Can Zohran Mamdani's largely educated, middle-income support base be explained - or even justified - from a Marxist perspective? @dmk1793.bsky.social presents five (5) conflicting ways in which it can:

This is very much on point about how I and I think perhaps many others quietly feel about Britain? Excellent.

For anyone who is interested in an extensive discussion of what “social democracy” means, we asked the current & former editors of @renewaljournal.bsky.social to proffer their definitions & thoughts: renewal.org.uk/blog/renewal...

“I believe that to tackle the hate and division we see dominating our modern political debate, we have to build a democracy that is truly representative of its people.” 🌹 @annadixonmp.bsky.social makes the case for Proportional Representation, starting with a National Commission on Electoral Reform

NEW on Renewal Online: Anna Dixon MP (@annadixonmp.bsky.social) highlights the growing support for PR within the Labour Party, and argues that the threat of Nigel Farage makes electoral reform an urgent necessity

In the latest edition of @renewaljournal.bsky.social, Caitlin set out her vision for a new kind of community-centred Labour politics. You can read her essay for free here: renewal.org.uk/articles/rec...

"It’s hard to picture Powell as the smiler with the knife" Renewal co-editor Morgan Jones (@morganj0nes.bsky.social) has written for the Guardian about Lucy Powell's victory in Labour's deputy leadership election, and what it means for the future of the party

"social democrats must talk less about patriotism in the abstract, and more about what that patriotism must stand for in practice" Our co-editor Jack Jeffrey has written for the "Future of the Left" substack about the need give left-wing patriotism real substance:

This essay was prompted by an article in the latest issue of Renewal, which for anyone concerned by the threat of the far right in the UK, I would recommend reading from cover to cover. A brilliant issue @renewaljournal.bsky.social !

I did an interview where I talked at length about why liberal analyses of how to win elections are wrong, why social media matters so much, what’s changed, what’s the same, why Marxists are deeply unsuited for this moment, how people think, and more. renewal.org.uk/blog/all-tha...

A really interesting conversation about posting and politics with politics poster Will Stancil:

Is deliverism a doomed strategy? Does social media have an inherent right-wing bias? And have materialist theories of politics been discredited? Renewal co-editors @morganj0nes.bsky.social and @dmk1793.bsky.social interviewed @whstancil.bsky.social about his controversial political analyses:

What David said. I read @sachahilhorst.bsky.social and @demofuturist.bsky.social's pieces on a recent flight, alongside the excellent conversation between Jack Jeffery and Alan Finlayson on why the left doesn't understand the internet. These three pieces alone worth the sub.

New on Renewal Online: what can Sutan Sjahrir and the Indonesian Socialist Party of the 1940s and 1950s teach us about political education today? renewal.org.uk/blog/when-po...

The chair of our Editorial Board, @profafinlayson.bsky.social, was interviewed by @piercepenniless.bsky.social for the LRB podcast about his work on the nature of Online Politics

What did we learn at Labour conference? Four members of the Renewal editorial team offer their reflections: - @morganj0nes.bsky.social on Starmer vs Burnham - @dmk1793.bsky.social on the Mair-ian void - @parth0.bsky.social on Labour's nationalism - @ben-glover.bsky.social on 'Big tent Starmerism'

Finally got round to reading this, everyone should. It is excellent. And speak to anyone in their teens if you need convincing that the left is ceding this ideological battleground. Not just on cultural issues, but everything from economic aspiration to ideas of the good life.

The print copy of @renewaljournal.bsky.social looks amazing. Really like the design.

I hadn't read this by @sachahilhorst.bsky.social in @renewaljournal.bsky.social when I wrote this piece but wish I had. It's brilliant and pinpoints the centre-left's sociological/political challenge with precision. How Reform is tapping into pride in place and loss. renewal.org.uk/articles/ref...

In piece for @renewaljournal.bsky.social, I suggest Labour conference saw the emergence of two distinct approaches to practicing politics in a broken public sphere: - YIMBYs and Growth Groupers pursue disruption - "progressive communitarians" seek re-connection

Some thought-provoking reflections here

What did we learn at Labour conference? Four members of the Renewal editorial team offer their reflections: - @morganj0nes.bsky.social on Starmer vs Burnham - @dmk1793.bsky.social on the Mair-ian void - @parth0.bsky.social on Labour's nationalism - @ben-glover.bsky.social on 'Big tent Starmerism'

The Cabinet reshuffle has clarified Britain’s ambiguous relationship with American Big Tech, I argue here in Renewal.

