Left for Itself, A: Left-wing Hobbyists and Performative Radicalism

In the first full length analysis of the rise of left-wing hobbyists, performative radicals and the 'Identity Left', A Left for Itself interrogates the connection between socio-economic realities and politico-cultural views and boldly asks what is a worthy politics, one for the follower count or one for effecting change. 'In the sometimes febrile environment of contemporary left politics, this book is a measured and evaluative contribution. David Swift cuts through the rhetoric of often violent and divisive exchanges to uncover the roots, motivations, diverse character and strengths and weaknesses of the current phenomenon of so-called `identity politics'.' Dr Stephen Meredith

About the Author :
David Swift is the Kreitman post-doctoral fellow at Ben Gurion University, in the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He has published in journals including the History Workshop Journal and the Women's History Review, as well as writing for The Independent and LabourList. Swift has taught at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Central Lancashire. He lives in Cambridge, UK.

Review :
The language and politics [of the Left today] seem to be what motivated Swift, a left-wing academic, to write this angry polemic against almost the entire class of people whom he considers to have led the left and a whole generation astray.The problem, as he says at the beginning, is that "much of the contemporary left is driven not by a desire for real change, but rather by a desire for an enjoyable pastime, and a search for an identity. It is a left for itself." In other words, they like the idea of herself caring and of there being an enemy that callously doesn't, but don't care enough practically (and unromantically) to engage with others so that there's a realistic chance of changing things.Swift's explanation for this apparent gap between stated virtues and the ability to endorse a successful strategy for change is that too much of the left is fundamentally unserious. And, he argues, it is unserious because - contrary to its protestations - it has no real dog in the great social fights. This is because - unlike previous lefts - it is educated, wealthier and holds elite values, which distances it from the lives of ordinary people. Politics for the modern left is a hobby, he says, not a necessary way of effecting changes to their circumstances...it is easy enough to encounter the matrix of attitudes that Swift refers to, although he illustrates his book with some of the most vacuous and self-consciously virtuous sentiments expressed by a relatively small group of people who, with one or two exceptions, are products of the Corbyn era.The problem, Swift says, is that these ways of talking and these priorities alienate some of the very people who the "hobbyists"...claim they care most about. And in some situations are in themselves harmful.--David Aaronovitch "The Times" David Swift astutely diagnoses the pathological narcissism at the heart of what he calls the 'hobbyist left', which has captured the Labour Party. With its preoccupation with language and virtue-signalling, and scant interest in the concerns and culture of actual working people, today's middle-class elitist left no longer speaks to the voters who once gave their support to the Labour Party.--Professor Eric Kaufmann, author of Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration and the Future of White Majorities David Swift rides a coach and horses through the self-indulgence, radical chic and bloviating of too much of today's British left.--Professor John Bew, author of Citizen Clem, winner of the Orwell Prize 2017 This book is essential reading for anyone who is interested in the contemporary state of the left.--Professor Matthew Goodwin, author of National Populism: the Revolt Against Liberal Democracy