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El largo camino de la renovación: El thatcherismo y la crisis de la izquierda
Estos ensayos, escritos entre 1978 y 1988, dan cuenta de cómo lo consiguió. Aquí Hall analiza en profundidad tanto la crisis de la socialdemocracia como el surgimiento de una nueva forma de entender la cultura, la política y, claro, la economía: el neoliberalismo en su versión británica. ¿Qué estrategias desplegó esa modernización reaccionaria que acabó gobernando el mundo? ¿Por qué la izquierda quedó paralizada y sumida en una crisis de relatos y visiones de futuro? En definitiva, ¿cómo entender el proceso de cambio más importante de los últimos 50 años, y qué resonancias tiene en nuestro presente en crisis?
En Lengua de Trapo hemos creído necesario traducir por primera vez al castellano este clásico que actualizó el marxismo a través de los estudios culturales, el psicoanálisis y el feminismo. Polémico y desacreditado en su momento por algunas izquierdas, este libro está hoy considerado no solo como el más brillante análisis del origen del neoliberalismo, sino como una obra fundamental para pensar el duro y largo camino de la renovación de la izquierda.
En Lengua de Trapo hemos creído necesario traducir por primera vez al castellano este clásico que actualizó el marxismo a través de los estudios culturales, el psicoanálisis y el feminismo. Polémico y desacreditado en su momento por algunas izquierdas, este libro está hoy considerado no solo como el más brillante análisis del origen del neoliberalismo, sino como una obra fundamental para pensar el duro y largo camino de la renovación de la izquierda.
468 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1988
About the author
Stuart Hall
192 books403 followersStuart Hall was an influential Jamaican-born British sociologist and cultural theorist. He was Professor of Sociology at the Open University, the founding editor of New Left Review, and Director of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham.
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September 23, 2021
In the wake of the 2019 general election result, Stuart Hall's scholarship became a source of solace for many on the left. Acclaimed for its ideological analysis of the Thatcherist phenomenon, from its emergence out of the so-called "crisis of Keynesianism" to the astonishing third consecutive majority won in 1987, Hall masterfully draws on Gramscian theory to produce an intriguing compilation of articles on the appeal of Thatcher to British voters. While I will elucidate on this below, in the interest of brevity Hall's general thesis is as follows: Thatcher's success lay significantly (though not wholly) in her rhetorical manipulation of ordinary societal concerns in order to present a radical-right political agenda as their common-sense solution.
The essays in the first section provide the historical and political context; they document the Wilson and Callaghan governments' switch to monetarism in response to the stagflation brought about predominately by the Oil Shocks (what Hall calls 'a crisis of a for British capitalism' (p.30)), and of the creeping discursive turn that came to characterise Thatcherism. For Hall, 'Thatcher's 'populism' signals its unexpected ability to harness to its project certain popular discontents, to cut across and between the different divisions in society and to connect with certain aspects of popular experience...We underestimate the degree to which Thatcherism has succeeded in representing itself as 'on the side of the little people' (p.6). It is often recounted that Callaghan would have won the election had it been called earlier, and Hall comprehensively sketches out how - indeed - Labour's management of the crisis enabled the late-70s Conservatives to exploit its internal contradictions. He argues the crisis actually began earlier in the 60s, 'not simply in terms of the massive struggle to incorporate the working classes into the capitalist state, as junior partners in the management of the crisis, but also in terms of the consequent divisions within the class, the growth of sectional class consciousness, of economism, syndicalism and reformist opportunism' (p.31). While Labour presented itself as the natural party of the working classes, the imminent crisis and social dislocations it produced within the working classes themselves exposed a contradiction at the heart of Labourism. Callaghan's bungling handling of the trade union disputes enabled Thatcherism to present itself as a necessary disciplinary force against the unions "holding the country to ransom", as the cliche goes.
There is a great irony that, despite winning on the back of slogans criticising Labour's handling of the economy and its presiding over record-high unemployment levels, Thatcher not only continued the monetarist policy begun under Wilson and Callaghan but also tripled unemployment in her first term. Hall points this out when he notes the 'yawning discrepancy between Thatcher's ideological advances and its economic failures' (p.155). But this is precisely his point - these facts are immaterial to Thatcherisms appeal: 'Neither Keynesianism nor monetarism...win votes as such in the electoral marketplace. But, in the discourse of 'social market values', Thatcherism discovered a powerful means of translating economic doctrine into the language of experience, moral imperative and common sense' (p.47).
