StuartHall - Introducing New Left Review

Editorial"It is a new Society that we are working to realise, not a years ago, such people might have regarded NLR as a

Cleaning up of our present tyrannical muddle into an improved, wierd intellectual junket. Now they feel that our emphasissmoothly-working form of that same "order", a mass of dul l up cia an and educa t i o n is a com monand useless people organised into classes, ami dst whi ch the concern. On our s ide, we feel the urgent need to enlargeantagonism should be moderated and veiled so that they should our own experiences by drawing into d iscussion peopleact as checks on each other for the insurance of the stability of also have a different sense of the society. Our hope is thatthe system." NLR WJv ' r V iT to l ife genu i ne dia l ogue b e t ween

William Morris, Commonweal, July, t885 intellectual and industrial workers.Some point , th e d i s tant war iness between in tel lectual

NLR is a d evelopment of Un iversities and Left Review and and industrial workers must b e b roken down. I t i s on eThe New Reasoner. The po l i t i cal d iscussion which t h ose o f the most dangerous aspects of the p resent p l ight o ftwo journals have begun, and t h e c o n tacts they h ave the socialist movement. Our hope is that NLR wi l l b eginmade are the basis of t h e N e w L e f t . W h a tever we a re to kni t t ogether this broken conversation. This i s part i able to do in the journal wi l l , we believe, be an organic cularly important when we c onsider the question of socialgrowth out o f the two d i f ferent traditions from which we o wnership. Many of t hose in t h e Labour Party and t h eb egan. I n p a r t i cu lar, w e a r e a n x ious t o m a i n tain t h e Trade Unions who d eclare for social ownership, havewide scope of NL R. We a re c onvinced that po l i t ics, too reservations about the form which i t s hould take. So havenarrowly c onceived, has b een a ma i n ca use o f the we. The present form o f n a t ionalisation is not a socialistdecline of s ocialism i n th i s c o unt ry, and on e o f the for i t d oes no t g i v e o r d inary men and w omen d i rectreasons for the d isaffection from socialist ideas of young control over t h e i r o w n li v es . N o r do e s t h e " p u b l i cpeople in part icular. The humanist strengths of socialism corporation" f o r m of nat i o nal isation c o n f ront — as a— which are th e f o undations for a g e n u inely popular socialist m easure should — the u rgent p r o b lems o f asocialist movement — must be developed in c u l t u ral and modern industrial society: such questions as bureaucracy,social terms, as well as in economic and political. What we the d istance between men an d d e c isions wh ich a f fectneed now i s a la n guage sufficiently c lose to l i fe — all them, the p roblems of over-centralisation, ar t h e v estedaspects of i t — to declare our d i scontent w i t h " h as same p ower of t h e n e w p r o pert ied c lasses. Here, a w h o l eorder". neglected tradition w i thin socialism needs to be i magin

The purpose o f d i scussing th e c i nema o r t e en-age a tively rediscovered: but that w i l l be a sterile task, i f i t i sculture in NLR is n ot to s how that, in some modish way, not enriched by the experience of men and women who

we are keeping up w i t h t h e t i m es. These are d i rectly work i n i n d ustry. W e m u s t c o n f ront t h i s q uestion o fr elevant t o t h e i m a g inat ive resistances of p eople w h o bureaucracy, which touches us all, together.h ave to l i v e w i t h i n c a p i ta l ism-the g rowing p o i n t s o f A large number o f p e ople w hom w e h av e d r awnsocial d iscontent, th e p r o jections o f d eeply-felt needs. together around t h e t wo re v i ews ar e a n x ious t o doOur experience of l i fe t o day is so e x t raordinarily f rag something — to f ind a f o r m o f p o l i t i cal act iv ity w h i chmented. The task o f socialism is t o m eet people where m atches thei r p o l i t i ca l c o m m i tments. W e a re oi g c dthey are, where they a re t o uched, b i t t en, m o ved, f r us by their impatience with t h e hesitancies which we havet rated, n auseated — to develop d i scontent a nd , a t t he shown for organisation. This can be i gnored no l onger.same t ime, t o g i v e t h e s oc ial ist m ovement some di rect But we need to s ay, as f i rmly as we c an, t hat t he m o s tsense of the times and ways in which we live. urgent task for socialism today remains the c larif ication

At th e s a me t i m e , t h e t rad i t i onal t a sk o f so c i a l ist of ideas. The movement has never before been so shorta nalysis wil l s t i l l r e main. Th e anatomy o f p o wer, t h e on ideas, so long on pious waffle. Not unt i l we attain th isrelationship of business to pol i t ics, the role o f i deology, clarity, through a decisive shift i n p o l i t ical consciousnessthe analysis o f t r ansi t ional p r ogrammes and d emands, t hroughout the movement, wi l l w e be able to work w i t hare al l central t o tha t di s cussion of t h e s t a te, w i t h out a revolutionary perspective in v i ew. W e s hal l cont inuewhich there can be no clarity, either of theory or practice. to bounce from one side to another, f ighting a perpetual

