Orwell as Public Intellectual: Anarchism, Communism and the New Left

Stevenson, Nick

Abstract

This article seeks to recover the importance of George Orwell as a critical public intellectual. Orwell remains a controversial figure for both The New Left and Anarchists during the post-war period. Here I seek to recover the complexity of Orwell’s writing which ranged across a number of political traditions including anarchism, liberalism and democratic socialism against some of the charges made by prominent members of the New Left. Especially critical at this juncture were a number of anarchist writers who were more receptive to Orwell’s influence. In the concluding section I seek to argue that Orwell while not an anarchist remains an important figure for those concerned about the growing authoritarianism of the twenty-first century.

Citation

Stevenson, N. (2021). Orwell as Public Intellectual: Anarchism, Communism and the New Left. Anarchist Studies, 29(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3898/AS.29.1.01

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 9, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Mar 16, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 16, 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 20, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 16, 2021
• Journal: Anarchist Studies
• Print ISSN: 0967-3393
• Publisher: Lawrence and Wishart
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-21
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3898/AS.29.1.01
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4977839
• Publisher URL: https://lwbooks.co.uk/product/orwell-as-public-intellectual-anarchism-communism-and-the-new-left-anarchist-studies-29-1-spring-2021