A Spectre is haunting Europe-Southgate-ism
Some right-wing commentators and Tory politicians have suggested that because the England football team take the knee against racism and injustice before Euro2021 games they have somehow become Marxists.
As I told Emma Smith at Goal at the start of the Championship, this seems rather unlikely. In short, nothing so romantic:
Still we can apply a Marxist analysis to the progress of the England team so far:
1 In taking the knee against racism and injustice the England football team embraced one of the basic principles of Marxism- solidarity.
2 The 2-0 victory over Germany saw them progress further and understand that success in the struggle is not about heroic individuals but the collective action of the team.
3 The 4-0 win against Ukraine showed an appreciation of the Gramscian tactic of the war of maneouvre
4 In the semi-final a 2-1 victory over Denmark reflected Gareth Southgate’s ability to negate the negation
5 The key battle now on Sunday is for synthesis and socialism
Thanks to Philosophy Football for planting the idea…
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