PUBS: DEFENDING THE FREE HOUSENeil Davenport
Sociology teacher and critic Neil Davenport challenges us to stand up for the pub. Today, society tends to view people getting close to one another as a source of multiple risks, he writes, and if pubs are to survive, we need to get up close and personal. From plotting working-class political movements to hosting some of the great artists of our time, pubs are central to a lively, active public square. The future of rowdy locals relies on us, the punters, rediscovering and reshaping the public square as a place of freedom, he writes. We should not be ready to heed last orders so easily.
Neil Davenport has taught politics and sociology for 20 years. Prior to this, he had a background in music journalism, writing reviews for Metro, Select and Uncut. He now writes about politics and culture for spiked, as well as chapters in A Lecturer’s Guide to Further Education (Open University Press) and The Future of Community (Pluto Press).
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