The big question is whether Labour can rise to the challenge, accept the enormity of the changes needed and put forward a compelling vision for the future. The alternative may well be "Pasokification".
Neoliberalism is an international phenomenon. It is not enough to challenge it in Britain alone, we must also understand it and oppose it as a global system.
It is neither austerity nor its preceding crash which is sucking the life from Britain's economy, it is the failure of democracy that sees the economy geared solely towards wealthy interests. We must establish an economy directed to achieving social goals rather than being an end in itself.
The power of the financial sector in Britain has worked a transformation on the country’s ‘common sense’. A successful challenge will require a radical change to the language we use to describe our shared life.
At the foundations of contemporary economics, we have neoliberal terms and definitions. In what way has this shaped our thinking, imposed its own logic on economic experience, and in what way can we subvert these terms to help us overcome the crisis we are in?
Doreen Massey introduces the Kilburn Manifesto from Soundings, an ambitious 12 month project that looks to map out alternatives for the post-08 world. OurKingdom will be publishing accompanying articles to each installment.
It is hard to escape the grand statements: the world is getting smaller; we live in a global village; speed-up has conquered distance; time, finally, has annihilated space. We read
