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All Outputs (17)

Orwell as Public Intellectual: Anarchism, Communism and the New Left (2021)
Journal Article
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

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... Read More about Orwell as Public Intellectual: Anarchism, Communism and the New Left.

Critical theory in the Anthropocene: Marcuse, Marxism and ecology (2020)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2021). Critical theory in the Anthropocene: Marcuse, Marxism and ecology. European Journal of Social Theory, 24(2), 211-226. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431020962726

The politics of the Anthropocene has been widely debated within recent sociological theory. This article seeks to argue that Marxism, critical theory and especially the work of Herbert Marcuse has a great deal to contribute to these debates. Here I s... Read More about Critical theory in the Anthropocene: Marcuse, Marxism and ecology.

Raymond Williams and the politics of the Commons: the performative quality of the intellectual (2019)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2019). Raymond Williams and the politics of the Commons: the performative quality of the intellectual. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 22(5), 691-705. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877919849958

Much of the sociological work on intellectuals is mostly concerned with the structural role they play within society. In this respect, Raymond Williams is best understood in Gramscian (1988) terms as an organic intellectual connected to the labour mo... Read More about Raymond Williams and the politics of the Commons: the performative quality of the intellectual.

Raymond Williams and the possibilities of ‘committed’ late Marxism (2018)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2018). Raymond Williams and the possibilities of ‘committed’ late Marxism

After the end of the Cold War Marxist thought entered into a long crisis from which it is only just beginning to emerge. After 1989 it was no longer clear, apart from a few revolutionary outposts, what a commitment to Marxism meant. Not surprisingly... Read More about Raymond Williams and the possibilities of ‘committed’ late Marxism.

Education and the alterity of democracy (2018)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2018). Education and the alterity of democracy. Cadernos de Pesquisa, 48(167), https://doi.org/10.1590/198053144668

The idea of a democratic education in the English context has lost a considerable amount of ground since the 1960s. Here I argue that such is the dominance of neoliberal understandings of education over the Right and much of the social democratic Lef... Read More about Education and the alterity of democracy.

Human Rights and the Reinvention of Freedom (2016)
Book
Stevenson, N. (2017). Human Rights and the Reinvention of Freedom. London, UK: Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315742236

This volume seeks to propose a reinvention of freedom under contemporary conditions of globalization, cross-border mobility, and neo-liberal dominance. There are currently two predominant myths circulating about freedom. The first is that in a global... Read More about Human Rights and the Reinvention of Freedom.

E.P. Thompson and cultural sociology: questions of poetics, capitalism and the commons (2016)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2017). E.P. Thompson and cultural sociology: questions of poetics, capitalism and the commons. Cultural Sociology, 11(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975516655462

There is currently a need for cultural sociology to readdress the work of humanistic and cultural Marxism. While more recently much of this work has been dismissed the appearance of more radical social movements and the on-going crisis of neoliberali... Read More about E.P. Thompson and cultural sociology: questions of poetics, capitalism and the commons.

Post-citizenship, the New Left and the democratic commons (2015)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (in press). Post-citizenship, the New Left and the democratic commons. Citizenship Studies, 19(6-7), https://doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2015.1053796

This article investigates the possibilities for the emergence of more participatory forms of citizenship in the context of austerity Europe. Especially significant in this regard is the history of the post-war New Left who were critical of both socia... Read More about Post-citizenship, the New Left and the democratic commons.

Revolution from above in English schools: neoliberalism, the democratic commons and education (2015)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2015). Revolution from above in English schools: neoliberalism, the democratic commons and education. Cultural Sociology, 9(4), https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975515573266

The ideas of the New Left and the recently emerged alter-globalisation movements are marginal within current policy debates concerning the English education system. Here I seek to demonstrate the interconnections between the New Left and the alter-gl... Read More about Revolution from above in English schools: neoliberalism, the democratic commons and education.

Human(e) rights and the cosmopolitan imagination: questions of human dignity and cultural identity (2014)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2014). Human(e) rights and the cosmopolitan imagination: questions of human dignity and cultural identity. Cultural Sociology, 8(2), https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975513494879

Here I seek to explore the cosmopolitan foundations of the idea of human rights. The argument begins by considering the popularity of the idea of human rights in a globalized and fast-moving commodified and digital culture. At this point I consider w... Read More about Human(e) rights and the cosmopolitan imagination: questions of human dignity and cultural identity.

The socialist blues? Citizenship, class and civil society (2014)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (in press). The socialist blues? Citizenship, class and civil society. Sociological Review, 62(1), https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-954X.12139

This article seeks to explore the relationship between the British labour movement, the Left and the Labour party. It does so through the intellectual prism of debates around citizenship and civil society. In this respect, I seek to recover a critica... Read More about The socialist blues? Citizenship, class and civil society.

Citizenship and the 'Other'. (2006)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2006). Citizenship and the 'Other'. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 9,

European Cosmopolitan Solidarity (2006)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2006). European Cosmopolitan Solidarity. European Journal of Social Theory, 9(4),

The idea of a cosmopolitan Europe continues to be central to contemporary debates within post-national citizenship. However, much of the writing in this area remains disconnected from the need to reinvent European social democracy that questions the... Read More about European Cosmopolitan Solidarity.

European Cosmopolitanism and Civil Society (2005)
Journal Article
Stevenson, N. (2005). European Cosmopolitanism and Civil Society. Innovation / Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 18(1),

The discussion of European cosmopolitanism and civil society has failed to take questions of culture seriously enough. While remaining sympathetic to liberal forms of cosmopolitanism, this article considers the view that such proposals fail to make s... Read More about European Cosmopolitanism and Civil Society.