is it a ‘threat’, like it’s a punishment for our not propping up the profits? It could be a ‘proposal’, an ‘idea’ or even a ‘promise’. It’s only a threat in the sense that there’s a threat your ambulance will arrive in time, your university be solvent or you water clean.
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Farage has a better grasp of the theatrical myth-making nature of contemporary celebrity politics than any other frontline politician. Reform’ll do better than expected. Labour will benefit but may in the long term regret defenestrating all their ‘populist’ voices.
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Surprised to see people in comments debating whether or not Lawson’s tweet was or wasn’t supporting other parties, possibly justifying the expulsion. Obviously they first decided to get him expelled & then found the reason. That’s how ‘swaggering extremism’ works.
The swaggering extremists that expel the likes of Neal Lawson -and brief against shadow cabinet members-will find that there is no goodwill when they need it… and in government if not before they will need it:
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To all recruiters: I’m available for any VC positions going. I offer management experience, dedication to HE & competitive remuneration - no need of a six figure salary and I will buy my own martinis. I just want my weekends back, at least two evenings a week - and a pension.
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Read this: “The Information World War has already been going on for several years...”
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I’ve been asked to provide empirical evidence for my theories about U.K. politics today being all about theatrical performances, emulating national myths, echoes of scripted legends half-remembered from movies, plays, TV shows that maybe never existed. Here, I present exhibit A.
It is better to go down fighting and honouring the democratic decision of our British people. Then to be long remembered for waving a white flag and surrendering to EU demands. All Brexiteers in Gov and on the backbenches its time to
#StandUp4Brexit
and finally
#ChuckChequers
.
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A main difference between US and UK politics is that, in America, in return for getting the President elected, you get a pardon from criminal lawbreaking whereas, in Britain, in return for getting the PM into power, you get made a member of the House of Lords & can make the laws.
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Meanwhile, in a rare bit of good news: we’re hiring!
If you want to work on a project about the history, theory and analysis of protest songs in England since the 17th C (and who wouldn’t!) just click below.
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Prediction: Remainer/ish parties waste time fighting the previous war - & each other. They focus on winning favourable Op-Eds while Brexit Party is on the ground & online sucking ‘protest’ votes from UKIP, Tories and Lab. At the end ‘sensible’ opinion blames everyone but itself.
EU Parliament voting intention (10-11 April)
Lab - 24%
Con - 16%
Brexit Party- 15%
UKIP - 14%
Lib Dem - 8%
Green - 8%
Change UK - 7%
SNP/Plaid - 6%
Other - 1%
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It's now clear that the Right must accept the reality that ordinary people don’t like their narrow politics. People have very real concerns about racist immigration policies and these must be respected by any serious politician.
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I'm impressed by the speed with which people who only just reinvented themselves as experts in epidemiology have now become experts in ALL areas of military strategy & of something called "The Russian Mind".
"Read Sun Tzu, Jackie Weaver! Read him and UNDERSTAND HIM!", they cry.
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Have just released an 8-part podcast series about ideologies, rhetorics & aesthetics in the 'digital age'. Focused on 'reactionary' politics it's about how platforms (like this one) affect how we think/feel/identify politically now.
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So, under our Ancient Constitution, if you’re an MP for the governing party you can also get a job presenting a TV show. But if you’re a TV presenter you can’t express disagreement with the government.
Have I got that right? It’s in Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights or something.
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Archetypical political commentary in 2018: explain something by getting some famous rich people to describe the last few years as if nobody else was there (and then chuck in some stuff about immigration).
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Honestly, tired old empires are just like buses. You wait for centuries and then two collapse at once.
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From The Financial Times - it’s been much more detailed, fair and accurate on the
#usstrike
than The Guardian/Observer which are both very hostile to Trade Unions (and think Oxford is the only University in the country).
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What do we call people like these, mourning the defeat of fascists in Europe? Enemies of the people? Saboteurs? Traitors?
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Strange to wake up & have the government inform me, via Radio news, it's cancelled timetable slots for my end of term practical assessments. Which government office do I call for advice on rescheduling? Some of us - unlike government - have to plan things more than 2 weeks ahead.
