Suburban Socialism

(Paperback)

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Reflecting on his own landslide loss in conservative suburbia, Oly Durose asks how we can transform the urban outskirts of the status quo into centres of transformative change. In December 2019, Oly Durose lost by over 25,000 votes as the Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for Brentwood & Ongar. Revealing what it's like to stand on a socialist platform in one of the safest Conservative seats in the UK, this book makes the case for socialism in the suburbs, unveils the challenges of its electoral realisation, and proposes a strategic revolution required to win. Suburban Socialism asks what it would be like to bring white picket fences under collective control instead. To convince suburbanites of this radical alternative inside the electoral arena, this book argues that we must revolutionise our strategy outside of it. From the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution to the shockwaves of the metropolitan youthquake, socialism has predominantly been framed as an urban struggle. Identifying the possibilities for suburban resistance, this book offers a more geographically inclusive invitation to the socialist struggle, revealing why the suburban struggle is global in scale. Turning a suburb that shares from a hopeless fantasy into an electoral reality, Suburban Socialism illustrates why the path to socialism around the world is through the heterogenous suburban terrain.

Reviews

"As a Labour parliamentary hopeful's memoir of 2019 and a thoughtful reflection on class, place and comfort, Suburban Socialism will undoubtedly provoke debate in the labour movement and challenge perceptions that vast swathes of our country remain irrevocably immune to the offer of a non-capitalist world."
"Suburban Socialismis a thoughtful, engaging and original despatch from the neglected ground of suburbia, and a roadmap for how the left in Britain and beyond can meet our urgent present and future challenges."
If there is any redemption for the suburbs, it is in this imaginative and stereotype-shattering account. Oly Duroses work is a fierce companion for those ready to wage class warfare in the suburbs and against surburbia."
Out of tough and tender experiences of an election candidate in a constituency with a political mountain to climb, comes a stimulating economic and political analysis of suburbia that creates a Suburban Manifesto to rise to this challenge.
"In Britain and North America, the overwhelming majority of people live in suburbs so if we are to have socialism, it will be suburban or not at all. With examples from Essex to Nevada, Oly Durose outlines some of the starting points to turn the outskirts red."
"A one-off mix of practical campaigning and visionary theorising, a hustings war story and a comprehensive critique of 'suburban capitalism' that are equally down-to-earth and accessible."
"Reading about endangered species is always a challenge: a mixture of despair and hope tinged with a belief that goes beyond immediate reality. Oly Durose may not be the David Attenborough of electioneering, but this book is flavoured with the same kind of inspiring feeling."
The assumptions we have about class, and the frameworks that have been adopted to conceptualise it are outdated. Oly has analysed emerging economic and social dynamics from first principles, and by burnishing mainstream misconceptions he has provided an account of socialisms relevance and popularity in suburbia.
This sharply observed analysis grounded in theory offers fascinating insight into what goes on politically on the fringes of our capital, and sets out the politics we all need in the face of an era where glib phrases like levelling up are the order of the day. A warmly recommended cautionary tale for our times.
A convincing and forceful case for radical change in the outskirts.

Author Bio

Oly Durose is a socialist activist, parliamentary researcher and writer. In the 2019 UK General Election, he stood as the Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for Brentwood & Ongar. In February 2020, he was a Caucus Site Leader for the Bernie Sanders Campaign in Nevada.