Histories

Histories examined here extend from the ancient to the modern, encompassing also the political and the personal.

The reason for examining recent trends in the historiography of the Roman empire is because it is there, at the starting point of the historical trajectory on which the whole of Marxist theory is based, that attempts are being made to undermine its foundations. Against this the efficacy of class and much else besides is reasserted via an examination of how and why discourse about work, gender, and property relations features at the rural grassroots, together with a critical analysis of how and why discarding Marxism has contributed to the current empowerment of populism.

Publication date: November 6, 2026

Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables XIII

Introduction
 Faithful to Here?
 Ignoring History
 Oxford Debating Nerds
 Frightened Conformity
 Ominous Trends
 Themes

Part 1: Histories: Ancient, Modern

1 Recovering the Subject(s)? Self and Others on Parade
 Introduction: Why Write?
 Politics?
 Capitalism?
 Marxism?
 Unknown Unknowns?
 Privileging the Image
 An Element of Creativity?
 Pax Romana?
 Conclusion

2 Marxist Mosaic or Non-Marxist Kaleidoscope?
 Introduction: Repositioning the Subject
 Onwards and Upwards?
 Consistency?
 Marxism, Methodology?
 Production Relations?
 Sedulously Aloof?
 What Marxism Is or Isn’t
 Debt, Coercion as Free Wage-Labour?
 New Ways of Thinking?
 Who is the Enemy?
 Conclusion

3 Is Marx at Home in Ancient Rome, or Is the Eternal City the Locus of an Eternal Capitalism?
 Introduction: Deconstructing Rome (in a Day)?
 A Huge Container
 Decline and Fall?
 Sleepy British Positivists
 The Imaginary World of Decoration
 A Good Measure of Cold Water
 Remediable by New Discoveries?
 Ancient History Rewritten?
 Sins of the (Academic) Ancestors?
 Conclusion: Back to Basics

4 Ancient Rome and the Modern West: Death or Resurrection?
 Introduction: Woe Is Me
 Decline, Development, Modernisation
 Core, Periphery, Migration
 Open Doors, Disgruntled Corners
 Who Is Empowered, and Why?
 Crisis and Ruralisation
 Class Struggle or Negotiation?
 Populism and Its Contradictions
 Conclusion

Part 2: Histories: Personal, Political

5 The (Not-So-Hidden) Politics of Populism
 Introduction
 A Border Crossed
 Rednecks, Policières
 Populism, or the Identity That Dares Not Speak Its Name
 Perils of Misunderstanding Populism
 What Marxism Does …
 Conclusion

6 Drink, Work and Class in Rural Peru (Being There, Doing That)
 Introduction
 La Convención, Peru
 Drinking Costs and Patterns
 Drinking Ideology and Politics
 Drinking and Gender
 Drinking and Work – I
 Drinking and Work – II
 Drinking and Class
 Conclusion

7 On Anthropological Fieldwork (and Other Things)
 Introduction: Other Times, Other Places
 General Theoretical Sauce
 The Feel of Fieldwork
 An Unmediated Voice?
 Beginnings
 Endings
 Conclusion

8 Fragments of a Life, or Drawing a Line
 Introduction: Till All Our Strivings Cease
 Sleep and Forget
 Part of the Crowd
 A Life Not Led
 The Ground Moves
 Perhaps It’s Some Political Thing
 Strong Opinions, Strongly Held
 Conclusion
 Appendix I: Correspondence with John Cairncross, 1940s
 Appendix II: Cartoons
Conclusion
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index