Je ne sais quoi…

This book is based on the conviction that an honest, detailed and contextualised analysis of the rise of English nationalism among the working class can shed light on the unpredictable and volatile times in which we live. Lately we have witnessed some of the most profound shifts in the history of political economy. Neoliberalism’s global economic logic has established itself as the dominant organising principle in our lives. All known alternative modes of socioeconomic organisation have disintegrated and virtually disappeared from everyday practice and the popular imagination. In such a political hiatus neoliberalism has pressed on unhindered with the deindustrialisation of many areas of Europe and North America and the rapid industrialisation of China and other parts of the developing world. In many regions of the deindustrialised west we have seen the gap between rich and poor grow to historic proportions in a realigned social structure that can now be legitimately described as a plutocracy (Winlow and Hall, 2013; Dorling, 2014; Therborn, 2014). We have also seen global warming, drought, mass migration and the depletion of many of the natural resources that are vital to the uninterrupted economic growth on which the functioning of the capitalist system and the livelihoods of its subjects depend (Klare, 2008; Heinberg, 2011; Hiscock, 2012).

Our political culture has grown sterile. It no longer appears to be capable of engaging the people in an informed and forthright discussion about root-and-branch changes to the way we live together. The vast majority of our politicians display a dispiriting lack of will to challenge and overcome the historic problems we face. Most have accepted the transformation of the old modernist social order, with its unequal yet stable and comprehensible structure of entitlements and obligations, into a world of hollow freedoms, insecurity and panoramic dissatisfaction. The new political consensus has been forged in a silent pact between the liberal left and the neoliberal right, a dual power bloc that looks down on the corpses of socialism and one-nation conservatism (Rancière, 2010a, 2010b). This tacit agreement, built on an unwavering commitment to the free market, has opened a gap between institutionalised politics and the cultural life of the people.