Frederick Harry Pitts

Volume 33, Issue 2 A quarterly journal of politics and ideas, committed to exploring and expanding the radical potential of social democracy.

NEW ISSUE: Renewal Vol. 33 No. 2

Published amidst far-right mobilisation and a Reform surge, the new issue of Renewal (guest co-edited by @sachahilhorst.bsky.social) features activists, journalists, and academics analysing the radical right threat and debating how social democrats can respond

Is Cornwall still a playground under pressure from over-tourism? Fifty years after a documentary about concerns in Cornwall, some of the questions are the same.

Dr Joanie Willett from @hass-cornwall.bsky.social spoke to BBC South West about tourism in Cornwall 🏖️
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

YouTube video by University of Exeter Oceans - Dr Emma Kluge, Lecturer in Colonial and Environmental History

Our historical narratives are often centred on land, but what happens if we shift our perspective to oceans? How might this shape our environmental and political imaginaries? Join us at @hass-cornwall.bsky.social as we plunge into the past to navigate new futures.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xqj...

The latest in our series of short videos about the interdisciplinary research colleagues do at @hass-cornwall.bsky.social. Watch the full series here: hass-cornwall.exeter.ac.uk/research/

YouTube video by University of Exeter Volunteering - Dr Stuart Fox, Senior Lecturer in Politics

Falling youth turnout is an existential threat to our democracies. @hass-cornwall.bsky.social are studying how volunteering can reconnect young people from the poorest backgrounds with elections.

Find out more in our new ‘Research Shorts' series.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vgS...

YouTube video by University of Exeter Rock Art - Professor Jamie Hampson, Associate Professor of Rock Art and Indigenous Heritage

Next in our series of Research Shorts is Prof. Jamie Hampson on rock art.

Humans have been creating rock art for more than 70,000 years. At HaSS Cornwall we consider why, and think about how understanding art helps us understand what it means to be human.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAf0...

YouTube video by University of Exeter Tradition - Dr Jeremy DeWaal, Senior Lecturer in European History

Tradition is not only about continuity – it can also be about change.

At @hass-cornwall.bsky.social historians explore how continuous ritual traditions have been interpreted in radically different ways across the centuries.

Find out more in our new Research Shorts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-n...

Research | Humanities and Social Sciences, Cornwall | University of Exeter

You can watch the full series of videos at our website here: hass-cornwall.exeter.ac.uk/research/

@exeter.ac.uk @uniofexeternews.bsky.social @exetergses.bsky.social

YouTube video by University of Exeter Reindustrialisation - Dr Frederick Harry Pitts, Senior Lecturer in Politics

'Reindustrialisation’ is now a buzzword across the political spectrum.

At @hass-cornwall.bsky.social we are surrounded by resurgent industries rooted in place and strategically pivotal to security & sustainability.

Hear more in our new 'Research Shorts' series of videos:
youtu.be/oPIDKPX7jcc?...

My colleague Catriona Pennell @teachlearnwar.bsky.social launches our new @hass-cornwall.bsky.social short video series with a brilliant reflection on remembrance & forgetting.

Hear more about our interdisciplinary research here: hass-cornwall.exeter.ac.uk/research/

@uniofexeternews.bsky.social

The Chancellor sees Critical Minerals are a case study in Securonomics  - Progressive Britain With the Chancellor visiting the soon to be re-opened South Crofty Tin mine, can Critical Minerals bring security & growth to the South West?

Me for @progbrit.bsky.social on the Chancellor's visit to South Crofty in Cornwall yesterday.

The critical minerals sector symbolises some of the promise of 'securonomics', its importance recognised in both industrial policy & national security strategy.

www.progressivebritain.org/the-chancell...

Places to come together: Rebuilding local solidarities against the far right | IPPR In late July 2024, the seaside town of Southport in Merseyside burst into the national consciousness when it suffered two different, violent events in succ

Great new @ippr.org report from @sachahilhorst.bsky.social, making very clear the link between the decline of community spaces and the rise of the radical right. Sacha reimagines the 20th century miners' welfare fund as a model for reviving social infrastructure:
www.ippr.org/articles/pla...

@uniofexeternews.bsky.social @hass-cornwall.bsky.social

Excited to continue exploring these themes through the new Critical Minerals Challenge Centre at @exeter.ac.uk

We explore how Cornwall's tin, lithium & tungsten reserves contribute to security and sustainability, as well as good jobs and local growth: criticalmineralschallengecentre.co.uk

Putting Industrial Policy in its Place - Progressive Britain How are the UK and European governments using industrial policy to tackle regional inequalities, and how can they do more?

I later wrote about lithium and the themes of Reeves's 2024 Mais Lecture: renewal.org.uk/blog/securon...

The pieces draw upon ongoing work with @progbrit.bsky.social and @feps-europe.eu on securonomics and the politics of place-based industrial policy: www.progressivebritain.org/putting-indu...

