MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
Latest editorial
Ruskin’s vision
NICK MATTHEWS welcomes the Communist Party of Britain’s commitment to culture and suggests that the Victorian critic points the way toward combining social function with beauty
RUSKIN’S VISION: The social housing complex Alt-Erlaa, 1970s, by architect Harry Gluck in Vienna, Austria is centered on the welfare of the residents and includes saunas, indoor and outdoor (roof-top) swimming pools, gyms and other exquisite communal areas
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
RECENTLY I have been delighted to see the Communist Party take the issue of culture more seriously.
Raymond Williams argued that “the Labour Party and the unions had failed throughout even to see the cultural struggle as a major element in all political and economic struggles.”
There is much for Marxists to consider. The founders of Western Marxism, Gyorgy Lukacs and Antonio Gramsci, made huge contributions in this space as did our own Christopher Caudwell.
More from this author
While the group known as the Colourists certainly reinvigorated Scottish painting, a new show is a welcome chance to reassess them, writes ANGUS REID
ANGUS REID recommends an exquisite drama about the disturbing impact of the one child policy in contemporary China
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
