Is a Radical England Possible? Interview with Alex Niven

[@enta_nae_mere7590]

Before I continue watching I want to say that the only times I have experienced Englishness is watching the world cup and interacting with the far-right often ironically heralding English Nationalism under names such as UKIP or BNP. Personally I've always wanted a local identity and culture to ground experience in but that isn't linked to the British state, and honestly it's hard. To me British identity is often that projected and educated into the populace as a legacy of the upper-class adopting nationalism as a response to the emergence of a displaced proletariat. So where is my local identity? I have a regional(norfolk) accent and points of contact that are distinct from other areas of the country, so to me local identity is to be found regionally. This is seen very strongly in the nations of Wales and Scotland - I always believed that "If i was Scottish I'd vote for independence". But this is also felt in "Northern" cities and counties, Yorkshire and Liverpool are two great examples of this, where workingclass identity is expressed through local identity in opposition to the British state. Recently UKIP tried to discursively capture this sentiment but failed to maintain it long-term collapsing post-Brexit. But antipathy to the "Liberal Metropolitan elite" is a rejection of the London-centric nature of the country as a "Southern" etonian upper class rules through British Nationalism. If we hope to build a radical force in the country it, as seen in part by Labour's repeated failure, it cannot come from the metropole, it has to be organised in opposition to it, based in local identities. Localism need not be dominated by conservatives but can be progressive, both building up socialist community organising and diminishing the power of the central(capital dominated) state. If Labour, and more broadly the left, ever hopes to obtain power and not lose to the SNP, it needs to both act and identify locally.

[@NedTesco]

I've been saying for a while that populism of all flavours identifies itself as a democratic rejection of an out of touch elite (this is how Trump & Brexit painted themselves, quite effectively unfortunately). A left that is populist is not going to win by offering to be a return to technocratic Keynesianism. Labour, and the broader left, need to make radical, democratic localism and strong devolution the core of the message. For all of the positive changes in discourse that Corbynism brought about, it was far too London centric, both in its base and in its outlook of a central government making the country more socialist in a very top down way (at least in terms of messaging).

[@redraver6605]

I usually think Bastani is a great interviewer so I dont want to be overly critical, but in this one it really feels like he interrupts Niven every time he gets into a rhythm and Niven never steers the conversation back to what he was talking about before the interruption. The result is a very disjointed interview eith a series of incomplete takes on various issues of national identity. Sometime it's better just to let the guest talk and complete their thoughts, especially when you have the best part of an hour.

[@armchairpoliticianjw]

Happily I Watched an open lecture on house of lords reform yesterday, and although most hereditary peers were removed in 1999, 100 remained after negotiations with Tories. Subsequently, Blair appointment of peers was massive by tony Blair and then equally matched by David Cameron appointments. A lot of truth in your guys show, agree with Alex whenever I am asked what makes me feel English and it is only football. We do need a radical change, the left needs a good policy forum and I am very pleased we have guys like you bringing new perspectives.

[@louisleblanc9843]

I found this conversation to be a bit of a let down to be honest, I came into it thing there was going to be an interesting debate on the merits of englishness in the modern era and how might the left interact with people who do have a deep cultural connection to england and how to prevent the left from alienating them from voting for a left wing government, but instead what we got was a conversation by two men who seem to have already come to the conclusion that englishness doesn't exist and then spent an hour not really saying much of anything. As someone who does identity as English I can say there is a national identity that is shared amongst the English, and know it's not what flavour of crisps we eat or fucking walking, just like it isn't standing In a que or whatever bullshit London comes up with, there is a culture and history within the foods we eat to the ancient stories we tell our selves, I just wish the left would at least give it a try. Or at the very least demand that we do renaissance fairs in this country more often I mean come on it's a crime that we dont have a Sherwood games or something I mean could u imagine it archery contests, jousting tournaments people dressing up like its medieval times, come on people the Americans do it all the time and it's not even there history its ours. I demand that this be the main topic the left get behind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@wireshrub]

Love it

[@martavinamata1671]

I agree. The interviewer had better ideas!

[@daniellewis6371]

I feel like a lot of people who are considered football hooligans could have been involved in the union movement if it was as prevelent today. In the same way Trump supporters wanted a radical change but only voted for what they could see infront of them.

[@rosh_lal_music]

Couldn't the same claim - that there are no uniquely English systems, customs, beliefs and practices - be levelled at every other country though? Take India for example, it's a mash up of Mughal, Buddhist, Islamic etc. practices, customs and ideas from the many conquests and empires that have been established there. These practices may be well established and considered 'uniquely Indian' (whatever that means), but their genesis can be traced to 'outside' sources. As a British Indian, I still identify with Englishness. It's found in the distinct working class regional identities, and the unique radical histories of England (radical politics isn't unique to England, but it has its own unique history of it). The argument seems to be bound up in ideas of cultural 'authenticty', which I'm very skeptical of. I see few criteria for establishing the 'authenticty' of any practice to any specific culture or territory. Cultures and territories are porous things. Isn't the claim that England doesn't have its own 'unique' customs and practices itself a form of English exceptionalism?

