What were the historical, political, cultural conditions for Brexit?
Jeremy discusses the first section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. We talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally.
The conversation will continue in a series of seminars on the book which will be recorded and podcast.
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
In this episode Jem is joined by Dhanveer Singh Brar and Ashwani Sharma to discuss their 2019 article ‘What is This ‘Black ‘in Black Studies? From Black British Cultural Studies to Black Critical Thought in UK Arts and Higher Education’.
We actually recorded this in March 2026
We talk about the history of academic and non-academic responses to the experience of racism and radicalisation in Britain since the 1960s, with particular reference to the 1980s Black Arts movement, Cultural Studies in the 1990s, more recent debates over ‘Afro-pessimism’, and the revival of militant anti-racism.
We make a couple of references to Ash & Dhan’s more recent article about the work of filmmaker Steve McQueen, but we will have them on the podcast again to discuss that.
Here are some links to more information about things we discuss:
In this epic effort, Jem completes his narrative account of Stuart Hall’s career and public images, from Marxism Today to the posthumous revival of his reputation, concluding with some remarks on his own relationship to Hall’s work since the 1980s.
*Note from Jem*: Having listened back to the podcast I noticed a couple of historical details I think I got wrong while in full flow. I don’t think the 1988 Labour Policy Review was recommending moving from nationalisation to mutualisation in the case of public utilities, as I say on the show. Instead I think it was recommending this approach to other kinds of business. The 1996 article by Hall and Jacques, denouncing New, Labour that I mention was in the Guardian rather than the New Statesman, I’m pretty sure.
Some publications and projects referred to in the show:
In this episode, Jem offers an introduction to the career and ideas of British cultural theorist, political activist and pubilc intellectual, Stuart Hall. This episode covers the period 1960-85. The next episode will carry on from there.
(Apologies if the editing is a bit rough – I had a cough and was leaning heavily on the pause button)
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert answer questions posed by listeners during the live recording of the previous episode, covering topics from the internal politics of the Labour Party to the meanings of nationalism in the different parts of the UK.
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert discuss the crisis in the Labour Party following the cataclysmic local and devolved election results of the previous week. The Greens and Reform UK are destroying Labour’s voter base from left and right respectively, nationalist parties are cleaning up in Scotland and Wales, and it looks like Andy Burnham may be about to become the UK’s most hypothetically left-wing Prime Minister since the election of Harold Wilson in 1974. Can any of this really be happening?
This episode was recorded live online, with listeners posting questions in the chat as we went along, some of which we addressed in this episode, the rest of which we responded to in the following episode.
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert conclude their exploration of the relationship between religion and politics in the twenty-first century. We look at the big historical picture: what has happened to the relationship between religion and politics in the age of ‘postmodernity’.
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert continue their exploration of the relationship between religion and politics in the twenty-first century. We ask the crucial question: are religion and socialism compatible?
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert begin an exploration of the relationship between religion and politics in the twenty-first century. We discuss some of the key issues in thinking about this historically crucial issue, as well as talking about our own religious or non-religious backgrounds.
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here.
If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here.
In this episode, Jem and Alan discuss a range of current issues in UK politics: the continued fallout over Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US, the build up to possibly the most consequential set of local and devolved elections in living memory, the continued speculation over the political fate of Prime Minister Keir Starmer (and his possibly successors), and the new rights for housing tenants that come into effect today.
For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org
If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here.
If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.