New Times (politics)
Encyclopedia
New Times was a short-lived intellectual movement among leftists in Great Britain
. It was centred on the Eurocommunist faction of the Communist Party of Great Britain
(CPGB), and most of the intellectual groundwork for the movement was laid out in the latter party's official theoretical journal, Marxism Today
.
's Italian Communist Party
(PCI), stayed within the communist parties and developed their own critique. This would essentially lead to an expanded version of the "popular front
" policies of the 1930s, with a number of CPs attempting to ingratiate themselves to the existing political establishment. The movement came to be known as Eurocommunism
.
countries).
A major coup for the Euros was obtaining control over Marxism Today. Martin Jacques
obtained the editorship in 1977, and it began to run articles largely by prominent Euros. Today, he cites Eric Hobsbawm
's 1978 article "Forward March Of Labour Halted?" as a turning point. In the early 80s, the New Times idea began to coalesce. Alongside Jacques, Stuart Hall
was highly influential. Articles were published in MT questioning the Left's opposition to consumerism, focus on material production and the industrial working class and approach to Margaret Thatcher
— the term Thatcherism
is largely attributed to Hall's work in MT, where he argued that she was not 'just another' Tory.
In 1988, New Times was belatedly named in MT's October issue. A special edition proclaimed that "Mass production, the mass consumer, the big city, big-brother state, the sprawling housing estate, and the nation-state are in decline: flexibility, diversity, differentiation, mobility, communication, decentralisation and internationalisation are in the ascendant. In the process our own identities, our sense of self, our own subjectivities are being transformed. We are in transition to a new era." The movement had now reached its peak, with a huge influence on Neil Kinnock and later Tony Blair's reorientation of the Labour Party
.
to Post-fordism
is a key factor - workers in western nations are no longer concentrated in large workplaces, but employed widely in the service and public sectors. Blue collar
jobs are being replaced by white collar
ones, and consumption is becoming democratised to a far greater extent than previously.
Other things are seen as radically new - Thatcherism, for example, is seen not as a simple development of previous Tory policy but a radical agenda. Jacques, in the introduction to the MT special, writes that "at the heart of Thatcherism, has been its sense of New Times, of living in a new era... the Right has glimpsed the future and run with it." The new times require new politics, and Thatcher is the first one to realise it.
In terms of concrete political positions, the NT milieu did not significantly differ from the wider Eurocommunist scene. MT did not see their role as informing Communist cadre so much as influencing the wider left, in particular the Labourites and Liberals
. They advocated broad coalitions of subordinated elements, and ushered in an era of 'identity politics
'. (Indeed, much of Hall's subsequent work was concerned with questions of identity.) Implicitly and explicitly dropped is any serious desire to get beyond capitalism - 'voluntarism' is shunned as the reason for the Bolsheviks' failure, and the Left must adapt itself to the world, rather than seeking to shake it.
; Martin Kettle
later was to Tony Blair
. Many of Blair's inner circle were former Communists of the Euro/NT school. While those intellectuals who still identify with the New Times school are often very critical of Blair's alleged over-identification with Thatcherite policy,, there is an obvious genetic and historical link between the NT rightward shift and 'New Labour'.
The Democratic Left
movement set up by MT alumni in the 1990s published a magazine also called New Times. This ceased publication in 2000.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. It was centred on the Eurocommunist faction of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
(CPGB), and most of the intellectual groundwork for the movement was laid out in the latter party's official theoretical journal, Marxism Today
Marxism Today
Marxism Today was the theoretical journal of the Communist Party of Great Britain and was disestablished in 1991. It was particularly important during the 1980s under the editorship of Martin Jacques...
.
Background
After the Soviet invasions of Hungary in 1956 and - especially - Czechoslovakia in 1968, many western Communists began to question their allegiance to the Soviet Union. There were many results of this - disillusioned communists sometimes swung to the left and joined Trotskyist parties. Others, led by Enrico BerlinguerEnrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician; he was national secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.-Early career:...
's Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
(PCI), stayed within the communist parties and developed their own critique. This would essentially lead to an expanded version of the "popular front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
" policies of the 1930s, with a number of CPs attempting to ingratiate themselves to the existing political establishment. The movement came to be known as Eurocommunism
Eurocommunism
Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant in a Western European democracy and less aligned to the influence or control of the Communist Party of the Soviet...
.
