Postwar British Critical Thought

Book excerpt: The is an unparalleled, comprehensive guide to postwar British thought on culture and society. It provides readers with a unique resource which distils the key debates and crucial contributions and points to how these initiatives have been taken up elsewhere. The volumes are organized into four main sections: (1) Old Right and New Left; (2) New Theories; (3) New Politics; and (4) New Times. The first deals with the 'culturalist' critiques of postwar Britain developed by the Old Right and New Left. It also explores some of the sociological commentary on postwar British affluence and the power hierarchy. The second section traces the impact of new forms of 'continental' theorizing, especially structuralism and post-structuralism, during the 1960s and 70s. The third traces the growing concern with 'new' issues of gender, sexuality, postcolonialism, race and ethnicity. The final section deals with postmodernism and globalization, especially as reflected through the distinctively British thematics of 'exterminism', 'New Times' and the 'Third Way'. Andrew Milner is Professor in the Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia