New Model Island (Paperback)

Alex Niven

ISBN 10: 1912248255 / ISBN 13: 9781912248254

Published by Watkins Media Limited, 2019

About this Item

Paperback. A study of place, identity, music, politics and regionalism which calls for a radical restructuring of the British Isles.From Orwell-reading centrists to right-wing extremists, there have been countless attempts in recent decades to reimagine the feudal nation that was once England. But there is a strong case for saying that 'England' doesn't exist at all in the twenty-first century.New Model Island examines a disparate range of cultural references--the late Mark Fisher, Dylan Thomas, Alton Towers, Northumbrian activism and Catholic Marxism--as it seeks to reimagine the architecture of the British Isles in the context of the energetic socialist revival of the moment.Part utopian memoir, part elegy for the 2010s, New Model Island is an impassioned call for a new kind of dreaming about post-national identity in a post-capitalist future. From Orwell-reading centrists to right-wing extremists, there have been countless attempts in recent decades to reimagine the feudal nation that was once England. But there is a strong case for saying that `England' doesn't exist at all in the twenty-first century. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781912248254

Bibliographic Details

• Title: New Model Island (Paperback)
• Publisher: Watkins Media Limited
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1912248255
• ISBN 13: 9781912248254
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A study of place, identity, music, politics and regionalism which calls for a radical restructuring of the British Isles.

In the early twenty-first century, "Englishness" suddenly became a hot topic. A rash of art exhibitions, pop albums and coffee table books arrived on the scene, all desperate to recover England’s lost national soul. But when we sweep away the patriotic stereotypes, we begin to see that England is a country that does not — and perhaps should not — exist in any essential sense.
In this provocative text combining polemic and memoir, Alex Niven argues that the map of the British Isles should be torn apart completely as we look towards a time of radical political reform. Rejecting outdated nationalisms, Niven argues for a renovated model of culture and governance for the islands — a fluid, dynamic version of regionalism preparing the way for a new "dream archipelago".

About the Author

Alex Niven is a writer and editor from Northumberland. Formerly assistant editor at New Left Review and currently Lecturer in English at Newcastle University, his books include Folk Opposition and Definitely Maybe 33 1/3. His writing has also appeared in Jacobin, The Guardian, The Independent, Pitchfork and LA Review of Books.