Cover Page

Radical Futures series

Hilary Wainwright, A New Politics from the Left

Graham Jones, The Shock Doctrine of the Left

Gianpaolo Baiocchi, We, the Sovereign

Keir Milburn, Generation Left

Generation Left

Keir Milburn











polity

Acknowledgements

Theory is never simply generated by individuals. At best, authors immerse themselves in the general intellect of their times, find new ways of articulating the problems that social movements are struggling with and suggest avenues for addressing them. Out of that general intellect there are several people I’d like to thank. Firstly, my thanks go to my editors at Polity, George Owers and Julia Davies, for both their patience and their thoughtful editorial suggestions. I also want to thank Rodrigo Nunes and Bue Rubner Hansen for commenting on drafts of the book. Huge thanks go to my comrades in Plan C who have helped frame the problems with which I’ve engaged since 2011 and provided the invaluable lessons that come with attempting to address them practically. Over the last year or so I’ve also participated in the Acid Joy Collective, whose discussions have both raised my consciousness and helped me think through the electoral turn. Many of the ideas in this book have been incubated for a long time after getting their first development within the collective writing project The Free Association. In particular, I’d like to thank members David Harvie and Brian Lyang, who, along with Gareth Brown, have influenced my thinking and helped frame the conceptual assemblage in the book the most. Last but not least, my thanks go to Alice Nutter and Mae Rose Milburn not just for being supportive but also for being good fun.

Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.

Frantz Fanon

The storms of youth precede brilliant days.

Comte de Lautréamont