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I think that a mistake often made when people talk about politics is to think that politicians don’t believe anything.
Don’t believe it.
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Proposition of the Day: Our current ‘crisis of politics’ is evidence of just how much we need Politics. Politics is what we do when there are contradictions between groups’ interests or beliefs – how we contest & negotiate, reach a compromise settlement or change our minds (1/10)
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Good read on how whacky kidz learned to manipulate the information flows we all feed off (& destroy civilisation).
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I was born in the U.K. I have always & only lived here. I’m also a dual national. Only now am I realising my British citizenship can be revoked arbitrarily by a Home Secretary looking for the political advantage. We are all just ‘subjects’ of Crown power - not ‘freeborn’ at all.
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@knightsben
Is it 'if we can't be in control then neither can you' or is 'your control is so bad out of control is better'?
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Here's
@labourlewis
giving a fine celebration speech. 'Let's take Norwich North and lets go into government'.
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From the Public Accounts Committee: "Government can provide no evidence that competition between institutions will drive up the quality of education they provide". I'm *shocked*.
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Pleased to say that, thanks to
@ahrcpress
, next year I'll be working with
@DASHARTS
and
@OratoryPolitics
exploring links between theatre & political rhetoric, teaching people how to write/deliver speeches and organising a festival of political speech to which you're all invited.
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People care about real things like climate change & inequality not abstract theories of national purity & invented traditions. Right-Wing activists must drop the obsession with ideological purity & respect common sense if their party is ever again to be respected by the public.
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@paulmasonnews
@piercepenniless
You're writing as if Truss made a meaningful claim about Foucault. The speech is part of a wider effort to reject any sort of 'theory', to paint any claim about equality as empty 'academic' abstraction and to promote the 'reality' of 'data', psychology & entrepreneurial selves.
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I picked the wrong week to write & deliver my first ever lecture on the concept of Parliamentary Sovereignty.
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Suddenly stricken with the fear that, as we speak, Ian McEwan is drafting a state-of-the-nation novel about all this.
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My takeaway from the Post Office scandal is the breadth of a destructive management culture built on the conviction that workers are intrinsically a problem, never a solution, assumed to be ignorant and on the make. Also management cannot buy software & get stiffed. Every. Time.
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I note that those who were appalled & oh-so angry at a US President ‘interfering’ in our affairs by commenting on US policy during the Referendum are now absolutely fine with a US President deciding who our government has as ambassador. It was never about ‘sovereignty’.
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@GuidoFawkes
@FelicityMorse
@psmith
@EuroGuido
Thanks for this crystal clear proof of my point that the lack of interest is not casual but intense, studied effortful - a part of the belief structure. You want to go to Mars but even to say 'by rocket ship' is hard to do because for getting there isn't the point at all.
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Great to have, in Kwarteng, a chancellor with a PhD in economic history - someone who is making policy like it’s the 18th Century. I recommend investing in core commodities such as turnips or tobacco & maybe speculating on new technology like this Spinning Jenny thing.
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Very strong support for
@labourlewis
at Norwich Labour meeting this evening (particularly for his support of PR and 'progressive alliance').
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So, is May-ism to be the government paying the tariffs of foreign-owned businesses? State investment as a perverse reverse-mercantilism?
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Not sure what the fuss is about - Toby Young certainly met all the criteria on the person specification: PPE degree, friends with ministers and a columnist. Such are the people who’ve ruled over us for a generation & they do it *so* well.
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Should I start recording my lectures on Weber now, or should I wait for the government to confirm that the link between Protestantism and Capitalism in the 17th Century is sufficiently proven to be a legally permissible topic for a 1st year class?
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My ambition for this was 1000 downloads. We've exceeded that with 8025% growth in the last two weeks. To avoid affliction with serious FOMO you need to subscribe now & find out how digital culture has transformed politics, ideology and rhetoric.
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I think this is the moment I get to say ‘evergreen tweet’.
As a teenager my grasp of politics was little more than that uptight greedy bastards ruin it for everyone. Then I learned sophisticated theories of interests, structures & ideologies. Now in late middle-age, I find that Uptight Greedy Bastard Theory has amazing explanatory power.
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