(Tory) anarchy in the UK: The very peculiar practice of tory anarchism

The idea of ‘Tory Anarchism’ is reasonably well known but largely unanalysed in either popular or academic literature. Tory Anarchism refers to a group of apparently disparate figures in English popular and political culture whose work has, in part, satirised key British institutions and social relations. At the same time they also provide interesting insights into questions of British, though predominantly English, identity, by focusing upon issues of class, empire and nation. This article examines tory anarchism by focusing upon four representative figures: Evelyn Waugh, George Orwell, Peter Cook and Chris Morris

Hungary’s ‘Milla’ movement shows that social media driven protest movements only succeed when they connect meaningfully with civil society

The Hungarian Government, led by the Prime Minister Vicktor Orban has made waves for its authoritarian tendencies and stated ambition to create an ‘illiberal’ democracy. In response to the government’s censorship of the press, a protest group named Milla emerged, which had some success in organising campaigns against the government’s more nefarious tendencies. However, in the end, it joined a political coalition. Dr Peter Wilkin argues that a social media driven protest group can only succeed to the extent that it connects with actors in civil society and builds a grassroots movement willing to support it through concrete actions

Chomsky and Foucault on Human Nature and Politics

Permission granted by Social Theory and Practice Journal, Department of Philosophy, Florida State UniversityIn 1971, Dutch television held a series of interviews and discussions with noted intellectuals of the day to discuss a wide range of issues regarding contemporary social and philosophical affairs. Perhaps the most significant of these encounters was the meeting between Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault. It brought together arguably the two most prominent Western intellectual-activists of the day in a debate that illustrates clearly the lineage of thought within which each writer is situated. Nominally the discussion was in two parts: the first an examination of the origins or production of knowledge, with particular concern for the natural sciences, the second explicitly focused on the role and practice of oppositional politics within Western capitalist democracies—in part a response to the unfolding Vietnam Wa

Global communication and political culture in the semi-periphery: The rise of the Globo corporation

This article will offer a description and explanation of the rise of the Brazilian media corporation Globo by situating it in the context of the periphery and semi-periphery of the World System and the globalisation of communication. In particular it focuses upon the changing role that Globo has played in the construction of an elite-led political culture in Brazil that has moved through phases of authoritarian and democratic government. The article sets out an historical account of the emergence of Globo from being a regional media organisation in the periphery of the world system to a global broadcaster in the semi-periphery. It moves through three phases: First, 1925–1964, the colonial legacy and Brazil in the periphery; second, 1964–1985, a period of transition and conservative modernisation, into the semi-periphery; and finally, 1985 onwards, the age of globalisation

Solidarity in a global age: Seattle and beyond

There are good grounds for taking seriously Wallerstein's dictum that the world system has entered what he describes as an interregnum. By this he means two important things: First, that the world is moving between two forms of world system, from a capitalist world system to something new; Second, that in such an interregnum questions of structure become less significant than those of agency. The world system is one that has been produced, reproduced and will ultimately be transformed by human actors. The direction that it takes will be the result of the political struggles that ensue in the interregnum. In this paper I examine some of these claims in the context of a series of events that have taken place over the past decade and in the run up to the protests that occurred in December 1999 at the World Trade Organization (WTO) summit in Seattle. In so doing I hope to put some empirical flesh on the bones of the idea that Wallerstein has suggestively offered us. While I am critical of important aspects of Wallerstein's work and that of his cohorts at the Fernand Braudel Center I would equally argue that they have presented us with the most powerful and coherent framework for making sense of, I hesitate to use the term given Wallerstein's ontological assumptions, international relations. Thus, this paper is informed by sympathy with Wallerstein's ideas and an acknowledgement that they offer us a rich source of insight into the emergence of the modern world order

George Orwell: The English dissident as Tory anarchist

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2012 The Author.This article examines the nature of George Orwell's Tory anarchism, a term that he used to describe himself until his experiences in Spain in 1936. The argument developed here says that the qualities that Orwell felt made him a Tory anarchist remained with him throughout his life, even after his commitment to democratic socialism. In fact, many of those qualities (fear of an all-powerful state, respect for privacy, support for common sense and decency, patriotism) connect the two aspects of his character. The article explains what the idea of a Tory anarchist means, describing it as a practice rather than a coherent political ideology, and moves on to examine the relationship between Eric Blair, the Tory anarchist, and George Orwell, the democratic socialist. It makes the case for his Tory anarchism by drawing out recurring themes in his work that connect him to other Tory anarchist figures such as his contemporary Evelyn Waugh. Thus Tory anarchism is presented as a conservative moral critique of the modern world that can connect figures who hold quite radically different political beliefs