Colonialism/Hegemonic Masculinity

An attempt to explore hegemonic masculinity- which includes the elevating of force/violence and putting the male at the centre with that around seen as resources for gratification.

Commodification-Living Dolls.

Thanks to Valentina and Matt for inspiration.

 

Exploration of consumerism and the commodification of relationships.

Hegemonic Femininity.

Thanks to Valentina and Matt for inspiration.

 

This is my attempt to visually explore the pressures and socialisation girls/women experience via the media etc to conform to a sexualised objectified ideal and the anxiety/resistance that can result.

Onwards and Outwards?

image yvonne forster

After 35 years of neoliberal economics working class Britain is not doing well.  A recently published report shows that in 2011 nine out of the ten poorest regions in North West EU countries were in Britain (1). The figures for 2009-10 in the UNICEF report 'Child well-being in rich countries-a comparative overview' puts Britain fourteenth out of the twenty nine 'most advanced economies' (2). Doesn't sound too bad until you realise that is pretty much last place out of NW European countries with a similar post WWII experience. Also reported this summer was that out of the twenty eight EU countries the UK comes in twenty sixth in terms of loneliness- that is not having someone you could turn to and rely on in a crisis (3). After three decades of what Harvey termed the economics of class war (4) the British working class is atomised, alienated, lonely, precarious and increasingly skint...so why aren't people turning to the Left and/or anarchism in their droves? Well obviously the 'cultural hegemony' (5) constructed over the last three decades by the Neoliberal Right via the state and media has portrayed the current economic/political construct as necessary and 'normal' while simultaneously marginalising alternative narratives so that many have forgotten or never heard of other models of economic/political/social organisation-however an at least intuitive desire for a more just, equal society remains, however unfocussed or ill informed it may be.  

For some while I have been wondering how the UK Left/anarchism can facilitate the working class to actively engage in political contestation and struggle, how the working class in one of the most hyper capitalist societies can be woken up from the soporific effects of 'the spectacle' (6)- that seamless representation of the world from a (neoliberal) capitalist perspective propagated by the media, corporations and state-a 'spectacle' that we have spent so many decades exposed to that we have internalised it's values, unquestioningly perform its norms.

About a year ago I did a course on Futurelearn (7) called 'The Secret Power of Brands' (8)(good to 'know your enemy') which included the idea of a Venn diagram in which one circle contains the felt needs of your target group, the other circle your organisation's attributes-in the overlap of the two circles are the aspects of your organisation that meets those felt needs, the aspects that the organisation needs to communicate (8). Obviously this was to do with businesses but transposable to other spheres. In an online article 'The Left Can Win' Pablo Inglesias of the Spanish Podemos party-that emerged from the Indignados movement- makes the point that the Left needs to communicate in a language that people understand about things that people are bothered about, that there has to be a tie up between what we are talking about and what people are experiencing or we are irrelevant while having the correct analysis (9).We need to disrupt the top down dominant discourses that people read and hear by listening to people and talking with them about the things that matter to them in a way that alerts people to the misleading, elite-serving, disempowering narratives they have been given and empowers people to engage and create change. 

Similarly a recent 'Red Pepper' article/interview with Podemos member Eduardo Maura comments that the Left needs to have a better grasp of "class compositions and identities" (10) which are far more complex and fragmented than before the neoliberal era, and to have a better understanding of people's lived experiences so that it can communicate effectively (10). Podemos seems to be a political party that is closely aligned with progressive grass roots movements, it has managed to embed itself in local communities with many local branches as well as using social media/ the internet extensively in order to enable involvement and participation in discussion and decision making for as many people as possible (10). This model of a movement with multiple access points so that people with busy fragmented lives can get involved in the way they can manage has to be taken seriously as for many people an initial involvement that includes conferences, reading lengthy books and protests may be a bit too much. Meanwhile, further down the Mediterranean coast in Greece the group Solidarity4All links together various grass roots groups working to alleviate the poverty many are experiencing by enabling the 'exchange of knowledge and information' between these different 'solidarity groups' (11). These groups, as well as helping to alleviate suffering, give people the chance to get involved in making a positive difference (11).

