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    02a Barnett - A - 2011 - Foreword - To - Long - Revolution - 2011

    Uploaded by

    Henry Durante

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 10
    Foreword to The Long Revolution, 2011 Anthony Barnett ‘Mer alfa centry, why should we sill read The Long Revoltion? “Thetmmedite answer is because from Cato to Madd we liven evolutionary times However this customary we ofthe sword “vlan i lifferen rom that in Raymond Wilame’ fie of hi peeliar and important book. Highlighting the ‘contrat heen the meaning of his term ad the familiar one tay bythe best way for new eaders oat 0 grasp the extra: ordinary relevance of what you ar hailing in your hand or Smplng on tablet. Forint really a book in the sense ofa Seltcomained work thar has begining, midle and end Rather The Long Revolution ie the cromretion of 30 sngumunt hat stat cnewhere, sn pascal the st chapters ‘of Wiliams’ Caltre and Society published in 1958, continues in thar hooks and, naturally, hs eto concade “The book’ ile isa conepe not # description. When he rei te Long Revlon Willams eur ferent focal procs, not saying, Hey, this revolton is taking @ Teng tine =a if the revoltion refered to ie selFeident ana he is telig us about its darason. So his term Lang Revolsion lfeom now on wl use ft wih capital eters whes T mean Willian concept) snot an oxymoron oF wed wih any sense ‘of irony, et alone placing him onthe side of those sade rho chim to Know beter than believe in nave hopes of fst, real chung. On the contar, Willams was wey confident of the posbliy of ad ned fo, desis change athe crstive capaci of working people take charge af if they have the i_1.nesevouTon hans His termisa clans har theres ino poe thae Sharda comprcend beats we ae all within and that ‘wich hes aempring to article forthe fe ie ‘When ona lear night we lok atthe lng cher of star that we cl the Milky Way tno brine thar what we ae looking st sco one pel galany fon ont poscon towards ives Bur the proven of elementary astronomical Knowledge fnd mental eoremton that sich feogntion demande Simpl conspard to the sndesteeding Willans ical foe “He argue tha we ae within «freeachngtaaormation = ene tha brought forth the very tems sch a occ Suey’ ar and ‘lw that we se odes and soeasie i Hs twaaormation wl take ~ av slendy taken = Centres Iti ecenarly lengthy and, mulensatona “Esenthing that Tndertand ofthe hiory of eke Lone Revolution eh to he belt shat we are il ney stages The concept of he Long Revolton bigs ogee the of Willams shemes which ace ako dfning apts. Beg pared fo these wil make esi fo read Was Fi, bene we re within and i swt shaping ws in ems of our experience, ur tlatioships with others, ou Aiference for oter generations, ou work even (as we hve ius nod) producing the very des we we fo deci yt Revlon. This rengnton ofthe dfiaty of what a 0 be aeemptd somal vo Willa argument ans eto cf seawarenes We have o bul int any understanding of ‘or soviy that we are undereaking ths work win an inher ited ramework of wha means to understand framework ‘hat we mun also queton. The recogion of such dfiay stchors his opgostion to all any answers that belie us ‘whether in plies fespecilyon the le) inthe marketplace ‘orale at large tse on he inne challenge of wader Standings to what he ead asthe een and als ery demanting external effort of colaboration. It becomes almost 'ropescrs is weg le might wel hve named thi ook “The Dice Revolution Seed the recognition of dificulyielatd ro he fact tat the Long Revolutions 2 complex whole For Wiliams the most ‘nportne port ofthe Long Revolution ie ta par at alls SSthe steratonships ofall of it constituent pars to one soothe Each need 0 be unersond for what hey ae, bit {the erection nterpenration and feedback ~ of indy, democracy and calture~ that makes th wansformation they fetal None does it ot own, whatever patcule peasy i ‘may bine. This emphasis on relationships and interrationship {grat vite of Willan work even if des not make cary to ead gives ica reamuinglnepity that he ot Secking a shorceut or a decorative flowsh). There is a constant, ity ses and working through ofboth the separate rocenes and thir simultaneous shaping influence pon each ‘the, ich taken as 4 whole releases the energy of change: ‘What we ate looking fs always, isthe actual fe chat the ‘whole spaistion i hereto expres» The Long Revolution ‘ight alo have ben ted “The Whole Revolution. “hid, as you can se rom dhs characteristic lain, Willams undetsands the energy ofthe Long Revolution in terms