Coupland, Philip M. (2000) Voices from nowhere : utopianism in British political culture 1929-1945. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis employs an analytical concept of 'utopianism' to examine British political
culture between the economic crisis of 1929-31 and the 1945 election. In contrast
to the commonplace meanings of 'utopia', utopianism is understood in a positive
sense and conceptualised as composed of three dialectically interrelated parts. In
summary, the starting point of any utopia is an appreciation of life as it is, based on
a critical gaze on society specific to the life-world of the onlooker. This gaze is
parent to the second part of this concept, the object of desire, the utopia itself. The
third aspect of utopianism is the 'praxis of desire', the strategies and tactics by
which the good life is sought.
This concept is employed to focus on the rhetorical formations and
discursive content of the public utterances of the Labour Party, the Communist Party
of Great Britain, the British Union of Fascists, the Federation of Progressive
Societies and Individuals and the Common Wealth party, known collectively as the
'New Utopians'. The critiques of existing society, ideals of the 'New Man' and
blueprints for, and visions of, the 'New Britain' of these parties are drawn out and
discussed. As an alternative analytical framework to 'class' models of politics, the
concept of utopianism de-familiarises the material, allowing the commonality and
promiscuity of political ideas to emerge. Through the notion of the 'praxis of
desire', how utopia was sought in a national tradition of democracy, continuity and
non-violence is examined, and the dichotomy between 'utopian' and 'practical'
politics interrogated. Finally, an alternative narrative of the 'Road to 1945' is
constructed. By viewing the aspirations of ordinary people in terms of 'demotic
utopianism', the political subject is posited as an active, reflective agent rather than
an individual whose 'interests' are prefigured by their 'class'. In this way the diversity
and subjectivity of desire is reinserted into the historical narrative.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Utopian socialism -- Great Britain, Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1910-1936, Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1936-1945
Official Date:	March 2000
Dates:	Date Event March 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Hinton, James
Sponsors:	British Academy
Extent:	2 v. (416 leaves)
Language:	eng

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