[@NosyFella]

Yeah. Nationhood is a pretty recent development that a lot of cultures and traditions pre-date

[@rosh_lal_music]

@@lloroshastar6347 I think I'm actually arguing something different to you. I'm saying the 'uniqueness' of any custom or practice is always overstated - you can find corralaries and antecedents to customs and practices considered English in other cultures and territories. These customs and practices may not be 'uniquely' anything, but that doesn't mean cultural/national identity isn't salient or meaningful. It's a nebulous concept that should always be contested, and it definitely shouldn't be determined for us by the ruling class or any imperialist sentimentality.

[@arcarsenal1380]

Great vid as per. We need more of this broader analysis like this interesting and important topic. This would've been slightly better from an entertainment point of view if Alex was a little more eloquent in his speech. It's not really an issue though, as the ideas were there, and we can't all be good public speakers.

[@opanike87]

Great interview. I agree with states being between 4 to 15M people. There is an interesting guy that talks about getting rid off politicians by automation might be a great guy for the Bastani Factor. His name is Cesar Hidalgo.

[@redraver6605]

It's telling that David Lammy posits as his 2 signifiers of an English identity: a commercial product owned by multinational conglomerate PepsiCo and walks in the countryside - clearly something that can only be experienced in England. It's not like they have countryside in Wales or Scotland or anything and don't even get me started on those non-British countries with their huge national parks and nature reserves. The thing is I actually think you could make a case for the British countryside as contributing to a sense of 'national identity', but there's nothing uniquely English about it and I imagine that there's a lot of crossover with Irish countryside, as well as parts of Northern Europe. I think peopke identify more with regional signifiers (and genuine geographical features) - the Cornish coast, the Welsh mountains etc. I guess you might get somewhere with the 'rolling hills' of England, but the idea that walks in the countryside has a uniquely English character is for the birds.

[@mac5565]

The way I've seen it for a while is that Britain is culturally not really a single nation, and that most things that are seen as British are essentially English (or maybe even just southeast English), with Welsh/Scottish/Irish bits chucked in every so often. This is probably just an accident of population and power being overwhelmingly concentrated within England rather than any particular . . . anything. But with the other three nations having been England's original colonies, it's hard for me not to see this thing of "Britishness" as anything other than "Englishness" in a slightly-too-big trenchcoat. Which, as was said, is itself little more than a whole load of regional identities rattling about in a sack - but it's a pretty old and established sack at this point, and it's not as if most other countries don't share this exact situation anyway. Not sure what I'm trying to say, except that (in my poorly-thought-through opinion) the UK as a single state should probably be dissolved at some point. The exact shapes of what might come afterwards - I've no idea.

[@mikebreen9980]

very good interview, you have to engage with the subject. It's not chewing gum for the eyes!

[@janeweightman9863]

If we ever have an English parliament I vote to put it in Birmingham. It's in the midlands so not north or south uniting that division, it's Britain's second biggest city , it's a diverse city also.

[@NosyFella]

The scales are currently tilted too far south. New parliament should be in Newcastle.

[@wireshrub]

Yer mad

[@MrJohndory111]

you know

[@martin36369]

If he knew he wouldn't be asking you "You Know!"

[@raquetdude]

The socialists in labour need to move more towards the bottom left of the political compass.

[@Steve-kb8mz]

Chomskyism.

[@raphaelroche1784]

No possible yet. Too differential.

[@NickPeters-ug7vk]

"Scotland for Independence"

[@JackHeywood]

Democratic Confederalism Libertarian Municipalism Social Ecology Murray Bookchin's ideas seem to be the perfect fit for this "civic regionalism"!

[@Walt1972]

"you know, Kind of..." The words most used in this interview. Usually before putting forward a proposition which is usually not backed up by anything. Painful to listen to. Its a bit negative to tell the truth.. not an argument of pros and cons. Bastani is usual middle of the road. Dull, dull, dull interview.

[@tharsisharmonia9316]

This interview was a bit of a non starter.

[@arcarsenal1380]

You have to hit the play button

[@tharsisharmonia9316]

@@arcarsenal1380 **chefs kiss**

[@vidriv]

I am no nationalist, but if I was Lammy I would have chosen watching an episode of Monty Python and listening to the Let It Be album, two of the thousands of English cultural elements that define England and Englishness. The death of deference in the 1960s, punk rock, Violet Bucket are quintessentially English and include the tradition of English self-effacing humour. The left can look at these essential qualities and make good use of them in the fight for working class equality, because most of them come from working class cultures. Even Shakespeare has lessons for the left. In the building of an English identity, these elementals of Englishness need to be extracted from the British hegemony and reclaimed as English.

[@JackHeywood]

How are any of those things specifically English and not British?

[@miccorbs2281]

A poor book, only cogent statement is the quote from Orwell. Strangely dull anecdotes, tedious language and cringeworthy attempt to jump on the football bandwagon. England is a country, just as is Peru and Singapore are.

[@martin36369]

Couldn't disagree more football is irrelevant, two groups of grown men (sometimes women sometimes children) wearing shorts kicking a round object about, mindless crap!

[@roadend78]

Scouse not English 🚩