Real England: The Battle Against the Bland

This book is about some of the ways that the uniqueness of England's culture and landscape is being homogenized by economic policies that favor large corporate interests over small, local interests. Kingsnorth looks at the replacement of pubs that reflect local character with chain “pubs” that market themselves to certain populations instead of serving as a gathering place for a community, the loss of family farms to agribusiness, the loss of unique, locally owned stores in towns and villages across England to large out-of-town supermarkets and chain stores. The book is focused on England, but what Kingsnorth is pointing out can be found here in America, too. Everywhere you go, you find the same stores with the same merchandise–to an extent that was not the case when I was a kid. In some ways it's reassuring to know that when you go to Wichita, KS you'll be able to find the restaurants and drugstores you're used to, but it's disappointing, too. Traveling somewhere new is far less of an adventure. I've noticed this for a long time, so finding this book was gratifying, because it doesn't seem like something that people find worth talking about–beyond occasional news about a plucky town that successfully fights off a new Walmart.

Kingsnorth has plenty of examples of English uniqueness being destroyed by powerful corporate interests, but he also has a few heartening examples of people or communities who have been able to preserve their pub or store or farm. As I read, I was encouraged to be able to think of all the unique businesses, communities, institutions that make Twin Cities and Minnesota culture distinctive. Kingsnorth makes some interesting arguments about needing to develop a sense of Englishness that is based on geography or place rather than biology so that people can find English culture worth defending without fear of being called racist or xenophobic. Although the book is focused only on England (and not Great Britain), its points are easily translatable to other contexts. Kingsnorth is an engaging writer and I heartily recommend Real England.