Copyright page

The right of Milly Williamson to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2016 by Polity Press

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Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

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ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4104-1

ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4105-8(pb)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Acknowledgements

I am lucky enough to have excellent friends in academia, whose emotional and intellectual support is unfailing. I would like to thank them for their friendship and much laughter – and for reading draft chapters of this book, which has, without question, been improved as a result. I would particularly like to thank Natalie Fenton, Des Freedman and Gholam Khiabany. Natalie spent long hours discussing the ideas in this book on our travels to and from swimming pools, rivers and ponds, helping me to clarify my ideas and sharpen my arguments. She also made invaluable comments and suggestions on two chapters and pointed me in the direction of important ideas and further work which were essential to the latter half of the book. Des, with characteristic insight, explained to me what my book was about, which was handy. He also provided invaluable feedback on chapters, pointed me in the direction of new evidence and, with well aimed questions, got me to look at things in a new way. Gholam has, with great generosity, read every draft chapter of this book (some more than once). He has provided me with endless encouragement, critical commentary, and new ideas. He has been a great resource for Marxist thought and has helped me to clarify my ideas through our many conversations.

I would also like to thank Jo Littler who kindly read two chapters of this book and for making wonderful suggestions and much needed encouraging noises as the work on this book was coming to a close. Thank you also to Mila Steele for reading the opening chapter of the book and for her excellent suggestions. Thank you to Geoff King for reading and commenting on the second chapter, and for good advice. Thank you to Sheela Banerjee for our many conversations and laughs in the British Library while we were both working on our respective projects. I also want to thank Chris Williamson who read the whole manuscript, which must be beyond the call of duty for a sibling – thanks for being a great brother.

I would very much like to thank all of my colleagues and friends in Film and Television Studies at Brunel University whose understanding of the mad realities of our world, including as they appear in the Higher Education system, make day-to-day working life in neoliberal times possible. A special thanks to those colleagues whose humour and tendency to gently take the mickey out of me, manage also to make it fun – Mike Wayne, Leon Hunt, Sean Holmes, Caroline Ruddell, Piotr Cieplak and Craig Haslop. Without the supportive environment created by all of my Film and TV colleagues, research, thinking and writing would be impossible.

Brunel University provided me with a sabbatical which enabled me to complete the manuscript for this book, for which I am grateful. A special thanks and love to my parents, Nancy and Joe.