Austerity Pop
A Marxist history of pop examines how the 2008 financial crash changed music, from glorifying inequality to celebrating ‘relatable’ stars who struggled through adversity — demonstrating capitalism’s adaptability.
4 Articles by:
Toby Manning
Toby Manning is the author of The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (Penguin 2006) and John le Carré and the Cold War (Bloomsbury, 2018).
Reclaiming the 1960s
The counter-culture of the 1960s is sometimes dismissed as an individualist phenomenon – but it was in its essence a collective movement, and one the Left should try to learn from again.
Le Carré’s People
The late John le Carré was the best novelist of the Cold War. By no means of the Left, his portrayals of the British security establishment nonetheless offer an enduring insight into the politics of the ruling class.
In Love with Almost Everyone
In his work on acid communism, Mark Fisher wrote that counter-culture explored the relationship of consciousness and reality – and none did this better than the psychedelic music of the 1960s.