James Bloodworth is an English journalist and writer. He has authored two full length books, also writing articles for newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian . Much of Bloodworth's work concerns the struggles of working class people, yet he has been praised by both sides of the political spectrum. He lives in London.
Originally from Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, [1] Bloodworth studied politics at Nottingham Trent University [2] and completed a master's degree in political journalism at City University in London, where he has lived since 2010.
A former member of the Trotskyist group Alliance for Workers' Liberty, [3] [4] he edited the left-wing blog Left Foot Forward from 2013 until 2016. Bloodworth previously wrote a weekly column for the International Business Times [5] and wrote for The Spectator 's Coffee House blog from 2013 to 2015. [6] His work has also appeared in The Guardian', [7] The Independent , [8] The Wall Street Journal , [9] and UnHerd . [10] He currently writes a weekly column for the New Statesman [11] and writes features for The Times Magazine . [12]
Bloodworth is the author of The Myth of Meritocracy: Why Working-Class Kids Still Get Working-Class Jobs (Biteback Publishing) which was published in 2016. [13] [14] [15]
Bloodworth's Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain (Atlantic Books) was published in March 2018. To research the oppressive conditions faced by those working in low-paid and minimum-wage jobs, the author spent six months employed in such posts. This included periods working as a care worker in Blackpool, [16] an Uber driver and in the UK packaging warehouse of Amazon. Bloodworth claimed in his book that Amazon workers were urinating in coke bottles because they were afraid to take bathroom breaks. [17] The claim was repeated by US Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019 when she tweeted at Amazon: "Is that culture of 'strict performance' why Amazon workers have to urinate in bottles & work while on food stamps to meet 'targets?'"
According to one review, the book has been praised "across the political spectrum". [18] In May 2019, Hired was longlisted for the Orwell Prize for political writing. [19] Hired was also chosen by The Times as its current affairs book of the year 2018. [20] In The Observer , Nick Cohen described Bloodworth as "the best young leftwing writer Britain has produced in years". [18]
In September 2018, Bloodworth featured in a video for the channel of US Senator Bernie Sanders, in which Bloodworth drew on his book to criticise Amazon. Sanders tweeted out the video as part of the senator's push to introduce a bill that would charge large companies such as Amazon for the federal welfare programs that subsidize their low-wage workers. [21]
Bloodworth has written extensively on low pay and Labour Party politics. He has also criticised left-wing admiration for authoritarian governments in Cuba and Venezuela. In a piece for The Independent in October 2012, Bloodworth wrote of Venezuela: "it's a funny sort of democracy (and certainly not one which can accurately be described as the best in the world) that attracts such harsh criticism from human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – organisations which can hardly be dismissed as agents of neo-liberalism." [22] In a later article for UnHerd, Bloodworth criticised left-wing supporters of the Venezuelan government, such as Owen Jones, for their silence about government repression and economic collapse. Bloodworth wrote: "Just a handful of years ago the Venezuelan government was praised uncritically by much of the Western left. Today it is an embarrassment – every emaciated Venezuelan a testament to the credulity of those who once lauded Hugo Chavez as the leader of a 'progressive, populist government that says no to neo-liberalism' (Owen Jones)." [23]
Bloodworth described conservative thinker Roger Scruton's book Fools, Frauds and Firebrands as "an impressively lucid take down of some of the most fashionable left-wing thinkers of the past 50 years". [24]
Meritocracy is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than wealth or social class. Advancement in such a system is based on performance, as measured through examination or demonstrated achievement. Although the concept of meritocracy has existed for centuries, the first known use of the term was by sociologist Alan Fox in the journal Socialist Commentary in 1956. It was then popularized by sociologist Michael Dunlop Young, who used the term in his dystopian political and satirical book The Rise of the Meritocracy in 1958. Today, the term is often utilised to refer to social systems, in which personal advancement and success are primarily attributed to an individual's capabilities and merits.
Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's personal account of his experiences and observations fighting in the Spanish Civil War for the POUM militia of the Republican army.
The 35-hour workweek is a labour reform policy adopted in France in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government. Promoted by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry, it was adopted in two phases: the Aubry 1 law in June 1998 and the Aubry 2 law in January 2000. The previous legal working week was 39 hours, established by President François Mitterrand, also a member of the Socialist Party. The 35-hour working week had been on the Socialist Party's 1981 electoral program, titled 110 Propositions for France, but was not pursued because of the poor state of the economy.
