Raymond Williams: A Short Counter Revolution


Book Description

Raymond Williams: A Short Counter-Revolution amply demonstrates the continuing relevance of Williams’s analysis, from the early 1980s, to our current situation. After thirty years of neoliberalism his insights still read as freshly and as incisively as they first did. Jim McGuigan’s new chapter explicitly extends the lines of continuity from then to now, in a persuasive and at times appropriately critical way. Williams’s concluding chapter, Resources for a Journey of Hope remains as inspiring, and as necessary, as ever. - Simon Dentith, University of Reading "It′s great that Towards 2000 is revisited. Jim McGuigan′s preface to this edition and his remarkable up-dating chapter A Short Counter Revolution draw upon a formidable range of references to illustrate why this work is as fresh and insightful today as it was 30 years ago." - Derek Tatton, ′Culture,′ wrote Raymond Williams, ‘is one of the most complicated words in the English language.’ Ironically, the most important British writer on culture in the post-war period is also one of the most poorly digested among today’s readers. Originally conceived as the sequel to his 1961 The Long Revolution, Williams′ 1983 title Towards 2000 has been unfairly classified as a period piece. With the permission of the Williams Estate, the book has been re-entitled A Short Counter-Revolution – Towards 2000 Revisited, with noted Williams expert Jim McGuigan adding a chapter that updates the original with a survey of developments since its publication, particularly concerning the impact of neoliberalism, a phenomenon sighted early by Raymond Williams and named ‘Plan X’. In this new edition, Jim McGuigan makes a totally convincing case to read the book as a contemporary classic. It remains an indispensable guide to: Power and inequality Class politics Post-industrial society Globalization The crisis in democracy




Raymond Williams on Culture and Society


Book Description

"The most important Marxist cultural theorist after Gramsci, Williams' contributions go well beyond the critical tradition, supplying insights of great significance for cultural sociology today... I have never read Williams without finding something worthwhile, something subtle, some idea of great importance" - Jeffrey C. Alexander, Professor of Sociology, Yale University Celebrating the significant intellectual legacy and enduring influence of Raymond Williams, this exciting collection introduces a whole new generation to his work. Jim McGuigan reasserts and rebalances Williams' reputation within the social sciences by collecting and introducing key pieces of his work. Providing context and clarity he powerfully evokes the major contribution Williams has made to sociology, media and communication and cultural studies. Powerfully asserting the on-going relevance of Williams within our contemporary neoliberal and digital age, the book: Includes texts which have never been anthologised before Situates Williams' work both biographically and historically Provides a comprehensive introduction to Williams' social-scientific work Demonstrates the enduring relevance of cultural materialism. Original and persuasive this book will be of interest to anyone involved in theoretical and methodological modules within sociology, media and communication studies and cultural studies.




The Long Revolution


Book Description

Raymond Williams, whose other works include Keywords, The Country and the City, Culture and Society, and Modern Tragedy, was one of the world’s foremost cultural critics. Almost uniquely, his work bridged the divides between aesthetic and socio-economic inquiry, between Marxist thought and mainstream liberal thought, and between the modern and post-modern world. When The Long Revolution first appeared in 1961, much of the acclaim it received was based on its prescriptions for Britain in the '60s, which form a relatively brief final section of the whole. The body of the book has since come to be recognized as one of the foundation documents in the cultural analysis of English-speaking culture. The “long revolution” of the title is a cultural revolution, which Williams sees as having unfolded alongside the democratic revolution and the industrial revolution. With this book, Williams led the way in recognizing the importance of the growth of the popular press, the growth of standard English, and the growth the reading public in English-speaking culture and in Western culture as a whole. In addition, Williams’s discussion of how culture is to be defined and analyzed has been of considerable importance in the development of cultural studies as an independent discipline. Originally published by Chatto & Windus, The Long Revolution is now available only in this Broadview Encore Edition.




