Dr Malcolm James' research

Image credit: Nebelnoise, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

When Margaret Thatcher said there was ‘no alternative’ she sought to speak a singular horizon of free market capitalism into being. That monetarist utopia became reality, supported through an authoritarian and nationalist programme, designating and discipling others structured outside its visions. And, as she spoke those words poll tax protesters, peace campaigners and reggae sound systems played. There were indeed alternatives, there always had been alternatives and there would continue to be alternative, calling out her lie.

Dr Malcolm James' current research on ‘alternative cultural politics’ explores and documents the alternative cultural political formations of everyday life from a critical theoretical, postcolonial studies and sound studies perspective. Responding to the presiding negativity of late modernity, it seeks to trace and evaluate the popular resources of the alternative, as they are held in theory and in contemporary culture.