In Scotland earlier this year the 'Yes' campaign was a diverse movement that included many on the Left including The Radical Independence Campaign who again saw the need to communicate to people about the things that concern them in a language they understand (12), they gave their local groups 'autonomy' within a national framework and engaged in 'mass canvassing' events in areas and at sporting events as well as running 'community events' (12). While the 'Yes' campaign failed to win the vote their grass roots model of campaigning seems to have been very effective at engaging people in local, community based discussion and participation.

All of the above examples are peculiar to time and place, in circumstances different to our own but they do give us clues as to how the Left/anarchism could engage more effectively with the world around us- exploring how anarchism answers the felt needs people have, listening to people and their concerns and then trying to give them a better analysis of the causes of their problems in a language they understand, having a localised and online movement that has multiple points of access so that people can learn, understand more clearly, engage and participate in a way they can manage. It will almost certainly be a bit messy and include mistakes but the need for a clearer, more effective communication of radical Left/anarchist politics is paramount.    

  
Bibliography

(1) Rickman, D. (2014) 'Are 9 of the poorest region in northern Europe really in the UK?  http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/are-9-of-the-poorest-regions-in-northern-europe-really-in-the-uk--eJ0axHCqmx

(2)'Child well-being in rich countries-a comparative overview'  UNICEF UK  https://www.unicef.org.uk/Images/.../Report%20card%20briefing2b.pdf

(3) Bingham, J. 'Britain the loneliness capital of Europe' . 18-6-14.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/wellbeing/10909524/Britain-the-loneliness-capital-of-Europe.html

(4) Harvey, D. (2005 ) ‘A Brief History of Neoliberalism’, Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York.

(5) Thomas, M. (ed)(2012) ‘Antonio Gramsci: Working-Class Revolutionary’, Workers’  Liberty, London

(6) Debord, G. (1968) 'The Society of the Spectacle'. Black and Red, USA.

(7) www.futurelearn.com

(8) 'The Secret Power of Brands' UEA https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-secret-power-of-brands

(9) Inglesias, P. (2014) 'The Left Can Win' 12-9-2014 https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/12/pablo-iglesias-podemos-left-speech/

(10) Dolan, A. (2014) 'Si se puede' in Red Pepper, Issue 199, Dec/Jan 2015, Socialist Newspaper (Publications), London.

(11) Prentoulis, M. (2014) 'Party Time'  in Red Pepper, Issue 199, Dec/Jan 2015, Socialist Newspaper (Publications), London.

(12) Shafi, J. (2014) 'Another Scotland is-still- possible' in Red Pepper, Issue 199, Dec/Jan 2015, Socialist Newspaper (Publications), London.

Eagle Spits In Response To Questions.

Photo; Rachel Eagling.

Please note this interview contains a lot of swearing and may cause offence.

Eagle Spits is probably not his birth name but does seem to suit a character who nearly 40 years after his initial involvement in punk is still going strong- still angry, hopeful, humourous, militating for change. After meeting in the summer and then going along to a 'Punk 4 The Homeless' gig I asked Eagle if he would mind answering a few questions...  

Q, When did you start to self identify as a punk? What was it that attracted you, what did punk mean to you then-and what does it mean now?

A. It all began when I was 14 which was 38 years ago. I had heard about punk rock, the mass hysteria it had caused in the media. How it was rebellious, anti authoritarian, disgusting and something to be stayed away from. I was intrigued. At the same time I was searching for an identity. I was a troublesome kid and although I didn't realize it back then I had blanked the whole of my childhood out due to being sexually abused (all that stuff came flooding back when I was 27. I had started my mental health nurse training, was in a classroom learning about sexual abuse issues..zap, there it was) so I was really lost with no sense of self and no roots. Then one day I walked into the living room and The Stranglers were on TOTP. They blew me away, the energy, power, freshness. I had never heard anything like it. I went out and bought the 'No More Heroes' single (much to my parents disgust) then a couple more singles and The Clash first album. First band I got to see were Sham 69 (at Cambridge Corn Exchange) which turned out to be a blood bath with the National Front kicking the crap out of everybody. Then me and my mates got nicked back at the railway station because some skinheads came in and smashed the waiting room up. We spent the night in the cells and the cops gave us a lift home the next morning because they realized we were innocent (sitting in a cell for something I hadn't done) and we were just kids. I had loads of great times at punk gigs but there was always violence due to the Far Right. One of those great experiences was when my school thought it would be funny to send this young punk to a posh hotel in Peterborough, The Bull, but it back fired because The Clash (my all time fave band) booked in, befriended me and my friends and took us to the sound check where we spent lots of quality time partying with them and The Slits. Obviously the punk scene helped me to form a political awareness (although the Left in the form of the WRP and Far Right in the form of the NF tried to hijack things). When I was sixteen Crass brought out 'The Feeding of the 5000', which I thought was the funniest thing I had ever heard until I realized they were being serious, and the anarcho punk thing started. I had considered my self to be an anarchist for about 3 years but that scene helped me on my way. So I was involved in the punk scene early on but have often found it a bit naff and hypocritical over the years. Loads of the bands were signing to major labels, obviously The Clash and The Pistols but even those who should have known better; Chumbawamba, New Model Army and Blaggers ITA signing to EMI (probably the biggest arms dealers in the world still, for fuck's sake). So yes I am still involved in the punk scene but one which has a DIY, fuck corporate bollocks attitude. The punk scene can be very narrow minded with people struggling with stuff which doesn't fit the genre, which most of the stuff I tend to be involved with doesn't. So yes I am a punk if punk is an attitude but no if its someone who just consumes generic, unchallenging crap. I still comfortably sport a bright coloured mowhawk but I am not interested in bands who just want to be rock stars. I am still naive enough to want to change the world and despite it's problems believe the punk scene can be a major part of that.

Q. I think you would call yourself an anarchist. What do you mean by that? How would you describe anarchism? For you are anarchism and punk synonymous?

A. Yes I am an anarchist from the same school as Leo Tolstoy, Dorothy Day and Jesus Christ with a touch of William Godwin. I don't believe we need external governments, police or the military running things. In fact I see them as enemies that we need to resist as much as possible. Tolstoy pointed out that there has not been a war in history which hasn't been caused by government. I think as part of that I need to disentangle myself from the world's systems as much as possible and not accept Caesar's coin. As for defining anarchism I can't but for me its obvious that if we live in a more natural environment we behave better as a species but there are those who do not want this because power and wealth are too important to them. So basically I believe all we need to thrive as a species are two laws (although they are not laws at all but the working out of natural attributes), the law of love and the law of reason. Then we would have what I believe to be an anarchist system. I do not see punk as always being synonymous with anarchism. When a young John Lydon was screaming that he was an anarchist I doubt if he had read Bakunin, Proudhon, Kropotkin etc., it took bands like Crass to bring in a bit of thought, but it was a bloody good catalyst for change.

Q. As someone involved in punk since the 70s have you been encouraged by how its evolved-or is it too diverse to be able to make generalisations?

A. I got involved in 1976 and have to give you a yes and no answer. Being someone who got beaten up for being a punk in 1977 I am pleased that hostility has, to a very large degree, disappeared. As for its evolution I believe the punk attitude has existed forever. Sure it showed itself in the punk rock scene but also very much in the bebop jazz scene, the beatniks, the folkies etc. etc. It was the attitude of 'Fuck this shit we are going to change things' by doing things our way, on our terms. When The Clash were getting crap for making music which didn't fit the generic punk style Strummer said “I thought we were a fucking punk band. I thought that meant we could play what we wanted” and I totally agree. Unfortunately it is easy to see in hindsight that the majors and the mainstream music press needed resisting from the start but it wasn't obvious exactly what could be done without them. So today I see a much better scene in DIY but that would not always be seen as a punk thing- hope that makes sense!

Q. How about your own evolution! Over the period you have been writing lyrics and poetry has the subject matter changed as well as your own understandings?

A. Well I started writing when I was 14 and many of the subjects remain important to me today from anti nuclear “Three mile island what happened there? You fucking know but you don't care. Its alright its a safe device but the impossible accident happened twice” to the anti commercialization of punk “I'm a punk look at me, bondage strides and pvc's, 17 quid, so were these, from a shop called Boy and Seditionaries”. But now there's issues of drones, badger culls, Atos etc. all issues which need sorting. Plus I am a Christian anarchist so those issues crop up in my writing. Often pointing out social injustice and hypocrisy (although I think you have to be pretty damned perfect to call someone an hypocrite and I am not) within systems and organizations. Issues of poverty, oppression, injustice are all part of what I am about. I guess I have always been concerned with the spiritual side of things and 'meeting' the “Agitator from Nazareth” not only opened me up more spiritually but also got me more involved in social justice issues and action etc. So I guess my writing has matured with age, has a slight touch of spirituality and is more informed because I am more involved. Less 'Fuck this fucking world' more 'Change this fucking world'.

Q. You are involved with two bands 'The Poor Geezers' and 'Spitune'-what sort of musical styles and subject matter do they explore?

A. It gets worse than that. I also perform as part of a dark ambient, industrial, punk poetry duo called EAGLESPITSHEXX and do poetry gigs as Eagle Spits. The Poor Geezers is basically myself and a chap called Dean P Riches who drums with his feet whilst playing acoustic guitar who also sings and plays harmonica. The best description was by Dave HT from Fungalpunk Webzine who called us Patchwork Punk because we chuck everything in the mix, punk, psychobilly, folk, blues, gospel, anything we fancy. Its usually about issues but occasionally personal stuff creeps in. We both write lyrics and were both involved with mental health services and drugs counselling so both of us have a dark sense of humour which also creeps in. Spitune are best described as Anarcho, Industrial, Dub Punk with Krautrock influences experimentation. We are not easy listening. Stephen Surreal creates the music, plays keys, synth, bass, boran. He is into loads of stuff like Coil, Throbbing Gristle and tons of dub. I write most of the lyrics although there's one of Stephen's on the new album alongside a Crass cover (Bloody Revolutions) and a King Blues cover (Shooting Fascists). Again its mainly about issues. I shout, clank and crash stuff with a mallet and play the fire extinguisher. Rachel Joy, sings, clanks, plays the washboard and a pagan drum. We sometimes have a drummer and often members of the audience join in in a kind of music therapy way. Other people occasionally join with The Poor Geezers too, Danny Ratcatcher has played double bass in both bands although there was one occasion where he couldn't bring his bass on the train so he brought a stylaphone instead. So anything pretty much goes. Punk poet Dwane Reads has often played drums for Spitune. So I guess we want to fuck shit up and stretch people. At recent gigs Spitune have had reference points as diverse as Faust, Captain Beefheart, Sheep on Drugs, Hawkwind and PIL used about them. 99% of the time all the outfits I am involved with play alongside punk bands and we are definitely part of the DIY scene.

Q. 'Punk 4 The Homeless' is something you are very involved with-can you tell us what that is all about? Does that include the 'Punks and Poets' evenings?

