Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
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Paul Kingsnorth
Portobello Books 2009
This weekend we wandered down to the new St David’s Two shopping arcade in Cardiff, two days after its official opening. It’s undoubtedly an impressive building, its curved vaulted roof recalling grand Victorian railway architecture, and letting in natural daylight to boot. The idea is that this cathedral of consumerism will attract shoppers from across the border, and propel Cardiff into the big league, alongside Manchester, Bristol, and Newcastle. However, as I was at that time halfway through Paul Kingsnorth’s Real England, I saw this apparent success story in a more sinister light. As anything other than a natural born shopper, it would never have been exactly up my street, of course, but Kingsnorth’s devastating critique of the way globalised capital is destroying much of what makes England (and of course Wales) distinctive, outlines why such developments are not just annoying to those who, like me, prefer the quiet life, but also threaten basic freedoms we consider our birthright. I’d never considered that, for example, when such a shopping centre is built, previously public streets, where once we had a right of way, are signed over to, and policed by, private companies who admit us at certain times and only if we play by their rules. In addition, of course, whatever special roof or distinctive floor tile is used, such centres have no local character: you will find the same or similar shops in Leeds or Edinburgh or Cologne or Sidney. For example, in the new St David’s Centre there is only one independent retailer, and he is there on a short-term let. Kingsnorth devotes a chapter to the fate of local shops and markets, but also looks at other areas of English life under similar threat: canal dwellers; pubs; farms; orchards. He does it in a lively way, interviewing individuals who have stood up to big corporations and government, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. If overall the picture he paints is a depressing one, it is the cussedness, humour, and resilience of ordinary people who have fought back which gives him hope, and makes reading this in the end a positive experience. As he writes, “this book … [is] part of the process of changing things for the better ….. There is no reason … that the currently accelerating homogenisation of our landscapes and cultures needs to continue. Inevitable and unstoppable as it can often seem, it can be changed, if enough people want to change it”, and he gives a number of examples of small-scale co-operative ventures which have done just that. What Cobbett termed “The Thing” – the dehumanising forces of development propelled by the myth of constant progress - can be stopped. Kingsnorth rightly makes it plain that, whilst resistance has political implications, the old delineation into Left and Right no longer applies in this struggle. It struck me whilst reading this book, for example, that whilst a socialist might decry the exploitative nature of monopolistic capitalism, a true believer in the American dream might have cause to worry also. What chance, after all, will a present day Mr Sainsbury, or Mr Marks, or Mr Spencer have to start a new business which will eventually grow as its 19th and 20th century predecessors did if the big national and international chains make it impossible for small businesses to survive? This is a timely, important book that in an entertaining and unpolemic way got me thinking clearly about things I half knew already. It is both depressing and inspiring.
27th October 2009
http://www.paulkingsnorth.net/
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