Slaying monsters? Forms of opposition and resistance under the current Labour government
Soundings - Print ISSN 1362-6620 - Online ISSN 1741-0797
Volume 2025 Number 90 & 91
Slaying monsters? Forms of opposition and resistance under the current Labour government
Rosalind Brunt pages 92‑105
DOI: 10.3898/SOUN:90-91.06.2025
Abstract
This article notes cultural historian Rutger Bregman’s hopeful philosophy of ‘possibilism’ in confronting the current world political situation, which he likens to Gramsci’s ‘Age of Monsters’. Whilst commending his emphasis on how small groups initiate mass campaigns for change, it argues that his historical narratives lack a ‘politics of kinesis’ and downplay conflict and resistance in the face of an often-repressive state. Given Bregman’s acute and accurate vision of present circumstances, the article challenges his continuing belief in the possibility of a ‘balanced’, ‘regulated’ capitalism guided by social democratic politics. From this standpoint, it offers a view of the current UK Labour government, concentrating particularly on national and local events in autumn 2025, and discusses the vibrant political culture that exists outside the party, and poses many challenges to it. Here there is particular focus on Sheffield. Looking at a wide variety of political groupings, national campaigns, community groups and directaction protests, as well as the role of a long-established though much-diminished labour movement, it concludes with a reflection on their capability to effect change in a possible ‘broad democratic alliance’.
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To cite this article
Rosalind Brunt (2025) Slaying monsters? Forms of opposition and resistance under the current Labour government, Soundings, 2025(90 & 91 ), 92-105 . https://doi.org/10.3898/SOUN:90-91.06.2025