of the tray ti ied This allows hi fo rave seamless (os radicals SF bow ee and igs ft do rome oy 0 sen ‘rom assis of what happening to advocacy of wha Beds ro be cone. Bt = way tha every interesting In ston tall Tragedy and Revelation’ of « book on desma, Modern ‘rages, pubshed five yeus after The Long Revolution, Wiliams turner whats means to be realionary. He dlsmises out ofand Communit who dehumarise the victims fof redaion as merely the ‘lass enemy. But comes, 1 do fot tbe as so many diiioned or broken by cal revolution hare come to belie, thatthe sffering canbe lid to the charge ofthe revclton alone, and that we mus avoid vs even sevoltion if wear to avoid slférag. On the contzay see ‘evolution asthe ineviable working though of deep and ‘rac dre, 10 which we can respond in varying ways We ‘eal sot identify revelation with violence oe with 2 sudden ‘aptre of ate power Even where such events occu the ester ‘il ransiormation indeed slong evolution, Here he bends item back rowan the fame one of politcal sping, what he ate refs to a5 the short revel Tio” The pot Twa eo stes stat by doing so ina way ‘that rejects trumphalism and accepts the eile personal costs that can accompany genuine change, he humains the proses “he eecogises its all humanity both good and wicked. He then ges on ro argue tha the absolute test By which revoe tion can be dings che change in he form of ati ff 2 socesy init expe seroctare of relations and Fealings The mere “incorporation of new men io existing serctre, even if accompanied by some improvements 18 “mel conditions doesnot count as 2 revolution ater ‘A soci in which a revolution ie pussy oe which the incorporation of als people as whole oman beings, practice inpssible without «change in is fundamental forms ‘of telatonsips (his emphasis. He concludes, ‘Revoltion tim neces thee crmratnar, nt ony bee soe men dese but because thee can be no acceptable Iman ders the al many of an ls of men sin pace ‘dvi my emphasis." The Lomg Revolution coal have Boe tied, "The Human Revolution ‘While his argument slay a arsanie it not 3 Hoel ‘or inivdualist humanism, I echoes he republican arguent, set out for example in Quentin Skinners Liberty before beri, tha the bert of eer isnt to our own and thatthe presence of state despot for any ensianes wal "ilkams undertood that his uranism pted him again he orsinant sociale of bi tne, Fabian and Stain, Tt has been the gavesteror of scien evel against class soci to ie ite tothe rrms ofits opponent propose {plical and economic ede rather than a human orders Profound loyal othe poceacl humanity of iss bur dete rind repudiate the enc inhumanity of swans pol eal forms, whether mandarin pateralism, bureaucratic ade Sion or poicestate Communion, perhaps the depest ‘tivaion behind Wiliams argument is his isience upon {he cretive potential of elf government In his introduction, a8 you cin rend, he dexter the democratic transformation ntl by the Log Revolution ste sig determination. thar poplesbould goveen themselves’ whie noting immed ‘ely tar iewill be ery powerflly resins and the last part. ‘ofthe nal section af he book opera with his particular ade tive “The mar energy of the Long Resolution springs from the couvcton that men an dec their wa ves, by Desking through the pesres and rections of olde forms of soi tnd dicovering new common iatetons (my empha)” “The thre cnstiuie features of our Long Revoeton a5 conceptualised by Willams ~ its fiat, ts complex units Iumatty ~ together form a theory of revolton that i not mecha, detent or eduction. To develop this nae: tive inight would take me further than a foreword bat there fe a evalng ses that can be quoted fom lated Books by Wiliams and they eee wel om the spi ofthe man. In 195% im Cale and Souery eis ne ane ot “Market and Chl For, even the economic element deernining,tdereines x whole way of ie and ie this, trtherthan to the ecoomic stem alone tha the eature has fo belated" And no ost iterate. “Tweay yar ater, debating Edward Thompson's advocacy of thescialion of Wiliam More's, Willams sys, "The extext fo whet the Mev of socialism i tached to. spicy i ‘ounterpodoctive, It seeme to me that the beeak towacds focialem con only be towards an usimaginaly reac compen. ‘eLearn This assertion goes Alt agains the preconceptions of che poised lef hat socal somehow a happy concision, Tae Willis argued thar he didn't xe why everyone resumed tha socialism ws a single dination at al. Why Shouldn't here he many varie of soils? By 1983, in Towards acco, be wing the plural form, “socialism and