May Day Manifesto 1968
Owen Jones editor Raymond Williams editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Verso Books
Published:1st May '18
Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date
A timely reissue of the classic socialist call to arms
The original publication of the May Day Manifesto in 1967 collected together the most influential radical voices of the era. Among the seventy signatories were Raymond Williams, E. P. Thompson, Stuart Hall, Iris Murdoch, Terry Eagleton, Ralph Miliband and R. D. Laing. The manifesto set out a new agenda for socialist Britain, in the aftermath of the failure of postwar labours.
Urgently relevant to the current arguments about the crisis of austerity, the burden of empire and the failures to control rampant capitalism, it offers a complete road map to a brighter future. Covering the purpose of the state and how finance and empire are twinned, the importance of a planned economy for all, the role of Britain in the world, the manifesto hoped to inspire change and a fairer society. It is a bold reminder that there are alternatives to the current situation, and that alternative policies can make a difference.
A genuinely collaborative project among a range of leftwing intellectuals of the day. -- Terry Eagleton
The Manifesto sought to rescue and renew the idea that the purpose of the politics of the left - Labour and beyond - should be to further the long-term transformation of capitalist society in a democratic and egalitarian direction. -- Michael Rustin * Guardian *
Explores the crisis of austerity, the burden of empire and the failures to control rampant capitalism, but ... clears the path to a brighter and equal future. * Cent Magazine *
Arguably the founding text of the British New Left. -- John Harris * Guardian *
A timely reprint ... the scope of the document is impressive and the new edition will serve as a useful introduction to the politics of the New Left for contemporary readers. -- Liam Cooper, vice-chair Dulwich and West Norwood CLP
Reading Manifesto in 2018, it's remarkable how methodical and far-reaching its analysis still appears, just as the problems it presents - and the answers it proposes - are still nowhere
near being resolved today. -- J.J. Charlesworth * ArtReview *
ISBN: 9781786636270
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 18mm
Weight: 244g
224 pages