Oliver Kamm is a British journalist and writer who was a leader writer and columnist for The Times.
Harry's Place is a British political blog concerned with what the website writers perceive as extremism of the right and left, as well as anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
The Orwell Prize is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity governed by a board of trustees. Four prizes are awarded each year: one each for a fiction and non-fiction book on politics, one for journalism and one for "Exposing Britain's Social Evils" ; between 2009 and 2012, a fifth prize was awarded for blogging. In each case, the winner is the short-listed entry which comes closest to George Orwell's own ambition to "make political writing into an art".
Jason Cowley is an English journalist, magazine editor and writer. After working at the New Statesman, he became the editor of Granta in September 2007, while also remaining a writer on The Observer. He returned to the New Statesman as its editor in September 2008.
Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often includes elements of anti-elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "common people". Recurring themes for left-wing populists include economic democracy, social justice, and scepticism of globalization. Socialist theory plays a lesser role than in traditional left-wing ideologies.
Matthew James Goodwin is a British academic who is professor of politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. His publications include National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy and Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics.
Amazon.com has been criticized, with questions raised about the ethics of the company's business practices and policies. Amazon has faced allegations of anti-competitive or monopolistic behavior and criticism of its treatment of workers and consumers. Concerns have been raised about the availability of products and services on Amazon platforms. In September 2023, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Amazon for using "a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies".
Maurice Glasman, Baron Glasman is an English political theorist, academic, social commentator, and Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He is a senior lecturer in Political Theory at London Metropolitan University, Director of its Faith and Citizenship Programme and a columnist for the New Statesman, UnHerd, Tablet and Spiked. He is best known as a founder of Blue Labour, a term he coined in 2009.
Fiverr is an Israeli multinational online marketplace for freelance services. Fiverr's platform connects freelancers (sellers) to people or businesses looking to hire (buyers), encouraging a wide range of services in a free market. Fiverr takes its name from the $5 asking price attached to all tasks when the company was founded in 2010 in Tel Aviv, though many sellers now charge more.
Left Foot Forward (LFF) is a left-wing political news and comment site in the UK, established in 2009. Its creator, Will Straw, the son of Alice Perkins and Jack Straw, edited the newspaper until December 2010.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a multi-tendency, democratic socialist political organization in the United States. After the Socialist Party of America (SPA) transformed into Social Democrats USA, Michael Harrington formed the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC). The DSOC later merged with the New American Movement to form the DSA. The organization is headquartered in New York City and has about 80,000 members. It leads organizing and protest campaigns, and has members in the House of Representatives, state legislatures, and other local offices.
The Fight for $15 is an American political movement advocating for the minimum wage to be raised to USD$15 per hour. The federal minimum wage was last set at $7.25 per hour in 2009. The movement has involved strikes by child care, home healthcare, airport, gas station, convenience store, and fast food workers for increased wages and the right to form a labor union. The "Fight for $15" movement started in 2012, in response to workers' inability to cover their costs on such a low salary, as well as the stressful work conditions of many of the service jobs which pay the minimum wage.
Myth of meritocracy is a phrase arguing that meritocracy, or achieving upward social mobility through one's own merits regardless of one's social position, is not widely attainable in capitalist societies because of inherent contradictions. Meritocracy is argued to be a myth because, despite being promoted as an open and accessible method of achieving upward class mobility under neoliberal or free market capitalism, wealth disparity and limited class mobility remain widespread, regardless of individual work ethic. Some scholars argue that the wealth disparity has even increased because the "myth" of meritocracy has been so effectively promoted and defended by the political and private elite through the media, education, corporate culture, and elsewhere. As described by economist Robert Reich, many Americans still believe in meritocracy despite "the nation drifting ever-farther away from it."
Jordan Daniel Chariton is an American investigative reporter. Chariton is the CEO of Status Coup, a progressive media outlet that features investigative and on-the-ground reporting on politics, corruption, the working class, social justice, and the environment.
UnHerd is a British news and opinion website founded in July 2017. It is funded by an endowment, and describes itself as a platform for slow journalism.
Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire is a 2019 British book by the rapper Akala. Part memoir, the book provides race and class analysis of a variety of historical eras, in addition to contemporary British society. It received positive critical reception, in addition to nominations for the Jhalak Prize and James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and saw renewed attention following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd in America.
David Swift is an English writer and historian.
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