A. 'Punk 4 The Homeless' was set up my myself 5 years ago (although I have been putting gigs on for the same cause for well over a decade) to raise money and awareness for street children by putting on punk gigs and festivals (all over the UK) , bringing out compilations and selling T-shirts etc. We even ran our own radio show until the station closed down. In Latin America the kids live on rubbish tips and are seen  as vermin by the authorities and police who kill them. Hence the slogan on the 'Punk 4 The Homeless' shirts reads “Stopping cops killing kids is punk rock”. We work very closely with Casa Alianza who are a small charity who get the children into orphanages and education and give them a future. That in brief is what we do but alongside that we like to encourage youngsters to get involved and collaborate with lots of other not-for-profits. There's been loads of great people in the punk scene who have helped us from promoters to bands, from zines to radio stations etc. Loads of generosity. I was living in Boston, Lincolnshire before getting married and moving to Nottingham a couple of years ago and was using a hall within a big old Methodist church to put the gigs on. The church folk even bought us a P.A. so we didn't have to keep hiring, all at no cost. I don't see 'Punk 4 The Homeless' as charity I see us as a movement because together we can fucking change things. And if the kids are united maybe we can stop the cops kicking them to death.

Q. Playing in different bands and organising must involve a lot of collaboration-is that something you find valuable and enjoy?

A. I love collaborations but as a promoter I tend to want to do everything unless I can totally trust people to do what they say otherwise things don't get done but there is now several people I trust but it has taken about 30 years to get this far. I have always been involved in promoting fundraisers etc. but only performing myself for about 14 years. I tend to create with those round me who want to do shit and cause change. DIY is very much part of a brighter future as I see things. Work together and survive outside of the system.

Q. You have spent a lot of years in activism and challenging people to engage with social issues-how have you managed to avoid burn out and becoming jaded?

A. By having fun and having ADHD, moving onto the next thing quickly whilst going backwards and forwards, juggling a stack of balls at the same time and having a patchwork life. Very irritating I guess but works for me. I not only want a revolution I can dance in I want to dance, scream, shout around, paint everywhere, cause mayhem, break boundaries, break punk rock, live life in its fullness and nick Bakunin's brandy. We are in a tough battle but lets throw the party where everyone's invited. Punk rock, the kingdom of heaven and Bahktin's carnival theory. Then after breakfast...

Q. What books, bands and people do you find interesting and inspiring?

A. I love the Bible. I agree with Tolstoy that Jesus' message was the most liberating message ever but in the hands of the church it has become the most oppressive. The message is bloody simple and radical; love, and freedom happens. Tolstoy I love. Dorothy Day, Hennessey, Crass, Strummer, Atari Teenage Riot, Sun Ra, Peter Tosh, MLK, Kropototkin, Bakunin, Herman Hesse, Thelonious Monk, Can, Mary Shelley, William Godwin, Attila the Stockbroker, Nick Cave, Pigface, Scott Walker, Tom Waits, Zounds, Rob Bell, Dom Helder Camara, Jesus, Chomsky, Charlie Parker, Blind Willie Johnson, Christopher Hill, Diogenes, Faust, Sheep on Drugs, Kierkergaard, The Swans, Killdozer, Dickens, Victor Hugo, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Batman, Iain Banks, Eagle Spits, Lee Perry, Mahler, Blake, William Morris, Eli Weisel, Gandhi, Simone Weil, Emma Goldman, Dean Kennedy's, MDC, The Cramps, Wire, The Sonics, Marlon Brando, DR Zeus, GG Allin, Mother Teresa, Woody Guthrie, Gerard Wynstanley, John Steinbeck, The Violent Femmes, Johnny Cash, Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung and anybody else who gives a shit.

Valentina Magaletti-drummer extraordinaire!

Photo by Cris Andina.

In the 2003 film 'School of Rock' someone is asked to name 'two great (female) drummers', the answer comes back Sheila E and Meg White (1), fair enough but in an updated version that answer should include Valentina Magaletti. Valentina was drummer on Blackest Ever Black releases; Raime and Moin. She also played and recorded with Shit and Shine and is drummer with London psych band The Oscillation and Tomaga. After a recent gig in Hackney she agreed to an interview.