increasingly tke about livelihood. Informally he considered Simply replacing the term social, sth i xation a the sete and production, im favour of livelihood” 36 this encom Pasir consumption as well as production, relationships between generations and cae ofthe envionment and therefore makes claim for a whole way of fe Tham quoting from she argument to which The Long Revolution tongs. The book elf began asthe continuation ‘of Calta and Society 1998), oatnved in Communications {96a is erred to in Modern Tragedy 966), express inssence on the historical mature of egress in Reprod (76 echllenged and assed in Plies aed Letes ie ‘ews with New Left Review, 1979) and is eaken up again ‘drety in Towards 2000 (1983) Teall sted in 1948 afer the collapse ofthe shored agarne Wills coedsed called Pobics and Lets. An temps, deaing 00 Inerary resources, f0 create an indepen ene crits spcs as saphyied by ee premarin of te (Cold War “After growing up in she Wels borders whet hs fate was 4 signalman, Wiliams had become a stadent Commas Cambridge let he Party when be signed up withthe Ary in igae fat the time che NaztSoviet pact meant it wat Comune Paty ply not serve He beeame an offer the Guards Armotred Divison and commanded four ak tun which wen ashore atthe begining of the Normandy Teedings and fought ts way fr ine months chrough nortbern rope to lamba. He engaged in cose personal com in the comteysde, aswell sin wan warfare. The experience ‘marked him deeply andi recourse in Dl Smith's biography ofthe hall of his ie, Raymond Walliams, A Warrior's Tale Tp agy8 ay the Cold War st in and Wilms ies of becoming a witer in London foundered, be found himselh hel by the immense presses to take sides He wrote that ‘wile US ant: Communite hyena wa obvoualy “dase Salas egimenation of culture and thought was ‘cers the ‘mos cou The reat wat a outney of neral exe that laid he basis forthe sngument yo find er: pulled back 0 do mny ows work. For the nex ten yeas I wrote in early ‘comple lao’ except for hi wife Joy, with whom he argued his casein by line’. The approach ad its overarching Concept wan then reworked verona neal thinty yeu Indeed, ‘he opens Tord 2000 in 1983 by republishing the ene final seston of The Long Revolcin, “Bin in the Soi’. He then, tas he own werd, rconsdes and reworks our ‘hemes of industry and postindustal ecey, the fers of democtacy, the instiaions and technologies of culate and ‘las, polite and soca ~ and proceeds 9 “conmcoualy evi’ in 4 “iva” fashion the zaional Ramework of his agin overview, teasing the decline of Bain in global ‘onte, examiing the ole ofthe Wes andthe reed t fet the lag enemy” of wa. Fal Willams wraps with an aston ‘hing aye Rennsve for Jury uf Hage Her, be argues "he capitalist social order has. done its main jab of implanting 2 deep asent ro captain even in a Peto of es mos evident economic falls.» The respons to fo ey issues ~ ecology and the internacional economic oer al now etemine everything, But the environmental argument has to be expressed in how we lve not what we onmune, a he later aceps the deep logic ofthe mathe i ‘ecting everythings oth people and he resoures ofthe planet, tsa material’ As forthe temaional economic ore, mos Slarming of al what Wiliams cals Plan X" moves towards 4 ‘ee seven ated tae whe the lft has fe to asere an alternative “general imterest. The eis natual presumption that was the force of he are, wiles edtonary opponents wes coset vate representatives of, af est the stats gly has, he ‘observes, been tanned upside-down, "Pan X's ota conspeacy but rather “the emerging ro ralry of selfconscious les’ ~ politcal, modi, matars, ‘marking snd nancial specialise ~ who approach the ite, "A phase ata tine, 2 daca a time, a generation a 3 me, the people who play by Pan X ae calculating relative advan” tage n what i aceped from the begining a in unending and shavoidablesuape Thi was wren five years Before the ‘end ofthe Cold War andthe iam of he wee. Looking back icisimpowsileto reread it without realsng that we now know the nae of Plan X: ts nco-liberalism, ‘Can we inthe confidence ‘non ow energies and capue= ives to displace it Willams asks (the emphasis hs Suppose, he surges tha the ods ae fifi arene es. Why then, "eis only in a shared Beit and insistence that tte are practalateratives tha the halance of Fores and chances fegins wo alte And he continues “Once the inevitable ate ctallege, we Bein gathering our resources foes journey of hhpefshere are no easy anoers thet ate sil salable and

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