Liberal Democrats or Labour? The politics of the Hip-Hop Generation or the politics of the Black Labour movement? Part 2

In the 70's and 80's the Black Labour/Power Generation set the parameters of political philosophy in "black" politics in Britain. Their philosophy was rooted in revolutionary but democratic socialism and their intellectual companions were Marx and Walter Rodney amongst others. Bringing together the two thinkers they developed an analysis that was a hybrid of the two and offered a way to connect "race" and "class" politics. They sought racial as well as class equality and added an extra dimension of identity politics to the traditional Marxist ideal. The racial equality element was about getting political representation; anti-race discrimination legislation and making the "black" community more visible in local authority. Much of which they succeeded in achieving. 

But there still existed issues around economic and political philosophy. The political philosophy of the Black Labour/Power Generation was a traditional Marxist analysis. They believed that the engine driving human society was class struggle; they argued for big socialist government as the answer to Britain's economic problems; they called for a dictatorship of the workers and for the means of production to be placed into the hands of the working class. 

In the 80's when the uprisings in Brixton and across the country took place; though they were not Marxist protests the language and rhetoric of revolutionary socialism was in the air. Darcus Howe; A. Sivandan; Paul Gilroy; CLR James were all steeped in the theory and militancy of revolutionary socialism. 

Though the Brixton riots were not an attempt to overthrow capitalism; the spirit of the time was that the riots were some kind of mini-revolution against the forces of Thatcherite capitalism. Those that grew up in that time still make references to the "bourgeoisie" or assume that a new generation of politico's would automatically fit into their dichotomous understanding of the world. I can remember being invited to meet with a prominent figure in "black" politics who asked me on arrival; "So what are you then? Trotskyite; Leninist or what?" On hearing that I was not either they became particularly dismissive of my political endeavours even though it was clear that they were not socialist in practice. 

In "black" politics, just like in mainstream politics, the ideas of socialist class politics are very well known. Socialist ideology pervades in academia. Most university graduates in the social sciences can outline a basic socialist set of ideas and understanding the radical left is part of the indoctrination. Even a member of the public with the most rudimentary political science tools is normally aware of a basic socialist analysis and feels obligated to agree with the ideals because they may not have engaged with any other political philosophers work and have no other theoretical tools.

During the riots in 2011. The Black Labour/Power Generation experienced those riots through the eyes of the politics of the 70's and 80's and depicted the riots of 2011 as non-political. The same old faces were rolled out in the media and the general consensus was that these youthful rebels were not Marxists or socialists so they must be apolitical. They have no class analysis so they are just greedy materialistic youth - capitalists! The cry was for these rebellious youth and others to feel the strong arm of the law because these youth had no political cause. They were not connected to the Labour Party; they were not socialists so they were not political prisoners but simply petty thief's. Unlike in the 80's there was no funding given out; there were no press conferences with this new generation; there was no effort made to find a voice that could articulate the politics of this new generation; they were faced with the full force of the law because they could not put their feelings and desires into a political philosophy. At the same time, free education was not available for this generation to get to grips with political philosophy like there had been for the Black Labour/Power generation.

Hip-Hop Generation politician David Lammy was looked to to make sense of things and he simply reproduced the party line - these rebellious youth are materialistic and greedy. He did not offer any analysis or try to articulate a new politics but was his usual non-intellectually challenging self. He was given the opportunity to be the voice of a new generation but did not know what to say. He wrote a book Out of the Ashes that aimed to attack the rebellious youth by telling his story of winning a choir scholarship; going to Harvard; becoming an MP and buying a house at the age of 27. He implied that the rebellious youth should just be "good boy's" and that would solve all their problems. 

But I know that there was politics behind the uprisings of 2011. I know some of the people involved. They are youth that have been let down by the world; who cannot see a better future; without support systems and who have emotional problems that have led to their exclusion from school and mainstream society. For them happiness is more likely to come from consumption than community; they see that their own and their families social position in life is wrapped up in whether they have the opportunity to consume or not. For them change will only come with money and utopia is a world of consumption that they can participate in. It's that simple.

Is there a politics behind the 2011 uprisings? I believe so. It is the politics that I want to talk about. The politics of the Hip-Hop Generation and Urban youth.

If the philosophy of the Black Labour/Power Generation was socialist and they wanted to control the means of production the politics of the Hip-Hop Generation is liberal and wants to control the means of consumption - money. The Hip-Hop generation are not Thatcherite capitalists but want a new and improved version of capitalism that demands more Keynesian intervention to enable the state to enable people by creating opportunities. They do not want big authoritarian government that seeks to destroy the free-market but to make the free-market the servant of the multitude. A tool for improving the lives of humanity. If the Black Labour/Power Generation wanted national socialism the Hip-Hop Generation want a global free-market; if they wanted to smash capitalism; we want to harness it's power for the common good. If they demanded socially conservative values we demand socially liberal values. If they spoke of the activist we speak of empowering the social entrepreneur that can innovate and make the world. If they spoke about workers cooperatives we speak of social enterprise. If they spoke about the value of the community we speak about the power of an individual to change the world - citing the likes of Mark Zuckerberg. If they demanded full employment we are calling for a better work life balance and for less employment. If they demanded centralisation we want de-centralisation and localism; if they spoke of "race" we are demanding cosmopolitanism. If they spoke about production of goods we are speaking about production of social life itself. If they demanded equality of outcome we are demanding for equal opportunity for all!

Hard for some? Welcome to the politics of the Hip-Hop Generation!