The second section develops Hall's larger theoretical framework. Drawing primarily on Gramsci's conception of hegemony, he charts the shift from consent to coercion under Thatcher (p.36). Hall labels the rightward turn "authoritarian populism", but argues Thatcherism was not so much "hegemonic" in the sense it unified 'a major social bloc and '[won] the consent' of the great majority of the subordinate classes of society...to a major task of social reconstruction' (p.91), rather it contained within it a 'hegemonic project...designed to renovate society as a whole. And, in doing so, it understood that it must organize on a variety of social and cultural sites at once, both in society and in the state, on moral and cultural, as well as economic and political terrain, using them all to initiate the deep reformation of society' (p.91). This "authoritarian populism" is not to be confused with mere popular consent, the consent generated by AP is very much of the petty-bourgeois kind in which the 'people' are constructed and secured 'through an effective interpellation, to the practices of the dominant classes' (p.140).
For all its strengths, the essays do presuppose knowledge of 20th century British social history and any reader would greatly benefit from a substantial grasp of Marxist (particularly Gramscian) theory. He makes frequent mention of how even the Keynesian consensus preceding Thatcher inevitably fell apart because of the inherent contradictions of capitalism, yet he fails to clarify what any of these are. In these ways, it falls down greatly. But these things do not render the book inaccessible by any means. And it is easy to note the parallels between Hall's society and our political climate today: a social and economic crisis provides the wider context, there is an electoral swing to the right, a Conservative party actively courts far-right figures after a flirtation with moderation, the same Conservative party appropriates the far-right's rhetoric (eg. with consistent appeals above party heads and to "the people" (p.39)), the government look keen on curtailing civil liberties in the name of security, a resurgent left faces the paradox of a burgeoning Labour party membership while failing to sell itself in the wider public, the acquiescent media is awash with moral panics (mostly concerning migrants or refugees). The list goes on.
Perhaps the most enlightening essay for the strategy-searching left is 'Blue Election, Election Blues', in the book's third section, in which Hall contrasts Labour's campaign momentum with the result that delivered Thatcher's third term in office. In keeping with the analysis, he observes how elections do not so much measure politics as they 'create' it. He argues Labour has much to learn from Thatcherist strategy, though - lest he is misunderstood - not from Thatcheris's new 'consensus'. That is, Labour's future successes rely on their ability to articulate a vision for prosperity that links their proposed policies to a grander narrative about societal progress. And perhaps, we can observe, Blair's success lies somewhat in his understanding this.
It is tempting to overstretch the comparisons, though. There are also many differences. It is difficult, for instance, to determine whether we are currently seeing a resurgence of what Hall terms "neoliberalism" (begun under Thatcher, continued under Blair, and in some form under Brown, Cameron, and May) or whether - indeed - the election of the Johnson government signals the beginning of a "new" ideological period as Thatcher's did in 1979. Further, while evidence from the past decade suggest the Conservatives are a continued threat to civil liberties (especially for minorities), this is done less so in the name of security (as it was under Blair) but - contradictorily - in the name of liberty itself in the form of persistent allusions to a "threat to free speech".
But much of 'Hard Road' generally makes for depressing reading for those on the left. It brings comfort to recognise its apt diagnosis of the left's image problem post-1979, and certainly helps explain the appeal of both Thatcherism and Blairism (Hall, writing in 1988, makes the ironic suggestion that Labour would be unlikely to find success in a general switch rightward on p.12). But in its implications that in order for Labour to win again it must undertake a rhetorical transformation, one cannot help but feel pessimistic this problem will be adequately addressed. And if it is addressed, it might - as under Blair - come at the expense of principle.