Q. When you play live (with The Oscillation) you look like someone who is in their element, doing what you love-how did you get into drumming and develop as a drummer? On your 'Facebook' page it says you studied Law in Italy, do you run these two activities alongside each other or are you a full time musician?

 

VM. I am a full time musician. I enjoyed studying and I am very happy about my qualifications, they might come handy when we'll need to sue Bon Jovi or someone like that for copyrights infringement!

Q. You play in, and with, quite a range of bands. Do these different collaborations change the way you have to play and interact with the other musicians?

 

VM. I guess I have my own drum style which I try to adapt to different musical adventures.

Interacting with other musicians is the most important part of my job.You never stop learning and sharing which is the essence of what music should entail. 

 

Q. Tomaga's second album 'Futura Grotesk' is out soon, how does the recording process evolve? Is it the capturing of improvisation or is it more structured? Do you find playing live or recording more satisfying?

 

VM. Futura Grotesk is the first studio album.We only had a cassette called "Sleepy Jazz for Tired Cats" before this but it sold out in few weeks. Tom and I have different approaches when it comes to recording. I am very intuitive and I base most of my work on improvisation. Mine is like a rhythmic and dynamic stream of conciousness.

On the other hand, Tom likes planning and scheming. He loves structures and he did a fantastic job editing most of our sessions that subsequently made it onto the album tracks. I find both recording and playing live very satisfying in different ways. 

 

Q. Tomaga's music is experimental and instrumental, would you see it as the musical equivalent of abstract art, the transposing of ideas and concepts, experiences and emotions into another form?(2)

VM. I won't be calling or defining what we are doing "art". It is a mere expression of how we feel transposed into frequencies, pulses and drones.

 

Q. A few years ago two TV pundits were sacked in the UK for saying that women were incapable of being soccer lines people due to being women! Do you come across that sort of attitude in the music world, that women are suited to/incapable of certain things due to their sex?

VM. That sort of attitude doesn't interest me or affect me in the slightest. In the Western world women have no limitations as to what they can or can't do. I only think it is a shame there aren't as many female drummers as there should be!

 

Q. Social theorists suggest that gender is something we are socialised into rather than it expressing 'nature', that gender is from the outside in. Do you think women are finding more freedom to explore and express themselves or are gender stereotypes still very constraining?

VM. It is a complex question. It entails an elaboration of what is meant by gender. Physical attributes shouldn't be a limitation to freedom of expression. You are the only one imposing limits on yourself. If you feel like expressing yourself playing the drums or any other instrument you should simply go for it and avoid frustration.

 

Q. Often in music and wider society women are presented for men's gratification. What role models and cultural resources have you drawn on or do you see around that can help women resist a sexist, patriarchal culture?

 

VM. I don't have any role models and my cultural resource is my extensive record collection. I am not interested in sexist or patriachal culture, it is a laughable matter as far as my possibly privileged and open minded background is concerned.

 

Q. Who has inspired you both musically and more generally? A while ago you posted an article about a female drummer Viola Smith. Could you elaborate? 

 

VM. Viola Smith was a great drummer and an inspiring woman. I guess her success was mainly due to the fact thst she was one of the first woman to play drums in an orchestra. Her set up was fab! She used temple blocks mounted on the kick drum which is something I am currently thinking of doing. She is into happiness, drums and wine- a winning combo!

There are so many great musicians and drummers who I worship. I am a big fan of Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Billy Higgins, Steve Nobles, Charles Hayward etc.

 

Q. Which current musicians and bands interest and excite you?

VM.  My musical taste is very eccentric. I listen to pretty much everything that is violent and beautiful. Some examples of stuff that I love are The Necks, the thing, Charles Cohen, Silver Apples (who we are currently touring with),The Heliocentrics, Gnod, Shit and Shine. Alessandro Alessandroni, Terry Riley, Steve Lacey, Delia Derbishire, Stereolab, Man from Uranus etc etc....

Much thanks to Valentina for the interview.

 

 

 

 

Bibliography.

