The social distance between us

McGarvey, Darren

£10.99

From poverty and policing, homelessness and overrun prisons to Grenfell and hostile environments, Britain has long been failing those who need our help the most. There is arguably one unifying theme that links all these afflictions: proximity. Proximity is how close we are to the action and how that affects how we assess, relate to and address whatever that action happens to be. Almost every job requires a level of experience and training with the notable exception of the most powerful people in the country – our political class. So this is a book about the distance, whether geographical, economic, or cultural, between those who make decisions and the people on the receiving end of them.

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Publish Date: 04/05/2023

Description

*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION*
*LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE*

‘An Orwell for today’s poor’ – The Times
‘The standout, authentic voice of a generation’ Herald
‘McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say’ Nick Cohen, Guardian

Why are the rich getting richer while the poor only get poorer? How is it possible that in a wealthy, civilised democracy cruelty and inequality are perpetuated by our own public services? And how come, if all the best people are in all the top jobs, Britain is such an unmitigated bin fire?

Join Darren McGarvey on a journey through a divided Britain in search of answers. Here, our latter-day Orwell exposes the true scale of Britain’s social ills and reveals why our current political class, those tasked with bringing solutions, are so distanced from our lived experience that they are the last people you’d want fighting your corner.

Praise for Darren McGarvey:

‘Utterly compelling’ Ian Rankin, New Statesman

‘Brilliant’ Russell Brand

‘An absolutely fascinating individual’ Owen Jones

‘Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right… articulate and emotional’ Financial Times

Additional information

Weight 270 g
Dimensions 198 × 126 × 24 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

391

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

320.941 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K