Crowds, Community and Contagion in Contemporary Britain presents the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to re-assess the neoliberal politics, xenophobia and racism that have undermined community cohesion in the United Kingdom since 1979, and which have continued largely unchecked through the last four decades.
Guided by three interconnected ideas used throughout to scrutinise the meaning of culture as a way of life – Welsh cultural theorist Raymond Williams’ structure of feeling, Jamaican-British sociologist Stuart Hall’s conception of the conjuncture and Belgian political philosopher Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic pluralism – Sarah Lowndes finds that a renewed sense of mutual regard and collective responsibility are necessary to meet the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. She begins by reflecting on public gatherings in Britain from 1945 to 2019, moving on to analyse five key examples of public gatherings affected by the pandemic in 2020 onwards: Chinese New Year, the UEFA Champions League Final, VE Day street parties, Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and the cancellation of Eid ul-Adha celebrations.
A thorough examination of how ideas proliferate and spread through our society, public sphere and collective consciousness, this book will appeal to scholars and upper-level students of cultural studies, cultural history, sociology and politics.
Author(s): Sarah Lowndes
Series: Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 272
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Part I: Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
Conflict vs. Community: The War on COVID-19
Notes
References
Chapter 1: From the Welfare State to Virtual Congregations: British Crowds 1945–2019
World War II and Afterwards
Crowds in the Multicultural Era
Believing Without Belonging: The New Age
Thatcherism and Rioting in the 1980s
The Poll Tax Riots
After 2010: Anti-Globalisation Protests, the Coalition Government and Austerity Politics
Towards Brexit: A United Kingdom?
The Women’s March and #MeToo
Brexit, Boris Johnson, Climate Strikes and Extinction Rebellion
Notes
References
Part II: The Case Studies
Chapter 2: Chinese New Year, 25–26 January 2020, London, England
Email Interview with Man-Yee Liu, 19 January 2021
Notes
References
Chapter 3: UEFA Champions League Final, 11 March 2020, Liverpool, England
Notes
References
Chapter 4: VE Day, 8 May 2020, Various Locations, England
Notes
References
Chapter 5: Black Lives Matter Demonstrations, 7 June 2020, Various Locations Nationwide
Keith McIvor
Perspective on BLM Demonstrations in Glasgow, June 2020.
Notes
References
Chapter 6: Eid ul-Adha, 31 July, Leicester, England
Email Interview with Razwan Ul-Haq, 30 November 2021
Notes
References
Chapter 7: The New Normal: Cancelled Fireworks, Small Weddings and Socially Distanced Funerals
Notes
References
Chapter 8: Pandemic Demonstrations 2021: Taking the Knee, Sarah Everard, COP26, Kill the Bill and Anti-Vaxxers
Notes
References
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
