The social distance between us : how remote politics wrecked Britain / Darren McGarvey.
Publisher: London : Ebury Press, 2022Copyright date: ©2022Description: 1 volume ; 23 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volume001: BDZ0038561496ISBN: 9781529104080Subject(s): Equality -- Great Britain | Elite (Social sciences) -- Great Britain | Alienation (Social psychology) -- Great Britain | Great Britain -- Politics and governmentDDC classification: 320.941 LOC classification: DA589.7 | .M34 2022Summary: *A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*If all the best people are in all the top jobs, then why is Britain such a fucking bin fire?Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality. A ravine cuts through it, partitioning the powerful from the powerless, the vocal from the voiceless, the fortunate from those too often forgotten. This distance dictates how we identify and relate to society's biggest issues - from homelessness and poverty to policing and overrun prisons - ultimately determining how, and whether, we strive to resolve them. So why, for generations, has a select group of people with very limited experience of social inequality been charged with discussing and debating it?I've sat on cold pavements with beggars, asking them why they would rather wander the streets than live in supported accommodation. I've pleaded with alcoholics to give sobriety one last shot before they end up dead - and read their obituaries in the paper weeks later. I've sat with youth workers at their wits' end as diversionary services are cut amid a surge in gang and knife violence. Too many people remain so far from this nightmarish social reality that even when they would earnestly wish to bring about change, they don't know where to start. So start here.Praise for Darren McGarvey:'The standout, authentic voice of a generation' Herald'Utterly compelling' Ian Rankin, New Statesman'Brilliant' Russell Brand'An absolutely fascinating individual' Owen Jones'Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right... articulate and emotional' Financial Times'McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say' Nick Cohen, Guardian| Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | MAIN LIBRARY Book | 320.941 MCG (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 114732 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION*
'An Orwell for today's poor' - The Times
'This is McGarvey at his best' - Observer
'Breaks your heart and boils your blood' - Big Issue
If all the best people are in all the top jobs, then why is Britain such a fucking bin fire?
Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality. A ravine cuts through it, partitioning the powerful from the powerless, the vocal from the voiceless, the fortunate from those too often forgotten. This distance dictates how we identify and relate to society's biggest issues - from homelessness and poverty to policing and overrun prisons - ultimately determining how, and whether, we strive to resolve them. So why, for generations, has a select group of people with very limited experience of social inequality been charged with discussing and debating it?
I've sat on cold pavements with beggars, asking them why they would rather wander the streets than live in supported accommodation. I've pleaded with alcoholics to give sobriety one last shot before they end up dead - and read their obituaries in the paper weeks later. I've sat with youth workers at their wits' end as diversionary services are cut amid a surge in gang and knife violence. Too many people remain so far from this nightmarish social reality that even when they would earnestly wish to bring about change, they don't know where to start. So start here.
Praise for Darren McGarvey:
'The standout, authentic voice of a generation' Herald
'Utterly compelling' Ian Rankin, New Statesman
'Brilliant' Russell Brand
'An absolutely fascinating individual' Owen Jones
'Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right... articulate and emotional' Financial Times
'McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say' Nick Cohen, Guardian
Includes bibliographical references and index.
*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*If all the best people are in all the top jobs, then why is Britain such a fucking bin fire?Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality. A ravine cuts through it, partitioning the powerful from the powerless, the vocal from the voiceless, the fortunate from those too often forgotten. This distance dictates how we identify and relate to society's biggest issues - from homelessness and poverty to policing and overrun prisons - ultimately determining how, and whether, we strive to resolve them. So why, for generations, has a select group of people with very limited experience of social inequality been charged with discussing and debating it?I've sat on cold pavements with beggars, asking them why they would rather wander the streets than live in supported accommodation. I've pleaded with alcoholics to give sobriety one last shot before they end up dead - and read their obituaries in the paper weeks later. I've sat with youth workers at their wits' end as diversionary services are cut amid a surge in gang and knife violence. Too many people remain so far from this nightmarish social reality that even when they would earnestly wish to bring about change, they don't know where to start. So start here.Praise for Darren McGarvey:'The standout, authentic voice of a generation' Herald'Utterly compelling' Ian Rankin, New Statesman'Brilliant' Russell Brand'An absolutely fascinating individual' Owen Jones'Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right... articulate and emotional' Financial Times'McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say' Nick Cohen, Guardian
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Introduction (p. 1)
- Act 1 Proximity Warning
- 1 Not in the Same Class (p. 13)
- 2 Second Class Citizens (p. 28)
- 3 Arrested Development (p. 55)
- 4 The Law of the Landlords (p. 79)
- 5 The Shame of Homelessness (p. 99)
- 6 Addiction (p. 122)
- 7 Health (p. 142)
- 8 Welfare Reform (p. 154)
- 9 I Don't Like to Be Beside the Seaside (p. 178)
- 10 A Deferent Class (p. 193)
- 11 Speak Properly (p. 207)
- 12 Low Connectivity (p. 222)
- 13 He Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune (p. 235)
- 14 The Goldilocks Zone (p. 255)
- Interlude (p. 266)
- Act 2 Fucked Left, Right and Centre
- 15 Putting the House in Order (p. 277)
- 16 The Right (p. 290)
- 17 The Radical Left (p. 304)
- 18 Populism (p. 322)
- 19 Everything in Moderation (p. 332)
- Coda (p. 345)
- Acknowledgements (p. 369)
- A Note on Sources and Further Reading (p. 375)
- Index (p. 379)
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