The journal, then, w i l l r ange widely. But i n p o l i t ical rear-guard act ion, a "ho l d ing o p eration", w h i l e theterms, NLR r e p resents a r e a l b r e ak-through f or u s : a champions of " m e-too" advance into the calm w aters ofbreak-through, both i n t e rms of r egular, frequent publ i an "American" fu ture. Our h o pe is t h a t p eople in t h ecation, a skeletal bu t p e rmanent organisation, as wel l as New Left wi l l feel, with a special urgency, the poverty ofthe new a u d iences w i t h wh o m we c a n c o m m u n icate. ideas in the Labour Movement. The strength of the NewBecause of the d i saster of t h e E lection, and th e l oss of Left w i l l b e t e sted th e s t rength o f i t s i d eas: we shal ld irection w i t h i n t h e e s tabl ishments o f t h e l e f t , m a n y h ave to hold f ast t o t h at , as the p ressure bui lds up t opeople are anxiously feeling t hei r way f o rward. Th ree "cease talking and begin doings".

T he journal, t hen, b ooks and p amphlets get t ing a within", and resolution-passing — all of which is necessary,wide and m or e r e presentative c i rculation, schools and but l imi ted. As i f socialism turned today on the questionconferences and d iscussions — these make up t h e spear of formal allegiances, as if the whole electorate were underhead of the New Left. As we open up some of the hidden the constant watchful eye o f t h e P a r l iamentary wh ips!recesses of " B r i t a in : u n k nown c o unt ry" , i t w ou l d be Where the candidates are good, we should concentrate ourwrong for i n t e l lectual workers to d i scard t hei r p r oper forces, swing the enthusiasm of a Left Club behind some r ole, or u n l ike th e p i oneers of socialism, to fl a t ter t h e one who wil l vote NO t o t h e Bomb, when the rest of therank and f i l e and ourselves into a safe complacency, by p arliamentary f r a ternity t r oop t h r ough t h e do o r in t oabasing ourselves before the altar of ac tion — at any pr ice. no-man' s-land: where the candidate is weak, bad, com

G ranted that , what f o l l ows? We h ave spoken o f t h e promising, we should d raw away f rom p o l i t ical b lack New Left as a " m ovement of i deas": the phrase suggests, mail as i f f rom the p lague. The last refuge of scoundrelsboth the place we accord to socialist analysis and polemic, t oday is no l o nger the appeal for " patr iotism", bu t t h eand the natural g rowth o f i d eas, through people, in to cry that we m ust s ink ou r d i f ferences in the i n terests ofsocialist activity. I t i s , i n o n e sense, education which t he Party Un i ty . Socialists should cease to s quander t he i rsocialist movement lacks most of a l l : the job o f the N ew energies upon scoundrels, and should cease to allow themLeft is t o p r ov ide t h i s k ind o f s e rv ice for t h e L abour to betray the enthusiasm of the young. They should giveM ovement. Bu t e d ucation i s t o o i n a c t ive and r i g i d a or withold their support by their own choice and accord term — suggesting the st i fF approach of teacher to p up i l , i ng to socialist p r ior icies. They should vote w i t h t h e i rthe d u l l at m osphere o f c l assroom an d Pa r t y he ad feet — in both d irections: the protest march or the boycott.quarters, where socialist ideas raise their ugly heads, are Where there are CND o r D i rect Act ion demonstrations,looked at d istantly, and — for want of i n terest or v igour Left Clubs should be the most active group. Where therefade and die away into the shadows again. What we need are groups of houses without an ac t ive community l i f e ,i s a l i v ing m ovement o f p eople, battering away a t t h e w here there are young p eople w i t hout a yo u t h c l u b ,problems of s oc ialism i n the m id - Twentieth Century, where there are responsible rank-and-file str ikers beingpooling their experiences, yet, at every po int , b reaking snubbed by T rade Un ion l eaders, or co loured workersback into the Labour Movement, th rusting forward l i ke being frozen out b y T r ade Un ion rank-and-filers, thereso many un invi ted guests into Constituency Parties and is work fo r u s t o d o . T h e m ethods of d i rect action, soTrade Union branches, pushing within CND, p icking up effectively used i n the Ca m paign, o u gh t to be re the quick tissues in the society, sloughing oIF the dead. interpreted by Left Clubs and similar groups. The test of

