Zoe Williams’s article on Anton Jäger (Meet the man whose groundbreaking book is being devoured by the left, 23 July) reminded me of something I encounter in trade union meetings: people no longer come to them. But neither do they go to church, synagogue, nor do they volunteer as the youth football coach. They work intolerable hours or are logged in, like me, writing this from my beach vacation in Greece.
In that sense, I agree with Jäger’s premise. Yet, as a trade unionist who dedicates his life to rebuilding the power of working people, I confront a problem that has led me to cave in to hyperpolitics. I co-produced a podcast on cleaners’ work and lives and have been running an influencer campaign with hairdressers because that is how we get the union message out. People might not attend a meeting, but they will watch something on TikTok or Instagram, or listen to a podcast on Spotify.
Jäger’s argument appears to contain a nostalgia for Christian democracy and, in particular, for the system of “pillars”: a society divided between Christian and social-democratic institutions, in which a person could supposedly spend their life within one denomination.
Living in Brussels, I met a trade union leader in his 60s whose father had been a miner. He joined the Christian union when he joined the printing trade, remained in the socialist health insurance system and joined the Christian Democrats because he thought it might help save his workplace. He then attended one party meeting, hated the people there and never returned.
Jäger is right that intensity without organisation rarely produces power. But the task is to build institutions appropriate to plural to counter the monopolistic tendencies of corporate power. The weakness of today’s organisations cannot be resolved by harking back to a golden age but needs to draw its inspiration from the future.
Mark Bergfeld
Brussels, Belgium
Hyperpolitics, politics practised now after the destruction of those institutions that gave the people a voice in politics is a demonstration of the American political theorist Sheldon’s Wolin’s contention that democracy is a short-lived upsurge in people power that is soon nullified by the political actions of its powerful opponents. One example he quotes is the destruction of union power. Mrs Thatcher’s reforms were claimed to introduce the democratic decision process to industrial relations. Successive Labour leaders have defenestrated trade unions from the decision-making process claiming it would made the Labour party more democratic. All this institutional destruction was a popular “democratic” reform, claiming returning power to the people, while intending the opposite. Tony Blair reportedly spoke in the 1990s of wanting a party of volunteers not activists, hyperpolitics is fulfilling his wish.
Antony Jäger is correct that the new hyper politics poses no threat to capital, as a real threat comes from sustained struggle from organised interests. Some hope is to be found in the new trade unions such as the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, only they have put a check on the abuse of employer power in the retail trade. Ephemeral groups such as Occupy can be ignored, as they lack the heft to force change.
Perhaps this is the reason for the popularity of the Green party among young people – they believe it is the only organised political group that is openly opposed to the inequities that characterise British society today.
Derrick Joad
Leeds