The essays in the first section provide the historical and political context; they document the Wilson and Callaghan governments' switch to monetarism in response to the stagflation brought about predominately by the Oil Shocks (what Hall calls 'a crisis of a for British capitalism' (p.30)), and of the creeping discursive turn that came to characterise Thatcherism. For Hall, 'Thatcher's 'populism' signals its unexpected ability to harness to its project certain popular discontents, to cut across and between the different divisions in society and to connect with certain aspects of popular experience...We underestimate the degree to which Thatcherism has succeeded in representing itself as 'on the side of the little people' (p.6). It is often recounted that Callaghan would have won the election had it been called earlier, and Hall comprehensively sketches out how - indeed - Labour's management of the crisis enabled the late-70s Conservatives to exploit its internal contradictions. He argues the crisis actually began earlier in the 60s, 'not simply in terms of the massive struggle to incorporate the working classes into the capitalist state, as junior partners in the management of the crisis, but also in terms of the consequent divisions within the class, the growth of sectional class consciousness, of economism, syndicalism and reformist opportunism' (p.31). While Labour presented itself as the natural party of the working classes, the imminent crisis and social dislocations it produced within the working classes themselves exposed a contradiction at the heart of Labourism. Callaghan's bungling handling of the trade union disputes enabled Thatcherism to present itself as a necessary disciplinary force against the unions "holding the country to ransom", as the cliche goes.
There is a great irony that, despite winning on the back of slogans criticising Labour's handling of the economy and its presiding over record-high unemployment levels, Thatcher not only continued the monetarist policy begun under Wilson and Callaghan but also tripled unemployment in her first term. Hall points this out when he notes the 'yawning discrepancy between Thatcher's ideological advances and its economic failures' (p.155). But this is precisely his point - these facts are immaterial to Thatcherisms appeal: 'Neither Keynesianism nor monetarism...win votes as such in the electoral marketplace. But, in the discourse of 'social market values', Thatcherism discovered a powerful means of translating economic doctrine into the language of experience, moral imperative and common sense' (p.47).
The second section develops Hall's larger theoretical framework. Drawing primarily on Gramsci's conception of hegemony, he charts the shift from consent to coercion under Thatcher (p.36). Hall labels the rightward turn "authoritarian populism", but argues Thatcherism was not so much "hegemonic" in the sense it unified 'a major social bloc and '[won] the consent' of the great majority of the subordinate classes of society...to a major task of social reconstruction' (p.91), rather it contained within it a 'hegemonic project...designed to renovate society as a whole. And, in doing so, it understood that it must organize on a variety of social and cultural sites at once, both in society and in the state, on moral and cultural, as well as economic and political terrain, using them all to initiate the deep reformation of society' (p.91). This "authoritarian populism" is not to be confused with mere popular consent, the consent generated by AP is very much of the petty-bourgeois kind in which the 'people' are constructed and secured 'through an effective interpellation, to the practices of the dominant classes' (p.140).
For all its strengths, the essays do presuppose knowledge of 20th century British social history and any reader would greatly benefit from a substantial grasp of Marxist (particularly Gramscian) theory. He makes frequent mention of how even the Keynesian consensus preceding Thatcher inevitably fell apart because of the inherent contradictions of capitalism, yet he fails to clarify what any of these are. In these ways, it falls down greatly. But these things do not render the book inaccessible by any means. And it is easy to note the parallels between Hall's society and our political climate today: a social and economic crisis provides the wider context, there is an electoral swing to the right, a Conservative party actively courts far-right figures after a flirtation with moderation, the same Conservative party appropriates the far-right's rhetoric (eg. with consistent appeals above party heads and to "the people" (p.39)), the government look keen on curtailing civil liberties in the name of security, a resurgent left faces the paradox of a burgeoning Labour party membership while failing to sell itself in the wider public, the acquiescent media is awash with moral panics (mostly concerning migrants or refugees). The list goes on.
Perhaps the most enlightening essay for the strategy-searching left is 'Blue Election, Election Blues', in the book's third section, in which Hall contrasts Labour's campaign momentum with the result that delivered Thatcher's third term in office. In keeping with the analysis, he observes how elections do not so much measure politics as they 'create' it. He argues Labour has much to learn from Thatcherist strategy, though - lest he is misunderstood - not from Thatcheris's new 'consensus'. That is, Labour's future successes rely on their ability to articulate a vision for prosperity that links their proposed policies to a grander narrative about societal progress. And perhaps, we can observe, Blair's success lies somewhat in his understanding this.
