Clause 4

COMMENTARY Clause 4 Ted Benton , C o m e on lads – we all prefer nice things to nasty’: this desperate moral appeal, delivered above the chaotic mania of classroom rebellion, was the habitual resort of an old schoolmaster of mine. For those of us close enough to hear, it evoked peals of derisive […]

Olympus Mislaid?: A Profile of Perry Anderson

Olympus Mislaid? A Profile of Perry Anderson Gregory Elliott At the very outset of his story, Berlin seems to have mislaid Mount Olympus. Perry Anderson ‘The Pluralism of Isaiah Berlin’ (1990) In the Foreword to A Zone of Engagement Anderson notes the discontinuity between its first three chapters, classified as ‘intra-mural surveys within the intellectual […]

The value of community

COMMENTARY The value of community Sean Savers W hether the policies of the Thatcher and Reagan years brought any overall economic benefits is doubtful; that they have had high social costs is now quite evident. The unfettered pursuit of self-interest has weakened social bonds and led to social decay and disintegration on a scale which […]

Looking for the Good Life

COMMENTARY Looking for the Good Life Bob Brecher It is almost impossible these days to stumble across anything like a vision of the good society lurking even in the background of a left position. From the intellectual void that is the Labour Party, to the labyrinthine morass of postmodern and postfeminist postponements that constitutes the […]

Coal: Economics versus Emotions?

COMMENTARY Coal Economics versus Emotions? Andrew G/yn On 13 October 1992 the British government sanctioned the closure by British Coal of 31 collieries by the end of the year. It completely miscalculated the scale of public response, especially from such unlikely quarters as the streets of Cheltenham and the pages of the Sun and Express. […]

The Real Meaning of Conservatism

The Real Meaning of Conservatism Andrew 8e/sey After the Affluent Fifties, the Swinging Sixties and the Doubting Seventies, what – the Authoritarian Eighties? Events around the world – in the Soviet Union, in the United States, in Thatcherite Britain, in South America, in Iran, Korea, Turkey and plenty of other places – suggest that aggressive, […]

Afghanistan and the Left

CORRESPONDENCE Afghanistan and the Left Dear Radical Philosophy, The Afghan crisis has revealed the real contours of the international political landscape. Though there is (as yet) no consensus regarding what measures should be taken in response to this crisis, a cry has echoed throughout the non-Soviet world in outright condemnation of the Russian presence. The […]

Via dollaro$a: On the ‘Third Way’

Commentary Via dollaro$a On the ‘Third Way’ Gregory elliott‘i have always believed that politics is first and foremost about ideasʼ, confides Tony Blair in the opening sentence of last yearʼs Fabian pamphlet The Third Way: New Politics for the New Century. In the event, as the case of ʻstakeholdingʼ indicates, the prime minister has a […]