Eurocommunism in Britain
Whereas Eurocommunist factions in the French and Italian communist parties fairly successfully managed to impose their agenda on the party platforms, things were not so simple in other countries. In Britain, particularly, there were bitter struggles from the 1970s. The party became divided into 'Euros' and 'tankies' (so called for their support of Soviet interventions in Eastern BlocEastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries).
A major coup for the Euros was obtaining control over Marxism Today. Martin Jacques
Martin Jacques
Martin Jacques is a British former magazine editor and academic. He was born and raised in Coventry. He was an undergraduate student at Manchester University, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree, and subsequently studied for a PhD at King's College, Cambridge.He was editor of the...
obtained the editorship in 1977, and it began to run articles largely by prominent Euros. Today, he cites Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm
Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
's 1978 article "Forward March Of Labour Halted?" as a turning point. In the early 80s, the New Times idea began to coalesce. Alongside Jacques, Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)
Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and sociologist who has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 1951. Hall, along with Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams, was one of the founding figures of the school of thought that is now known as British Cultural Studies or The Birmingham School of...
was highly influential. Articles were published in MT questioning the Left's opposition to consumerism, focus on material production and the industrial working class and approach to Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
— the term Thatcherism
Thatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
is largely attributed to Hall's work in MT, where he argued that she was not 'just another' Tory.
In 1988, New Times was belatedly named in MT's October issue. A special edition proclaimed that "Mass production, the mass consumer, the big city, big-brother state, the sprawling housing estate, and the nation-state are in decline: flexibility, diversity, differentiation, mobility, communication, decentralisation and internationalisation are in the ascendant. In the process our own identities, our sense of self, our own subjectivities are being transformed. We are in transition to a new era." The movement had now reached its peak, with a huge influence on Neil Kinnock and later Tony Blair's reorientation of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Theory
The principal basis of New Times is, as the name suggests, the idea that the 1980s and 90s represent a significant break with previous history. The transition from FordismFordism
Fordism, named after Henry Ford, is a modern economic and social system based on industrial mass production. The concept is used in various social theories about production and related socio-economic phenomena. It has varying but related meanings in different fields, as well as for Marxist and...
to Post-fordism
Post-Fordism
Post-Fordism is the name given to the dominant system of economic production, consumption and associated socio-economic phenomena, in most industrialized countries since the late 20th century...
is a key factor - workers in western nations are no longer concentrated in large workplaces, but employed widely in the service and public sectors. Blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
jobs are being replaced by white collar
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
ones, and consumption is becoming democratised to a far greater extent than previously.
Other things are seen as radically new - Thatcherism, for example, is seen not as a simple development of previous Tory policy but a radical agenda. Jacques, in the introduction to the MT special, writes that "at the heart of Thatcherism, has been its sense of New Times, of living in a new era... the Right has glimpsed the future and run with it." The new times require new politics, and Thatcher is the first one to realise it.
In terms of concrete political positions, the NT milieu did not significantly differ from the wider Eurocommunist scene. MT did not see their role as informing Communist cadre so much as influencing the wider left, in particular the Labourites and Liberals
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
. They advocated broad coalitions of subordinated elements, and ushered in an era of 'identity politics
Identity politics
Identity politics are political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of self-identified social interest groups and ways in which people's politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through race, class, religion, sexual orientation or traditional dominance...
'. (Indeed, much of Hall's subsequent work was concerned with questions of identity.) Implicitly and explicitly dropped is any serious desire to get beyond capitalism - 'voluntarism' is shunned as the reason for the Bolsheviks' failure, and the Left must adapt itself to the world, rather than seeking to shake it.
Legacy
Many New Times intellectuals were instrumental in reorganising the Labour Party. Hobsbawm was a close advisor to Neil KinnockNeil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
; Martin Kettle
Martin Kettle
Martin James Kettle is a British journalist and author. The son of two prominent communist activists Arnold Kettle and Margot Kettle , Martin Kettle was educated at Leeds Modern School and Balliol College, Oxford University.Kettle worked for the National Council for Civil Liberties as a research...
later was to Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. Many of Blair's inner circle were former Communists of the Euro/NT school. While those intellectuals who still identify with the New Times school are often very critical of Blair's alleged over-identification with Thatcherite policy,, there is an obvious genetic and historical link between the NT rightward shift and 'New Labour'.
The Democratic Left
Democratic Left (United Kingdom)
Democratic Left was a post-communist political organisation in the United Kingdom during the 1990s, growing out of the Eurocommunist strand within the Communist Party of Great Britain and its magazine Marxism Today...
movement set up by MT alumni in the 1990s published a magazine also called New Times. This ceased publication in 2000.