We are, then moving beyond education in t h e narrow such centres of New L ef t act iv ity m i gh t b e i f , a mongstsense to poli t ical activity in a l l i t s aspects. What we need their most act ive members, there are Party act iv ists andare not only d iscussion groups, but centres of socialist work political " un c l ubbables", stu d ents and teen - agers,and activity — rallying points of d is turbance and discontent t eachers and members of t h e T r ades Council . The o l dwithin t h e lo ca l c o m m un i ty , t h e n e rv e c en t res o f a t imers wil l want to organise the young: wil l t hey take i t?genuinely popular and i n formed socialist movement. We The younger people w i l l w an t t o p l a y j azz and showshall — in Left Clubs or Tr ibune Societies, informal groups films: wil l the old stagers let them? Can we find a way ofand university clubs — be parallel to , rather than compet w orking t ogether wh ich m ar r ies the tw o e l ements o f aing wi th , existing organisations of the Labour Movement: socialist movement: th e t h eoretical analysis which g i vesf ree where they are t ied, maintaining a d i rect l ink w i t h t he movement p e rspective, t h e c l a r ion c a l l t o mor a lsimilar m ovements and t e ndencies i n o t h e r c o un t r ies. principle, taken up i n a n u n ashamed way, which g ivesThe Left Clubs, and other similar centres with whom we the movement guts?want to m a intain i n formal l i nks, w i l l n o t l ook t o wards One cannot p rescribe forms o f a c t i v i t y f o r a d e m o s ome centre fo r d i r ect ives and g u i dance, whence t h e c ratic Socialist m o vement. I t is of t e n a que s t ion o ftables of the Socialist Law w i l l b e d i spensed, but p ress response as well as i n i t i a t ive — the quick and i m a ginativein upon t h e c e n tre w i t h the i r o w n i n i t i a t ives. These r esponse to in t e rnational o r na t i onal c r i s is , o r l o c a lought to be , moreover, centres of socialist activity, where opportunities, as they disclose themselves. But i n and ou ta demonstration o f socialism can be m a de, and w here the and alongside all o ther activity, there is always the workf ragmentary sense of community and s o l idarity, wh ich o f "the Socialist Propaganda". The Labour Movement i sused to be part o f t h e socialist movement, can be p ieced not in i t s i nsurrectionary phase: we are in our m issionarytogether again. A m o vement, that i s t o s ay, whose open phase. The Left C lubs and New L ef t centres — the Newf orm and d iverse activities wil l reflect the breadth of t h e Left in general — must pioneer a way forward by workingNew Left , bu t w h ich w i l l c o n t inually p ioneer new and for socialism as the I d m i ssionaries worked: as i f c o n f lexible ways of w o rk ing t h rough, between, around the sumed by a f i r e t ha t i s capable of l i gh t ing th e darkerfrozen monoliths of the Labour Movement. places in our society. We have to go ou t i n t o t owns and

Indeed, the test of such centres as Left Clubs — or other c ities, un iversities and t e chnical co l leges, youth c l u bsNew Left k inds of groups — might be whether or not they and Trade Union b ranches, and — as Morris said — makeare able to break out o f t h e d istressingly narrow way in socialists t here. We ha ve c o me t h r o ugh 2 0 0 ye a rs o fw hich socialist organisation i s d i scussed today. This i s capitalism and 100 years of i m perialism. Why shouldo ften l im i ted t o " t r ansforming t h e L abour Party f r om p eople — naturally — turn to s ocialism? There i s n o l a w

w hich says t ha t t h e L a b our M o v ement, l i k e a gre a t T weedledee, "cleaning up" , " i m p roving" — the f ield o finhuman engine, is going to th rob i ts way into socialism, political vision narrowed to the d i smal task of capturingor that we can, any longer — as the Labour Party does control o f t h a t s y stem o f " c h ecks" and b a lances — Herrely upon poverty and exploitation to d r ive people, l ike Majesty's Government — "for the insurance of the stabil i tyb lind animals, towards socialism. Socialism is , and w i l l of the system". Only the p lush carpet, the dispatch boxesremain, an active faith in a new society, a faith t o w h ich and Black Rod keep them from one another's arms. Andwe turn as conscious, thinking human beings. People have in the country, a t h ousand Productivity C ommi t tees, ato be confronted with experience, called to the "society of fleet of Royal Commissions, a covey of b i -Partisan Parlia equals", not because they have never had i t s o b ad, bu t mentary Delegations, a brace of d inners in celebration ofbecause the " society o f e q uals" i s b e t ter t han t h e b e st "our Bomb" and " t h e g reat A t l antic A l l i ance", a scattersoft-selling consumer-capitalist society, and l i f e i s some of knighthoods and orders and decorations, keep antagon thing li ved, n ot s omething o ne p asses through l i ke t e a ism "moderate" and "veiled".through a strainer. Now, perhaps, we can finish the Morris quote:

How close Morris came to the bone! He l ooked r ight "The real busi ness of Socialists is to impress on the workersa cross history and , w i t h r e m arkable i ns ight , saw i n t o the fact that they are a class, whereas they ought to be Society.o ur par t icular p r edicament. T h ere, o n the s t r eets o f The work that l ies before us at present is to makeNairobi is Morr is's "tyranny": here, in t h e ageing dock Socialists, to cover the country with a network of associationsyards, the cluttered roads and railway stations, the decay composed of men who feel their antagonism to the dominanting centres of our c i t ies, the closing nationalised collieries, c lasses, and have no temptation to waste their t ime in t h ei s his " m u ddle" . I n Pa r l i ament, s i t T w eedledum and thousand folli es of party politics."

<oce silty

' Shh! Don' t Rock th e Boa t ! '

Our thanks are due to Abu and the Observer for permission to reprint cartoons.