(1) IMDb 'School of Rock' 2003 'Quotes' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332379/quotes

(2) Hands in the Dark website. http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ebd50918899f91fcf5affed0f&id=eabd7c36cd&e=b330663f80

* School of Rock, 2003,  Paramount Pictures Corp.
            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UKIP-an easy ride?

Like many on the Left I was very troubled and puzzled by the UK Independence Party’s (UKIP) strong showing in the Local and European elections and then alarmed again by their doing so well in the 9-10-14 by-elections. Were these protest votes against the big three Parties, an anti (political) establishment message, an anti-EU or anti-immigration vote?
UKIP’s policies in 2010 included attacks on welfare provision, more prison places, privatisation of parts of the National Health Service, a driving down of immigration and increasing military spending by 40% (1); nothing very alternative there! The UKIP candidate in the Clacton by-election had previously been the Tory MP so not exactly an anti-establishment vote!
Why would a party that is roughly equivalent to the right wing of the Tories appeal to so many, even (apparently) to people with a habit of voting Labour?
In the ‘i’ newspaper of 26 May 14 Ian Burrell argued that UKIP had done so well despite the antipathy of the media towards them, that UKIP “enjoyed it’s remarkable success at the European and local elections without the backing of a single national newspaper”(2). Burrell then went on to cite The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph as printing negative comments about voting for UKIP (2).
Burrell in effect distances the media from UKIP’s success representing them as in opposition to each other. But this is misleading. The reason UKIP is doing relatively well at elections is that it is a party political representation of the right wing propaganda that people have been exposing themselves to on a daily basis day after day for years. UKIP is the reactionary xenophobic columns of right-wing daily tabloids come to life, it is an embodiment of the fears and prejudices that people have read and internalised.
When people hear UKIP leader Nigel Farage they hear someone repeating back to them the views that have become their own; his blokey reactionary persona is a personification of the culture of the tabloids, teetering on the edge of xenophobia, framing immigrants as ‘the other’. It is little wonder that UKIP is doing so well, all the ground work has been done for them by the media, all they have to do is key into the messages that people have read and internalised!
Gramsci wrote about ‘cultural hegemony’ (4) and at the moment UKIP is exploiting the hegemonic discourse within UK culture, a reasonably easy thing to do  as the media have done all the foot work for them. The encouraging thing for the Left is that despite this cultural hegemony a recent poll showed that most of the public are to the left of Labour on important issues supporting nationalisation of railways and energy companies (3), and despite a real lack of coverage The Green Party, the most overtly Left wing in the mainstream, came in 4th in the recent European election.
Obviously supporting state nationalisation of key industries is a long way from anarchism but it does show that despite 40 years of neoliberal economics and narrative many people still have an intuitive desire for social justice and greater equality. People know that they are living in a political economy that is shaped to serve the interests of the elite. Unfortunately they have been led to look for alternatives and solutions in wrong places.
The Situationists wrote about ‘the spectacle’: the seamless representation of life and society from a capitalist perspective that we are surrounded by and immersed in with alternative narratives pushed ever further into the margins.
The question for anarchists and others on the Left is how to overcome the cultural hegemony that UKIP have keyed into; how to disrupt the top down narrative of neoliberal capitalism and alert people to alternative ways of organising society.
 
Bibliography:
(1) Booth, R. (7-3-13) ‘What would a Ukip Britain look like’, The Guardian (online). http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/mar/07/ukip-policies-manifesto-commitments
(2) Burrell, I. (26-5-14) ‘Media on Monday: Broadcasters and newspapers are not the king-makers they once were’, p.41, i newspaper issue 1091.
(3) Assinder, N. (5-11-13) ‘Public Far to the Left of Labour Party Finds Poll’, International Business Times (online).  http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/left-wing-price-controls-nationalisation-yougov-poll-519684
(4) Thomas, M. (ed)(2012) ‘Antonio Gramsci: Working-Class Revolutionary’, Workers’ Liberty, London.