Raymond Williams: A Short Counter Revolution


Book Description

Raymond Williams: A Short Counter-Revolution amply demonstrates the continuing relevance of Williams’s analysis, from the early 1980s, to our current situation. After thirty years of neoliberalism his insights still read as freshly and as incisively as they first did. Jim McGuigan’s new chapter explicitly extends the lines of continuity from then to now, in a persuasive and at times appropriately critical way. Williams’s concluding chapter, Resources for a Journey of Hope remains as inspiring, and as necessary, as ever. - Simon Dentith, University of Reading "It′s great that Towards 2000 is revisited. Jim McGuigan′s preface to this edition and his remarkable up-dating chapter A Short Counter Revolution draw upon a formidable range of references to illustrate why this work is as fresh and insightful today as it was 30 years ago." - Derek Tatton, ′Culture,′ wrote Raymond Williams, ‘is one of the most complicated words in the English language.’ Ironically, the most important British writer on culture in the post-war period is also one of the most poorly digested among today’s readers. Originally conceived as the sequel to his 1961 The Long Revolution, Williams′ 1983 title Towards 2000 has been unfairly classified as a period piece. With the permission of the Williams Estate, the book has been re-entitled A Short Counter-Revolution – Towards 2000 Revisited, with noted Williams expert Jim McGuigan adding a chapter that updates the original with a survey of developments since its publication, particularly concerning the impact of neoliberalism, a phenomenon sighted early by Raymond Williams and named ‘Plan X’. In this new edition, Jim McGuigan makes a totally convincing case to read the book as a contemporary classic. It remains an indispensable guide to: Power and inequality Class politics Post-industrial society Globalization The crisis in democracy




Raymond Williams: A Short Counter Revolution


Book Description

"Raymond Williams: A Short Counter-Revolution amply demonstrates the continuing relevance of Williams’s analysis, from the early 1980s, to our current situation. After thirty years of neoliberalism his insights still read as freshly and as incisively as they first did. Jim McGuigan’s new chapter explicitly extends the lines of continuity from then to now, in a persuasive and at times appropriately critical way. Williams’s concluding chapter, Resources for a Journey of Hope remains as inspiring, and as necessary, as ever." - Simon Dentith, University of Reading "It's great that Towards 2000 is revisited. Jim McGuigan's preface to this edition and his remarkable up-dating chapter A Short Counter Revolution draw upon a formidable range of references to illustrate why this work is as fresh and insightful today as it was 30 years ago." - Derek Tatton, www.raymondwilliamsfoundation.org.uk 'Culture,' wrote Raymond Williams, ‘is one of the most complicated words in the English language.’ Ironically, the most important British writer on culture in the post-war period is also one of the most poorly digested among today’s readers. Originally conceived as the sequel to his 1961 The Long Revolution, Williams' 1983 title Towards 2000 has been unfairly classified as a period piece. With the permission of the Williams Estate, the book has been re-entitled A Short Counter-Revolution – Towards 2000 Revisited, with noted Williams expert Jim McGuigan adding a chapter that updates the original with a survey of developments since its publication, particularly concerning the impact of neoliberalism, a phenomenon sighted early by Raymond Williams and named ‘Plan X’. In this new edition, Jim McGuigan makes a totally convincing case to read the book as a contemporary classic. It remains an indispensable guide to: Power and inequality Class politics Post-industrial society Globalization The crisis in democracy




Culture and Society


Book Description




Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World


Book Description

Raymond Williams came from Wales, and was brought up in a working-class family. These facts of place and class are the start of a thread which runs throughout his life and work. In Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World his writing, whether theoretical, historical, critical or as fiction has been treated as a single whole, recognising that his ideas were interwoven as a literary and intellectual engagement with Wales and the world over several decades. This collection of essays, edited by Stephen Woodhams, serves to further engage and extend his ideas of class and society.




The Country and the City


Book Description

As a brilliant survey of English literature in terms of changing attitudes towards country and city, Williams' highly-acclaimed study reveals the shifting images and associations between these two traditional poles of life throughout the major developmental periods of English culture.




Neoliberal Culture


Book Description

Neoliberal Culture presents a critical analysis of the impact of the global free-market - the hegemony of which has been described elsewhere by the author as 'a short counter-revolution' - on the arts, media and everyday life since the 1970s.




Marxism and Literature


Book Description

This classic study examines the place of literature within Marxist cultural theory, and offers an assessment of the contributions of previous thinkers to Marxist literary theory.