It is tempting to overstretch the comparisons, though. There are also many differences. It is difficult, for instance, to determine whether we are currently seeing a resurgence of what Hall terms "neoliberalism" (begun under Thatcher, continued under Blair, and in some form under Brown, Cameron, and May) or whether - indeed - the election of the Johnson government signals the beginning of a "new" ideological period as Thatcher's did in 1979. Further, while evidence from the past decade suggest the Conservatives are a continued threat to civil liberties (especially for minorities), this is done less so in the name of security (as it was under Blair) but - contradictorily - in the name of liberty itself in the form of persistent allusions to a "threat to free speech".
But much of 'Hard Road' generally makes for depressing reading for those on the left. It brings comfort to recognise its apt diagnosis of the left's image problem post-1979, and certainly helps explain the appeal of both Thatcherism and Blairism (Hall, writing in 1988, makes the ironic suggestion that Labour would be unlikely to find success in a general switch rightward on p.12). But in its implications that in order for Labour to win again it must undertake a rhetorical transformation, one cannot help but feel pessimistic this problem will be adequately addressed. And if it is addressed, it might - as under Blair - come at the expense of principle.
November 22, 2022
Definitely a key book for understanding how and why Margaret Thatcher managed to become an hegemonical force and transform society. And also very useful for applying its lessons to today's political order. It is quite surprising -but also demotivational- how little have ideological battles changed in the last fifty years.
However, the fact that the book is a collection of individual articles in a period of ten years, makes it very annoying to read, because the same exact ideas are repeated over and over with different words all across the book. For example, that identities are not given, but politically constructed over time, or that winning elections is not about effective public policies but rather about frames and narratives, are reapeated literally more than 50 times across the whole book. Many times even inside the same article. There's no need for 450 pages, it could be perfectly summarised in less than 100 pages, in my opinion.
So in terms of content, quite interesting book, but in terms of structure and narration style, it could have been written much much better. Still, worth to read, specially if you efficiently select the best articles inside of it, so that you don't read the same contents over and over again.
However, the fact that the book is a collection of individual articles in a period of ten years, makes it very annoying to read, because the same exact ideas are repeated over and over with different words all across the book. For example, that identities are not given, but politically constructed over time, or that winning elections is not about effective public policies but rather about frames and narratives, are reapeated literally more than 50 times across the whole book. Many times even inside the same article. There's no need for 450 pages, it could be perfectly summarised in less than 100 pages, in my opinion.
So in terms of content, quite interesting book, but in terms of structure and narration style, it could have been written much much better. Still, worth to read, specially if you efficiently select the best articles inside of it, so that you don't read the same contents over and over again.
May 26, 2023
Simultaneously inspiring and depressing to read this collection of essays from the 1980s, in which the great Stuart Hall diagnoses the defeat of the left in the face of emergent neoliberalism while at the same time proposing credible strategic responses to this crisis.
May 15, 2024
Un libro escrito entre 1978 y 1988, pero más de hoy que el periódico de la mañana: las similitudes entre lo que cuenta de entonces y lo que vemos hoy me han puesto los pelos de punta en varias ocasiones. Quizás es repetitivo, pero lo compensa con creces el guante que Hall nos ofrece para hacer lo que él hizo en su día.
Un librazo.
Un librazo.
January 29, 2024
Excellent
July 3, 2023
El libro es un compendio de artículos escritos entre finales de los 70 y, principalmente, la década de los 80, analizando lo que representó el thatcherismo y el giro que imprimió en la sociedad británica aprovechándose de cualquier resquicio para introducir sus postulados ideológicos, y la crisis de la izquierda durante esos años de impotencia viendo cómo los tories acumulaban una victoria tras otra -y no solo electoral-.
Entiendo por qué este autor es recomendado por gente de IU o de Podemos. Si bien está muy influido por Gramsci, es muy crítico con el leninismo y la experiencia del socialismo real. Además de esto, sus admoniciones a la izquierda tienen como objetivo conseguir que sea nada menos que el Partido Laborista quien tome una orientación socialista, cosa que me parece más improbable aún que pensar en una revolución proletaria en Gran Bretaña. Tampoco es que Hall se pare mucho en definir qué entiende por socialismo, máxime cuando considera que el Servicio Nacional de Salud británico se construyó contra el capital por el hecho de ser público, obviando que en el marco del modo de producción capitalista y de un Estado burgués, la propiedad pública sigue estando subsumida a las lógicas del capital.
