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Into the cracks of the system Matthew Brown reports on a weekend of political discussions at the ILP's annual get together in Scarborough Back
at the beginning of May, just two days after Labour limped back into power for a
third term, the ILP held its annual get together for members and Friends to
discuss the state of the world and the left’s response to it. Called ‘Our
Changing World’, the event attracted 30 people to the spacious Esplanade Hotel
in the sunny seaside town of Scarborough (no, honestly, it was sunny!).
Sunny Scarborough Although
the ramifications of the recent election were buzzing around in many people’s
heads – was Labour’s electoral kicking a good thing?, should Blair go now?
– the ILP opened its first session by tackling the international agenda:
globalisation, US power, Iraq, terrorism, China, the G8, et al. Attack
on values Eschewing
set-piece talks for open discussion, the session was kicked off by Eric
Preston’s assessment of the world. ‘We are seeing, not only a decline in the
left and its influence, but an attack on liberal values,’ he said, arguing
that we should focus our attention on the United States and the growing
influence of the religious right that’s shaping both the national and
international scene. ‘At the US election the Republicans managed to define
even the Democrats as liberals; it was like an old clash between 19th century
religious Republicanism and liberalism.’ This,
said Barry Winter, is partly a response to Thatcherism which opened up the
economy and then recoiled at the social effects of what it had done. ‘It now
wants to impose discipline back on society,’ he said. ‘Free
market capitalism and social authoritarianism often go together,’ agreed Will
Brown. ‘If you restrict state regulation you have to find other ways of
regulating social order in civil society – sometimes that’s through
religious movements.’ Will
then suggested that the term globalisation was much less useful than is often
assumed, not only is it ‘self-defeating’ but it’s also fading out of use.
‘I’m not sure globalisation exists,’ he said. ‘But there is a spiral of
free market capitalism and social authoritarianism that is creating a problem
for the left. We have to find a way of saying “a plague on both your
houses”.’ Taking
issue with Eric, he argued that the power of the US is overestimated, including
by the Bush leadership itself. ‘The key problem for the US is that the degree
to which it can dominate international capitalism is declining. It’s far from
clear that the US can reshape and influence the different types of capitalism
emerging in places such as India and China.’ The
war in Iraq is a typical example, he said – the result of the US
overestimating the usefulness of military power. Since the end of the cold war
it can no longer exercise influence over other western states by leading a
military war against communism. Clinton hadn’t attempted to do this but
focused on the economic expansion of capitalism. Since 9/11, Bush has inverted
that and focused on military confrontation. ‘He has nothing to contribute
economically because he cannot dictate to Europe and Asia.’ Sarah
Bracking agreed with Will. ‘I don’t think we should start from the premise
that the US can do what it wants,’ she said. ‘It has no money for a start.
And if you look at China it is not even playing the same game – it’s losing
at football while China is playing cricket.’ Barry
wondered whether there was actually a crisis within free market thinking. In
Latin America, for example, especially countries such as Argentina, the free
market solution had been tried and failed. ‘They went into meltdown,’ he
said. ‘Now they no longer believe in it, but where do they go? What is the
left arguing? Perhaps free market capitalism appears strong because people feel
they don’t have an alternative?’ Bernard
Hughes cautioned against assuming that free market and capitalism are the same
thing. ‘China has capitalism,’ he said, ‘But it is not a free market;
capitalism is accompanied by authoritarianism.’ Europe is the one place where
you have both, he suggested, not the US which props up its own industries and is
very protectionist. Eric
accepted that US military power is limited, but argued that we still ought to be
thinking about what it is going to do next. ‘Where are the leaders of the free
market taking us?’ he asked. Globalisation, he argued, was a relevant concept
that referred to the extension of capitalism. ‘Nation states can’t regulate
anymore, and states are caving in to it. We have the most obvious enemy, yet it
is the least seen. It is taken for granted by huge sections of society and by
our political élites. ‘Our
job is to get into the cracks of this system. We have to be able to read the map
to know what we can do to affect it. We have to popularise the politicisation of
capital.’ A
number of delegates suggested that movements such as the Make Poverty History
campaign might offer space where the left can begin to do this. While limited in
analysis, and largely depoliticised, they do create room for political
interventions. Domestic
scene On
Sunday, attention turned to the domestic scene. Sparked by people’s responses
to the general election result, discussion quickly moved on to Labour’s
policies for the public sector. Inevitably, many members and friends had their
own tales of the effects that Labour’s reform programme is having on the
ground. The
target-driven culture, it was agreed, is alienating staff and the people who are
meant to be providing services. ‘The money is there but the idea that these
are public services has gone,’ said Robert Preston. ‘Targets are part of the
Brown agenda, not Blair’s. They’re there to make sure increased spending
produces results.’ Barry
argued that one of the legacies of Labour’s success is that an outright attack
on public services is no longer viable. Yet the government is still operating
under the assumption that we can have social justice in a free market economy
driven by profit. Indeed, reform of public services means there is now massive
scope for profit-making by private firms who move into the public sector and
make 90 per cent of their profit from the state. ‘If
the Tories ever return to power we are in trouble,’ said Barry. ‘Blair is
making us a hostage to fortune.’ Mary
Stratford agreed. ‘The reward for public services in the target-driven culture
is privatisation,’ she said. ‘In the criminal justice system, there are
large US corporations waiting in the margins to come in and run the prisons.’
The question is, she said, how would we run it? What would a criminal justice
system run by the left look like? At the moment we don’t have answers. A
number of delegates related stories of massaged figures and false information
cobbled together within the institutions they work for to satisfy the ‘bean
counters’. Andy Hansford suggested that the prevalence of targets meant most
league tables were based on bogus information. But there has to be some form of
accountability. ‘The
alternative,’ he said, ‘is to give local people some form of control and
interest in the running of their schools or hospitals. Empowering people can be
an extension of democracy. What’s called the “new localism” may offer
opportunities for that.’ Faith-based
politics Debate
moved on to the issue of religion and the rise of faith-based politics, not only
in north America and across Asia but in the UK too. Barry argued that one of the
shortcomings of the recent election was the lack of debate on big questions.
‘There was no discussion of what sort of society we want to live in?’ he
said. ‘The left does not do this anymore and many people feel there is a kind
of moral vacuum.’ The
rise of religious fundamentalism is based on ‘passionate collective
identities’, he said. ‘The passion hasn’t gone out of politics, it’s
gone into some very difficult and dangerous areas.’ Eric
argued that the left has a particular problem with some religions, such as
Islam, which may directly contradict a liberal ethos. Others, including Sarah,
countered that we need to look at the influence of all religions in public life,
from school assemblies to religious leaders in the House of Lords. Ending
the weekend on such a daunting topic may not have been the best way to fill
ILPers with hope and optimism, but it was certainly appropriate to the depth and
scope of the discussions held over the two days. Delegates left pledging to
continue discussions in the coming months – through Democratic Socialist, on
the internet, and by e-mail – and to look for ways to make meaningful
connections with emerging political movements. ‘Our
changing world’, the ILP’s political discussion weekend was held on 7-8 May
2005 at The Esplanade Hotel, Scarborough
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