On Wednesday 12 April, Dr Dan Evans will be launching his new book: ‘A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie’ at Waterstones, Cardiff. Dan will be in the store discussing his book, which will be available to purchase on the day. Tickets for the book launch are available on the Waterstones website.
Book Synopsis
‘The petty bourgeoisie — the insecure class between the working class and the bourgeoisie — is hugely significant within global politics. Yet it remains something of a mystery.
‘Initially identified as a powerful political force by theorists like Marx and Poulantzas, the petit-bourgeoisie was expected to decline, as small businesses and small property were gradually swallowed up by monopoly capitalism. Yet, far from disappearing, structural changes to the global economy under neoliberalism have instead grown the petty bourgeoisie, and the individualist values associated with it have been popularized by a society which fetishizes “aspiration”, home ownership and entrepreneurship. So why has this happened?
‘A Nation of Shopkeepers sheds a light on this mysterious class, exploring the class structure of contemporary Britain and the growth of the petty bourgeoisie following Thatcherism. It shows how the rise of home ownership, small landlordism and radical changes to the world of work have increasingly inculcated values of petty bourgeois individualism; how popular culture has promoted and reproduced values of aspiration and conspicuous consumption that militate against socialist organizing; and, most importantly, what the unstoppable rise of the petit-bourgeoisie means for the left.’
“A vivid and passionate account of the renewal of class divisions in British society and the visceral forms they take. Anyone who doubts the relevance of contemporary class divides is encouraged to read this book.”
– Mike Savage, author of The Return of Inequality
“A brilliantly readable exploration of the difficulties and the necessity of class analysis for any imaginably successful left politics.”
– Walter Benn Michaels, author of The Beauty of a Social Problem
“An incisive, erudite and provocative analysis of the changing class composition and dynamics in Britain. A Nation of Shopkeepers will be central to future debates on class in Britain and further afield.”
– Paul O’Connell, Centre for Human Rights Law, SOAS