No obstante, plantea debates interesantes especialmente para abandonar cierto economismo existente en el bastantes marxistas y comprender que, como bien dicen tanto Gramsci como él, la lucha por la liberación del proletariado debe entenderse como una guerra de posiciones con varios frentes, no pudiendo desdeñarse los aspectos políticos, culturales e ideológicos.
Entiendo por qué este autor es recomendado por gente de IU o de Podemos. Si bien está muy influido por Gramsci, es muy crítico con el leninismo y la experiencia del socialismo real. Además de esto, sus admoniciones a la izquierda tienen como objetivo conseguir que sea nada menos que el Partido Laborista quien tome una orientación socialista, cosa que me parece más improbable aún que pensar en una revolución proletaria en Gran Bretaña. Tampoco es que Hall se pare mucho en definir qué entiende por socialismo, máxime cuando considera que el Servicio Nacional de Salud británico se construyó contra el capital por el hecho de ser público, obviando que en el marco del modo de producción capitalista y de un Estado burgués, la propiedad pública sigue estando subsumida a las lógicas del capital.
No obstante, plantea debates interesantes especialmente para abandonar cierto economismo existente en el bastantes marxistas y comprender que, como bien dicen tanto Gramsci como él, la lucha por la liberación del proletariado debe entenderse como una guerra de posiciones con varios frentes, no pudiendo desdeñarse los aspectos políticos, culturales e ideológicos.
September 7, 2025
A very strong and relevant collection of political essays that, unfortunately, have a high degree of relevance even forty years later. Halls examination of Thatcherism and critiques of the response to it by "the left" carry within them very important points for anyone trying to understand and combat one of its ideological descendents, Trumpism.
I have some critiques of Hall's later work, especially his rejection of the legacy of actually existing socialism and his outright rejection of the notion that people can be fooled into supporting politics which harm their interests through appeals to the symbolic/ideological, that those decisions *must* have a rational core lest we admit the power and efficacy of propaganda. But unlike nearly all other Western academic Marxists, he is deeply dedicated to asking the crucial questions facing the immediate political struggle of the working class. He's not writing polemics to score points and generate new abstract concepts that will play well at conferences, he's constantly asking "what are the balance of forces that led us here, and how can we build the political movement necessary to lead us out?" This commitment to interrogating politics *as they actually exist* rather than as we wish them to be keeps him grounded and makes this collection very useful for anyone trying to understand our dilemma today.
I have some critiques of Hall's later work, especially his rejection of the legacy of actually existing socialism and his outright rejection of the notion that people can be fooled into supporting politics which harm their interests through appeals to the symbolic/ideological, that those decisions *must* have a rational core lest we admit the power and efficacy of propaganda. But unlike nearly all other Western academic Marxists, he is deeply dedicated to asking the crucial questions facing the immediate political struggle of the working class. He's not writing polemics to score points and generate new abstract concepts that will play well at conferences, he's constantly asking "what are the balance of forces that led us here, and how can we build the political movement necessary to lead us out?" This commitment to interrogating politics *as they actually exist* rather than as we wish them to be keeps him grounded and makes this collection very useful for anyone trying to understand our dilemma today.
July 2, 2021
Hall's collection of essays on Thatcherism and the British Labour Party, written in the 1980s, is still exceptionally prescient today for understanding the challenges of neoliberalism & Trumpism, and to explain the failures of both the social-democratic and socialist left to rise to these challenges. I really found his arguments compelling, and believe that he really shines a light on many of the major political questions in 2021. This is also one of the best books that explains, in plain language, the role of ideology in modern electoral politics.
August 23, 2022
Absolutamente brillantes la mayoría de las reflexiones de Stuart Hall respecto a la sociedad (especialmente la inglesa) de la época en la que el neoliberalismo conquista la hegemonía.
La clave de todo está en que se vea posible en el imaginario colectivo.
La clave de todo está en que se vea posible en el imaginario colectivo.
July 29, 2022
Hall has an amazing way of seeing straight to the core of the issue - issues that have lead us to where we are today. Recommended to make sense of the current political climate and beyond
February 21, 2023
A truly superb collection of essays from the late seventies and eighties which I read as part of theme centred around 'hegemony' (see here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2...).
Some further thoughts on how Hall's book is relevant to the situation of the modern UK Labour Party are here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2...
Some further thoughts on how Hall's book is relevant to the situation of the modern UK Labour Party are here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2...
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