Arguing that cultural devolution preceded and indeed forced political change, the author places this change in the context of post-imperial Britain in the second half of the 20th century and looks at how underground cultures such as rave may have laid the foundations for a post-British culture.
Governing England examines the state of England's governance, identity and relationship with the other nations of the UK. It brings together academic experts on constitutional change, territorial politics, nationalism, political parties, public opinion, and local government both to explain thecurrent place of England within a changing United Kingdom, and to consider how the "English constitution" is likely to develop over the coming years.At a time when questions of territory and identity have grown increasingly politicised, Governing England offers a deeper academic analysis of how England and Englishness are changing. The central questions it addresses are whether, why, and with what consequences there has been a disentangling ofEngland from Britain within the institutions of the UK state, and of Englishness from Britishness at the level of culture and national identity.This volume includes competing interpretations of what has changed in terms of English nationhood.
Title first published in 2003. What happened to art in Britain when the balance began to shift from public to private subsidy following the IMF crisis in 1976? In this polemical book, Neil Mulholland charts the political and cultural shifts in art in Britain from the mid-1970's to the end of the twentieth century. His account covers the key trends and artists of this extraordinarily diverse period, including critical postmodernism, feminism, neoconservatism, object sculpture, the new image, Brit Art, and Scottish neoconceptualism, and traces the development of critical thinking from the opinions of critics such as Richard Cork, John Roberts and Matthew Collings to tabloid press art scandals. The Cultural Devolution offers a broad critical and historical framework within which to understand public debate on the merits of young British artists such as Damien Hirst while looking beyond such celebrities to re-discover the wealth and range of work produced. Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary art in Britain.
After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain has two broad aims. The first is to re-examine the concept of cultural materialism, the term used by Raymond Williams to describe his theory of how writing and other cultural forms relate to general social and historical processes. Using this theory, the second objective is to explore the material ways in which contemporary British writing participates in one particular political process - that of the break-up of Britain. The general trajectory of the book is a matter of superseding Williams: the early chapters are devoted to extrapolating Williams's materialist theory of cultural forms, while later chapters are concerned with applying this theoretical material to a series of readings of books and films produced in the years since his death in 1988. This volume provides a detailed account of some of the writing produced in Scotland and Wales in the years surrounding political devolution, and also considers the ways in which different subcultural communities use fiction to renegotiate their relationships with the British whole.
This book explains devolution today in terms of the evolution of past structures of government in the component parts of the United Kingdom. Available in paperback for the first time, it highlights the importance of the English dimension and the role that England’s territorial politics played in constitutional debates. Similarities and differences between how the components of the UK were governed are described. It argues that the UK should be understood now, even more than pre-devolution, as a state of distinct unions, each with its own deeply rooted past and trajectory. Using previously unpublished primary material, as well as a wealth of secondary work, the book offers a comprehensive account of the territorial constitution of the UK from the early twentieth century through to the operation of the new devolved system of government.
A survey of two centuries of history, providing a background for general readers on the terrible events happening in the Balkans. It gives insights into the roots of the region's reputation for violence and explains the origins of modern Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Greece, Bulgaria and Albania.
This book places the recent developments in devolution in their historical context, examining political and constitutional aspects of devolution in Britain from Gladstone in 1886 through to the latest developments in the year 2000.
Why are the British so Euro-sceptic? Forget about tedious treaties, party politics or international relations. The real reason is that the British do not feel European. This book explores and explains the cultural divide between Britain and Europe, where it comes from and how it manifests itself in everyday life and the academic world.
Provides a cultural history and political critique of Scottish devolutionProvides the first critical history of Scottish devolutionOffers the first multidisciplinary study of (UK or Scottish) devolution: engaging extensively with the work of historians, sociologists, political scientists and cultural theoristsCombines close attention to political and electoral factors with cultural issues and developments Draws on political theory which illuminates devolution from outside its terms This book is about the role of writers and intellectuals in shaping constitutional change. Considering an unprecedented range of literary, political and archival materials, it explores how questions of 'voice', language and identity featured in debates leading to the new Scottish Parliament in 1999. Tracing both the 'dream' of cultural empowerment and the 'grind' of electoral strategy, it reconstructs the influence of magazines such as Scottish International, Radical Scotland, Cencrastus and Edinburgh Review, and sets the fiction of William McIlvanney, James Kelman, Irvine Welsh, A. L. Kennedy and James Robertson within a radically altered picture of devolved Scotland.