What do you think?
Rate this book
Against metropolis
In 1979 Labour got itself half-way down the road to decentralisation - and stuck. Against Metropolis argues a radical socialist case for proceeding further - towards a federal Britain.
This pamphlet is both an analysis of Labour's malaise and a prescription for future policy which breaks completely with the predominant centralist tradition in British socialism. It argues that 'London government' is now deeply penetrated by the 'servitor capitalism' of the City and its international ramifications than it is responsive to democratic pressures in Britain. Hence the continuing frustration of 'socialist planning' and a diminishing confidence in the role of the state, which has already been exploited by the political right.
Harvie examines the historical tendencies which have led to this - and to a mentality among the Labour elite, right and left, which has unconsciously excluded alternatives.
Arguing for a new socialist basis in provincial government, the pamphlet urges Labour to take a strategic initiative with a scheme of federal decentralisation, and outlines the necessary structures and their policy implications. Only through this, Harvie argues, can Labour recapture broad-based support for a socialism which is democratic and radical at home and relevant to the problems pf the rest of the world.
This pamphlet is both an analysis of Labour's malaise and a prescription for future policy which breaks completely with the predominant centralist tradition in British socialism. It argues that 'London government' is now deeply penetrated by the 'servitor capitalism' of the City and its international ramifications than it is responsive to democratic pressures in Britain. Hence the continuing frustration of 'socialist planning' and a diminishing confidence in the role of the state, which has already been exploited by the political right.
Harvie examines the historical tendencies which have led to this - and to a mentality among the Labour elite, right and left, which has unconsciously excluded alternatives.
Arguing for a new socialist basis in provincial government, the pamphlet urges Labour to take a strategic initiative with a scheme of federal decentralisation, and outlines the necessary structures and their policy implications. Only through this, Harvie argues, can Labour recapture broad-based support for a socialism which is democratic and radical at home and relevant to the problems pf the rest of the world.
25 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1982
About the author
Christopher Harvie
64 books5 followersProfessor Christopher Harvie is a Scottish historian and author. He was Professor of British and Irish Studies at the University of Tübingen, Germany and a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife from 2007 to 2011.
Harvie grew up in the Borders village of St. Boswells and was educated at Kelso High School and the Royal High School in Edinburgh. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated in 1966 with a First Class Honours M.A. in History. He received his PhD from Edinburgh in 1972 for a thesis on university liberalism and democracy, 1860-1886.
As a historian, Harvie was the Shaw-Macfie Lang Fellow and a tutor at Edinburgh University from 1966 to 1969. He joined the Open University in 1969 as a history lecturer, and from 1978 he was a senior lecturer in history.
His publications include Scotland and Nationalism (1977, revised 1994), Fool’s Gold: the Story of North Sea Oil (1994), Broonland: the Last Days of Gordon Brown (2010), and Scotland the Brief: a Short History of a Nation (2010).
Harvie grew up in the Borders village of St. Boswells and was educated at Kelso High School and the Royal High School in Edinburgh. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated in 1966 with a First Class Honours M.A. in History. He received his PhD from Edinburgh in 1972 for a thesis on university liberalism and democracy, 1860-1886.
As a historian, Harvie was the Shaw-Macfie Lang Fellow and a tutor at Edinburgh University from 1966 to 1969. He joined the Open University in 1969 as a history lecturer, and from 1978 he was a senior lecturer in history.
His publications include Scotland and Nationalism (1977, revised 1994), Fool’s Gold: the Story of North Sea Oil (1994), Broonland: the Last Days of Gordon Brown (2010), and Scotland the Brief: a Short History of a Nation (2010).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 29, 2016
This Fabian tract written by Christopher Harvie in 1982 seems remarkably relevant to the predicament the Labour Party finds itself in today. Would that they had taken his advice!
Displaying 1 of 1 review