A nation in crisis : division, conflict and capitalism in the United Kingdom

Since the 2007-8 financial crisis and its aftershocks, international capitalism has once again been in crisis. The crisis has been particularly marked in the UK and its outcome is currently unclear. Based upon a wealth of sources, from newspapers, journals, government, political party and polling organisation publications, as well as archival and secondary material, Neville Kirk examines the systemic crisis facing the nations of the UK. The book traces the crisis from the period following the 2016 EU referendum up to 2022, a period during which the crisis intensified and became more widespread. Kirk covers the elections of 2017 and 2019, political fragmentation, Scottish nationalism, Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, continuing economic problems and conflicts around class, gender, race and nation. Finally, the book considers competing pathways out of the current impasse. Through his thorough examination of the UK's main political parties and players, Kirk offers the reader a new and original understanding of how we reached the present situation. "Since the 2007-9 financial crash and its aftershocks, international capitalism has once again been in crisis. In politics, social structure, the economy, culture and ideology, Western democracies seem to be fragmenting. Yet this crisis has been particularly marked in the UK, and its outcome is currently unclear. Based on a wealth of sources, Neville Kirk examines the systemic crisis currently facing the nations of the United Kingdom, by exploring how we ended up here. From 2010 and the politics of austerity, fall in living standards, crises in political leadership, Scottish nationalism, societal divisions and institutional fragmentation - to the present day consequences of the pandemic, inflation, polarised political parties, Brexit, the future of the Union, and cultural and ideological clashes around identity, class, race, gender and ethnicity in UK's past, present and future. By developing a thorough analysis of the UK's past and present crises, Kirk sheds light on how and what will determine whether the crisis is resolved, and in which 'old' conservative or 'new' radical ways"-- Provided by publisher