A Nation in Crisis: Division, Conflict and Capitalism in the United Kingdom [Hardcover]

Since the 2007-8 financial crisis and its aftershocks, international capitalism has once again been in crisis. The crisis has been particularly marked in the UK and its outcome is currently unclear. Based upon a wealth of sources, from newspapers, journals, government, political party and polling organisation publications, as well as archival and secondary material, Neville Kirk examines the systemic crisis facing the nations of the UK. The book traces the crisis from the period following the 2016 EU referendum up to 2022, a period during which the crisis intensified and became more widespread. Kirk covers the elections of 2017 and 2019, political fragmentation, Scottish nationalism, Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, continuing economic problems and conflicts around class, gender, race and nation. Finally, the book considers competing pathways out of the current impasse. Through his thorough examination of the UK's main political parties and players, Kirk offers the reader a new and original understanding of how we reached the present situation.Neville Kirkis Emeritus Professor of Social and Labour History at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. A leading figure in the field of labour history, he has published extensively in the areas of modern British history, the comparative history of Britain, the USA and Australia and transnational history. A longstanding member of the UK Society for the Study of Labour History, he has served on the editorial and advisory boards of the journalsLabour History Review(UK),Labour History(Australia),Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas(USA),International Labor and Working-class History(USA), andLabour/Le Travail(Canada).

Introduction
Chapter One - A Political Earthquake: The 2017 General Election and its Aftershocks
Chapter Two - The Brexit Crisis, 2018-2019
Chapter Three - The Triumphs, Trials and Troubles of Boris Johnson, 2019-2021
Chapter Four - ScotlalC"