Gay men and the Left in post-war Britain (Paperback)

Lucy Robinson

ISBN 10: 0719086396 / ISBN 13: 9780719086397

Published by Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2011

About this Item

Paperback. Available in paperback for the first time, his book demonstrates how the personal became political in post-war Britain, and argues that attention to gay activism can help us to fundamentally rethink the nature of post-war politics. While the Left were fighting among themselves and the reformists were struggling with the limits of law reform, gay men started organising for themselves, first individually within existing organisations and later rejecting formal political structures altogether. Culture, performance and identity took over from economics and class struggle, as gay men worked to change the world through the politics of sexuality. Throughout the post-war years, the new cult of the teenager in the 1950s, CND and the counter-culture of the 1960s, gay liberation, feminism, the Punk movement and the miners' strike of 1984 all helped to build a politics of identity. There is an assumption among many of today's politicians that young people are apathetic and disengaged. This book argues that these politicians are looking in the wrong place. People now feel that they can impact the world through the way in which they live, shop, have sex and organise their private lives. Robinson shows that gay men and their politics have been central to this change in the post-war world. -- . When the personal became political it changed British politics for ever. Gay men and the left, available in paperback for the first time, explores the enormous impact that gay politics had on the landscape of post-war Britain. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780719086397

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Gay men and the Left in post-war Britain (Paperback)
• Publisher: Manchester University Press, Manchester
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0719086396
• ISBN 13: 9780719086397
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Available in paperback for the first time, his book demonstrates how the personal became political in post-war Britain, and argues that attention to gay activism can help us to fundamentally rethink the nature of post-war politics. While the Left were fighting among themselves and the reformists were struggling with the limits of law reform, gay men started organising for themselves, first individually within existing organisations and later rejecting formal political structures altogether.

Culture, performance and identity took over from economics and class struggle, as gay men worked to change the world through the politics of sexuality. Throughout the post-war years, the new cult of the teenager in the 1950s, CND and the counter-culture of the 1960s, gay liberation, feminism, the Punk movement and the miners' strike of 1984 all helped to build a politics of identity.

There is an assumption among many of today's politicians that young people are apathetic and disengaged. This book argues that these politicians are looking in the wrong place. People now feel that they can impact the world through the way in which they live, shop, have sex and organise their private lives. Robinson shows that gay men and their politics have been central to this change in the post-war world.

About the Author

Lucy Robinson is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Sussex