Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain's Underclass

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A combination memoir and sociological study that explores not only poverty itself, but the dysfunction it brings to all levels of society. This is because the conversation about poverty is usually dominated by people with little direct experience of being poor.” As well as white male privilege, intersectionality should allow us to better understand the phenomenon of affluent students on the campuses of elite western universities attempting to control how the rest of us think and discuss our own experiences, claiming to speak on our behalf while freezing us out of the conversation.” We must open another frontier in politics. Not one based on railing against the system, but about scrutinising our own thinking and behaviour. One of which is about reclaiming the idea of personal responsibility from a rampant and socially misguided right wing that has come to monopolise it. A new leftism that is not only about advocating radical change but also about learning to take ownership of as many of our problems as we can, so that we may begin rebuilding the depleted human capacity in our poorest communities. In the first chapter, Darren McGarvey describes holding a rap workshop in a prison. Why did the author choose to open with this experience and does it provide a suitable introduction to the book and its themes?

But this book is also an impassioned polemic about the structural economic and political injustices endemic within British society that render swathes of the population powerless and voiceless. Part of the power and impact of this polemical account stems in part from the inclusion of autobiographical material by McGarvey, who grew up in poverty, experienced neglect, emotional and physical abuse, and wrestled with his own alcohol and drug use.

Poverty Safari

A read that really had me questioning how I think about modern day class in Britain, as well as my own politics (which I wasn't expecting going into it). Particularly unexpected (and powerful as a result) were McGarvey's arguments in favour of personal accountability: Guess which story got more press coverage. You already know the answer. The media was more interested in the wealthy family’s vacation woes. We must open another frontier in politics’: Darren McGarvey. Photograph: Teri Pengilley/The Guardian McGarvey contends that intersectionality activists have oversimplified any debate over what constitutes privilege and oppression and who is affected by it. From the point of McGarvey’s class-based argument, this oversimplification has resulted in the term ‘working class’ becoming a “synonym for ‘white male’” (p.159). As far as McGarvey is concerned, the result is that intersectionality denies the inclusion of the disadvantaged white working-class voice within the present social justice discourse.

McGarvey initially regards intersectionality as a means to broaden the pursuit of social justice for a wider range of marginalised and discriminated groups, but then becomes critical, contending that many public expressions of intersectionality have become “illiberal, censorious and counterproductive” (p.155). He then goes on to claim that rather than providing an emancipatory ally of class politics, intersectionality has become engaged in a form of class discrimination, having become ‘gentrified’ by universities and middle-class activists. McGarvey believes that the ‘gentrification’ of intersectionality has excluded many from the socio-economically disadvantaged communities of the UK at the expense of other marginalised groups because they do not fit a preconceived and ‘approved’ model of disadvantage. In Scotland, the poverty industry is dominated by a left-leaning, liberal, middle class. Because this specialist class is so genuinely well-intentioned when it comes to the interests of people in deprived communities, they get a bit confused, upset and offended when those very people begin expressing anger towards them. It never occurs to them, because they see themselves as the good guys, that the people they purport to serve may, in fact, perceive them as chancers, careerists or charlatans. They regard themselves as champions of the under class and therefore, should any poor folk begin to get their own ideas or, god forbid, rebel against the poverty experts, the blame is laid at the door of the complainants for misunderstanding what is going on.”

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Angry and eloquent in equal measure, he argues that poverty has become a political football. He describes himself as a “leftie”, but has little time for politicians or well-meaning and well-paid representatives of the “poverty industry”. write what you know" is solid advice. McGarvey makes statistics touchable by the misfortune of his own family. Take all the tags from "alcohol" to "teenage" and out of 5 persons, 3 or more will apply. It seems bizarre that we would ever attempt to draw conclusions about the behaviour of people in deprived communities, let alone legislate for it, without allowing for the context of stress and how that in itself is a causal factor in comfort eating, smoking, gambling, binge drinking, substance misuse and various cultures of aggression and violence” Poverty Safari does not provide easy answers. But it does offer a brave, profound critique of the nature of political debate today and mounts an at times inspiring defence of personal autonomy. ‘In the absence of real leadership’, he writes, ‘it’s time we demanded more of ourselves. Not because it’s easy or fair but because we have no other choice. We must now evolve beyond our dependence on political figures to map out reality on our behalf.’

Class issues are concealed beneath a progressive veneer as identity politics becomes another vehicle for the socially mobile to dominate every aspect of public life.”People from deprived communities all around Britain feel misunderstood and unheard. Darren McGarvey aka Loki gives voice to their feelings and concerns, and the anger that is spilling over. Anger he says we will have to get used to, unless things change. He invites you to come on a safari of sorts. A Poverty Safari. But not the sort where the indigenous population is surveyed from a safe distance for a time, before the window on the community closes and everyone gradually forgets about it.

If The Road To Wigan Pier had been written by a Wigan miner and not an Etonian rebel, this is what might have been achieved. McGarvey's book takes you to the heart of what is wrong with the society free market capitalism has created . Paul Mason Brilliant. Haunting, thought-provoking and compelling in equal measure, this devastatingly honest memoir merged with political and social polemic is essential reading for anyone even remotely interested in alleviating poverty. When you are in a public library, you are in the presence of people who are attempting to take a massive stride forward in their often chaotic and stressful lives. Aside from this more obvious function, the library performs a much simpler one – one which any librarian worth their salt will guard jealously. As well as not costing any money, the library is one of the few places in a deprived community that is quiet enough to hear yourself think.

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I laud McGarvey for his open discussion of the deep and severe trauma he experienced in his family growing up, and I have no doubt that had grave repercussions for his initial trajectory into an early adult life blighted by addiction and destructive behaviour. My difficulties are when McGarvey tries to generalise from his experiences to society as a whole.