Democracy: The Long Revolution

Description

"Britain is the traditional land of dissent, of dissent not only in its religious connotation but of dissent itself." John Strachey This accessible yet authoritative collection of essays chronicles the history of dissent in the British Isles, from Magna Carta to the present day. The contributors - all specialists in their field - cover such milestones as the age of revolution, industrialisation and the foundation of the Labour Party. Tony Benn contributes a powerful, final extended chapter arguing that "we are light years away from being a true democracy."

David Powell is a former journalist and prolific writer who has worked for Reuters and BBC Radio 4. His documentary Faces in a Crowd won a Grand Prix award at the Venice Film Festival. Tom Hickey is Principal Lecturer in Philosophy and Politics at the University of Brighton. He teaches Aesthetics, Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Science, and is Course leader of the MA in Cultural and Critical Theory. He is joint convenor of the biennial international conference Globalization and its Discontents. He is currently working on issues of cultural memory, political struggle and artistic representation for an international conference and exhibition in October 2007. He is a member of the NEC of the lectures union, the UCU.

"...timely..." (Labour Left Briefing) -- Mike Phipps "The essays are stimulating... Benn's feature alone makes the book worth buying" -- Duncan Bowie 'Valuable reading for scholars and students of democratisation, the latter being able to learn from the history of an old democracy.' -- Political Studies Review "This short collection of essays provides an excellent illustration of ex-slave Fredrick Douglass's timeless dictum that "power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and it never will"' Ian Sinclair, The Morning Star, July 2007 * Morning Star, The * " A punchy collection of essays" -- Steven Poole * The Guardian *