Resources of Hope: Culture, Democracy, Socialism

by Raymond Williams, Robin Gable (Editor)

Collected essays and talks from one of Britain's great thinkers, ranging across political and cultural theory

Raymond Williams possessed unique authority as Britain's foremost cultural theorist and public intellectual. Informed by an unparalleled range of reference and the resources of deep personal experience, his life's work represents a patient, exemplary commitment to the building of a socialist future.

This book brings together important early writings including "Culture is Ordinary," "The British Left," "Welsh Culture" and "Why Do I Demonstrate?" with major essays and talks of the last decade. It includes work on such central themes as the nature of a democratic culture, the value of community, Green socialism, the nuclear threat, and the relation between the state and the arts. Here too, collected for the first time, are the important later political essays which undertake a thorough revaluation of the principles fundamental to the idea of socialist democracy, and confirm Williams as a shrewd and imaginative political theorist. In a sober yet constructive assessment of the possibilities for socialist advance, Williams--in the face of much recent intellectual fashion--powerfully reasserts his lifelong commitment to "making hope practical, rather than despair convincing."

This valuable collection confirms Raymond Williams as a thinker of rare versatility and one of the outstanding intellectuals of our century.

Genres: Cultural, Politics, Essays, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Nonfiction

358 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist, and critic. He taught for many years and the Professor of Drama at the University of Cambridge. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts. His work laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies and the cultural materialist approach. Among his many books are Culture and Society, Culture and Materialism, Politics and Letters, Problems in Materialism and Culture, and several novels.

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I scoured this book chiefly because I had hopes it would contain my favorite quote often attributed to Raymond Williams. I haven't found it yet!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raymond Williams was an inspiringly dedicated humanist, and although most of these essays and talks are old (late 50s-mid 80s), they're often striking relevant. "The Problems of the Coming Period," which Williams wrote right before Thatcher's and the Conservatives' reelection in 1983, might just as well have been written in anticipation of the US election this year. I highly recommend that essay and the interview with Terry Eagleton at the end. The rest of the essays give a close look into key debates in socialist and leftist politics from the immediate postwar years through Thatcher, at least from Williams' perspective.