Left in the past : radicalism and the politics of nostalgia

205 Pages·2010·2.085 MB·English

by  Bonnett, Alastair

Left in the Past
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Left in the Past
Radicalism and the Politics of
Nostalgia
by
Alastair Bonnett
2010
The Continuum International Publishing Group
80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
www.continuumbooks.com
Copyright © 2010 by Alastair Bonnett
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers.
ISBN: 978-0-8264-3006-9 (Hardback)
978-0-8264-3007-6 (Paperback)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bonnett, Alastair, 1964–
Left in the past : radicalism and the politics of nostalgia / by Alastair Bonnett.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8264-3006-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8264-3006-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8264-3007-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8264-3007-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Nostalgia–Political aspects. 2. Radicalism–Social
aspects. 3. Socialism–Social aspects. I. Title.
BF575.N6B66 2010
320.53–dc22
2009051360
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed in the United States of America
For Aphra
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
The Dilemmas of Radical Nostalgia 7
Acknowledging Nostalgia: Four Provocations 9
Six Windows onto Radical Nostalgia 11
Part One
Chapter One Nostalgia and the Left: Denial, Danger and Doubt 19
Introduction 19
Nostalgia as the Modern Dilemma 19
The ‘ruthless criticism of all that exists’ 22
Radical Nostalgia 28
‘We have lost something’: The End of Utopia 33
Nostalgia’s Uncertain Return 38
Conclusion 47
Chapter Two Nostalgia in and against English Socialism, 1775–1894 59
Introduction 59
The Politics of Loss in English Socialist History 60
From Poorman’s Advocate to Proletarian: Thomas Spence and Radical Tradition 64
William Morris: Revolutionary Nostalgia in an Age of Progress 69
Robert Blatchford: The New Life and Old Traditions of Socialist Fellowship 73
Conclusion 77
Part Two
Chapter Three Worlds We Have Lost: Nostalgia in Anti-colonialism and
Post-colonialism 87
Introduction 87
Anti-colonial Nostalgia: Roots against Empire 88
Post-colonial Nostalgias: Yearning for Resistance 96
Conclusion 106
VIII CONTENTS
Chapter Four The Melancholia of Cosmopolis 115
Introduction 115
Cosmopolitan Attachments 116
Renewing Resistance: Nostalgia and Anti-nostalgia in British Radical Anti-racism 121
Nostalgia Strikes Back: Paul Gilroy’s After Empire 124
Conclusion: Sharing Loss 129
Part Three
Chapter Five Yearning at the Extremes: Situationist Nostalgia 139
Introduction 139
The Spectacle as Loss 140
‘Whoever sees the banks of the Seine sees our grief’: Situationist
Nostalgia for Place 144
Conclusions and New Departures 149
Chapter Six The Psychogeography of Loss 155
Introduction 155
Purgatory and Redemption around the M25: The Radical Nostalgia of
Iain Sinclair 156
Radical Re-enchantments: Magic, Preservationism and Nostalgia
in Revolutionary Psychogeography 161
Conclusion 164
Conclusion: Acknowledging Nostalgia 169
References 174
Index 189
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Marie-Claire Antoine at Continuum for her patience and support.
Chapter Five is a revised and adapted version of ‘The nostalgias of situationist subversion’,
Theory, Culture and Society, 2006, 23(5), 23–48.
Chapter Six is a revised version and adapted version of ‘The dilemmas of radical nostalgia
in British pyschogeography’, Theory, Culture and Society, 2009, 26(1), 47–72.