Bringing ‘securonomics’ down to earth Attempt to engage someone in conversation about ‘securonomics’, the portmanteau term for Labour’s new vision of political economy, and at first they might mishear you. A sceptical friend thought I was...

The Chancellor is visiting the epicentre of the Cornish mining revival, South Crofty: theguardian.com/business/202...

Great to see tin understood as a test case for Reeves's 'securonomics', as I suggested in a piece for @renewaljournal.bsky.social a few years ago: renewal.org.uk/blog/bringin...

On the right side of a wrong history? Matt Bolton and I were asked to revisit the themes of our 2018 book Corbynism: A Critical Approach for @unherd.com, and reflect on the challenges for Labour from a new party of the left: unherd.com/2025/07/is-c...

Is Corbynism 2.0 coming for Labour? Could Gaza replace Jezza as a radical talisman? Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images

‘Perhaps a rebooted version of Corbynism has the opportunity to prosper in ways it could not before.’ | Matthew Bolton and Frederick Harry Pitts

unherd.com/2025/07/is-c...

Typically excellent from @philtinline.bsky.social.

I think that quote from a Starmer aide - "tough on populism, tough on the causes of populism" - really should be a guiding force for this government.

On the right side of a wrong history? Matt Bolton and I were asked to revisit the themes of our 2018 book Corbynism: A Critical Approach for @unherd.com, and reflect on the challenges for Labour from a new party of the left: unherd.com/2025/07/is-c...

Starmer and Rayner have sounded the alarm over a social fabric that is 'fraying at the edges' and concern this translates into disorder. Rayner's analysis and prescription isn't new but is, for the most part, right. The briefing is putting a lot in faith in the Plan for Neighbourhoods as a response.

YouTube video by Institute for the Future of Work Good Work Monitor 2025 - Launch Webinar with Anna Thomas MBE, Tera Allas CBE and Dr Harry Pitts

If you missed the launch of our Good Work Monitor on Tuesday, you can watch the webinar - featuring @teraallas.bsky.social and @fhpitts.bsky.social - here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddTk...

Join us at midday today for our launch webinar with IFOW Founding Director, Anna Thomas MBE in conversation with Prof @teraallas.bsky.social CBE and Dr @fhpitts.bsky.social about the power of this dataset for understanding how to better 'Get Britain Working': www.ifow.org/event/gettin...

Getting Britain Working? Launching our Good Work Monitor 2025 Our expert panel discuss how IFOW's Good Work Monitor offers a unique lens through which to examine the new Industrial Strategy

Reminder that tomorrow we're launching our Good Work Monitor - a unique tool that tracks trends in productivity and 6 dimensions of good work across all 203 LAs in England, Scotland and Wales. Midday webinar with @fhpitts.bsky.social and @teraallas.bsky.social: www.eventbrite.com/e/getting-br...

Getting Britain Working? Launching our Good Work Monitor 2025 - IFOW Our expert panel discuss how IFOW's Good Work Monitor offers a unique lens through which to examine the new Industrial Strategy

On Tuesday we're launching our Good Work Monitor - a unique tool that tracks productivity and six dimensions of good work across all 203 local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland. Join us for a launch webinar, with @teraallas.bsky.social and @fhpitts.bsky.social
www.ifow.org/event/gettin...

Exciting to be joining the panel for the launch of @ifow.org’s Good Work Monitor 2025 next week.

I’ll be talking about how the GWM helps us understand workforce & skills strategy in Cornwall’s changing economy.

Read more here: www.ifow.org/news-article...

And here: www.ifow.org/publications...

A scenic view of several boats moored in Penryn, Cornwall on a clear day.

A view of Falmouth high street, featuring various shop fronts and bunting hanging overhead.

Falmouth harbour with boats resting on exposed sand at low tide and more boats moored on the water beyond.

Penryn high street looking towards the clock tower.

I had a great time last week at the @buiraonline.bsky.social 2025. It was such a friendly conference, packed with good discussions around the geographies of good work. And, of course, being in Cornwall, I got a much needed dose of ‘vitamin sea’!

Marx in Management and Organisation Studies: Rethinking Value, Labour and Class Struggles This book introduces new approaches that deploy concepts from Marx’s critique of political economy to renew the study of labour, value and social antagonisms in the broad area of management and organi...

If you like the sound of what you read in @managementlearning.bsky.social, the book - which came out in hardback in 2022 - is now available in an affordably priced paperback version at @routledgebuseco.bsky.social / @routledgebooks.bsky.social here:

www.routledge.com/Marx-in-Mana...

"Marxism can be misused & without modification can justify authoritarian politics. Pitts represents a current that recognizes this".

Nice review of my book Marx in Management & Organisation Studies: Rethinking Value, Labour & Class Struggles: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

« Renewal », la revue britannique qui entend réinventer la social-démocratie britannique Publiée au Royaume-Uni par Compass, une influente association britannique qui travaille au rapprochement des gauches, la publication se penche sur la première année du retour au pouvoir des travaillis...

Delighted to have our re-launch covered in Le Monde

www.lemonde.fr/idees/articl...