"It is hard now to think of a touch point for Big Tech with the UK state that does not fall under the auspices of the Blairites" @williamcb.bsky.social analyses the government's relationship with Big Tech in light of the recent Cabinet reshuffle

I'm down with this

At a time when patriotism can feel as as contested as ever, this is a bloody lovely ode to so much of what we love about Britain from @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social in @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Well worth a read 👉 renewal.org.uk/blog/mr-blob...

Blobby blobby blobby blobby. Blobby blobby blooby @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social blobby, blobby blobby blobby. Blobby blobby blobby!

Sof is one of the best comms people I've met. Read her insightful piece on British patriotism here: renewal.org.uk/blog/mr-blob...

As I was speaking on panels at Labour conference last week I began to describe the Britain I know exists and love. In the end I gave it a name: Mr Blobby Patriotism And I’ve written about it for @renewaljournal.bsky.social here bsky.app/profile/rene...

"Most of us basically love our country, even if begrudgingly – not the version we’re told to, or even presented with, but the one we really see and live in every day. Silly Sausage Britain is the Britain most of us reside in, and love." @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social on "Mr Blobby patriotism"

Congratulations to our contributing editor Sacha!

Just caught up on this fantastic essay by @sundersays.bsky.social in @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Brilliant, punchy, to the point on Labour's lack of serious engagement with multiculturalism, and a much-welcome rebuttal to those who advocate for Labour to accommodate Reform's radical right populism.

Everybody wants growth, but how can we get it? Jimena Valdez makes the case for a growth strategy that embraces international students and immigration, now online for @renewaljournal.bsky.social

This @renewaljournal.bsky.social essay is so brilliant - the history of the British far right narrated entirely through its activities in Croydon. Every sentence makes it clear it was written by a scholar with a genuine love for history and for Croydon. renewal.org.uk/articles/sub...

New on Renewal Online: Jimena Valdez considers what Spain's socialist government can teach Keir Starmer about how to deliver economic growth & higher living standards

This is a brilliant easy on empire loyalism, multicultural drift and dispossessed whiteness in outer south London. Cc @academicdiary.bsky.social @transpontine.bsky.social @ashdisorient.bsky.social @liamliburd.bsky.social

Punchy but necessary intervention from @sundersays.bsky.social in @renewaljournal.bsky.social, responding the anonymous memo circulating amongst Labour MPs: renewal.org.uk/blog/false-p...

This interview with @profafinlayson.bsky.social, on why the left still doesn’t get the Internet and why that stops us from combatting the far right effectively, really sharp:

"In the twenty-first century, the success of social democracy depends on narrowing differences between groups" @sundersays.bsky.social responds to the anonymous essay that @patrickmaguire.bsky.social has reported is being shared around by Labour MPs

Labour Party conference's most stylish accessory - modelled here by @imogenshaw.bsky.social

How should Labour respond to the radical right threat? Three essays make big strategic arguments: - @caitprowle.bsky.social calls for Labour to go big on community politics - @paulmason.bsky.social calls for a "zero-sum socialism" - @demofuturist.bsky.social calls for a "social democratic futurism"

In our latest issue (guest co-edited by @sachahilhorst.bsky.social) looks at the radical right, with pieces covering: - Reform UK in local government - far-right activism in 20th-century Croydon - the sociology of Reform's post-industrial electorate - the role of pubs in Farageist ideology

Patrick is absolutely right that Labour lacks a sufficient intellectual culture - but instead of reading race-war Whatsapp essays from anonymous crackheads, Labour MPs should subscribe to @renewaljournal.bsky.social for serious and informed strategic analysis and argument

This is an excellent read. First thing I've consumed since subscribing and now can't wait to read more.

How can social democrats offer an optimistic, futurist alternative to the dominant tech ideologies of 'Effective Altruism', 'Anglofuturism', and 'Accelerationism? @demofuturist.bsky.social sets out the beginnings of an approach: (subscribe to read)

This seems like a very timely and important issue - we're going through very crucial times for social democracy everywhere.

Huge thanks to @anneliesedoddsmp.bsky.social for this fascinating and timely lecture on the social democratic response to big tech. Look out for the full lecture, forthcoming in our end-of-year double issue.

“[Reform is] left with a workerist aesthetic propped up by funds from those for whom labour standards, labour conditions, and indeed labour itself are not particularly meaningful categories.” 🖊️ @sachahilhorst.bsky.social for @renewaljournal.bsky.social renewal.org.uk/articles/ref...

So much talk about Reform voters, but I'm yet to read much about their lives beyond tropes and excuses ('legitimate concerns'). I've been back in the midlands to interview people and learn more. Here's my piece on them and Reform's attempts to present itself as a community-minded, pro-worker party: