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 suggested the team have progressed further and understand that success in the struggle is not about heroic individuals but the collective action of the team.
3 The 4-0 victory over Ukraine suggests that the reading group organised by Southgate during training of Engels Dialectics of Nature has grasped how to turn quantity into quality.
4 There remain outstanding contradictions, and the struggle to turn theory into practice will continue against Denmark on Wednesday
Thanks to Philosophy Football for planting the idea…
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