Dr Lisa McKenzie

Dr Lisa McKenzie is a working-class academic. She grew up in a coal-mining town in Nottinghamshire and became politicized through the 1984 miners’ strike with her family. At 31, she went to the University of Nottingham and did an undergraduate degree in sociology. Dr McKenzie lectures in sociology at the University of Durham and is the author of ‘Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain.’ She’s a political activist, writer and thinker. Follow her on Twitter @redrumlisa.

In Vivienne Westwood, we lost an angry, loud and crucially important voice in modern politics and culture Opinion
The late fashion icon was the kind of radical we desperately need – one that can’t be replaced in these times of cancel culture
Jan 3, 2023 11:10
If Jeremy Corbyn is vindicated of anti-Semitism allegations, do working-class Brits even care anymore? Opinion
Traditional Labour voters don’t care about the civil war that brought down the party’s erstwhile leader
Sep 28, 2022 14:35
Are some people too stupid to be trusted with the vote? Opinion
Culture wars are not as new a phenomena as our politicians, academics and commentariat would have us believe – there have always been points in history where it appeared that two tribes were going to war.
Dec 7, 2021 07:57
Free market didn’t work: How a major business boss admitted the failure of capitalism Opinion
‘Capitalism has failed’ was the essence of Confederation of British Industry Director General Tony Danker’s message to its annual conference – presumably motivated by being on the right side of history.
Nov 25, 2021 03:38
We’ll never solve the problems COP26 is trying to address until those in power understand how real people actually live Opinion
Live better. Be greener. Eat more sustainably. All worthy messages, but wholly impractical for the many working-class people who are struggling simply to survive. This lack of understanding makes COP26’s excesses hard to stomach.
Nov 2, 2021 13:25
Santa Bezos? Amazon is offering £3,000 to get people to work for them over Xmas – this isn't festive altruism, it’s a power grab Opinion
Amazon handing ‘golden hellos’ to get people to work in their warehouses over Christmas is not ‘a victory for the workers’ – it is a bribe from Jeff Bezos to help him tighten his stranglehold on the market.
Oct 21, 2021 09:03
Until the middle class let their talentless offspring fail, the arts in Britain are doomed to tedious and monotonous mediocrity Opinion
The cultural industries in the UK continue to be dominated by the inadequate scions of the privileged, who do all they can to keep the doors closed to genuinely talented working-class creatives. It has to stop.
Oct 14, 2021 09:02
Tax-avoiding, property buying elites cause the housing shortages that lie behind all our ailments, from inequality to ill health Opinion
The revelations from the Pandora Papers have shown just how obscene it is when the world’s super-rich, including politicians supposedly on the left, use offshore companies to buy huge tranches of our cities.
Oct 6, 2021 10:24
The tragic murder of Sarah Everard shows we need to radically rethink our relationship with power and authority in Britain Opinion
Listening to the horrific details of the night a young woman walked home alone through London, it is incredible that a man could handcuff her, put her into the back of a car and drive off without anyone asking what he was doing.
Sep 30, 2021 10:17
No, Bloomberg, Amazon’s ‘factory towns’ will NOT solve inequality, they will be satanic mills for the working class Opinion
Amazon and its hyper-neoliberal cheerleaders are polishing turds again. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire spaceman, and his company are about to ‘lift the working class’ by creating new ‘factory towns,’ Bloomberg writes.
Sep 19, 2021 12:02

Dr Lisa McKenzie

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