‘Europe’s Fault Lines: Racism and the Rise of the Right’ by Liz Fekete (Verso) winner of the Bread & Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2019
The award is given by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB), and in a change to previous years was judged solely by ARB bookshop staff and close supporters.
Liz Fekete (left) receiving her award from judge Jane Watts (Five Leaves Bookshop
The award and prize money was given at an event held at the Bread & Roses Theater space at the National Union of Journalists headquarters in London.
Liz Fekete responded to the news by saying: “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to receive the Bread and Roses award. That Europe’s Fault Lines was singled out by the ARB –stalwarts who keep faith with radical ideas in difficult times – means so much to me! This book was based on ten years research at the Institute of Race Relations. Thanks to all my colleagues on the IRR/Race & Class collective, thanks to Verso, thanks to the judges and everyone involved in putting together last night’s marvelous event.”
Judge Tom Unterrainer had this to say of the winning book:
“Liz Fekete’s Europe’s Fault Lines is the product of year’s of documentation, analysis and activism in the cause of anti-racism and anti-fascism. In many ways, the book could be viewed as a dispatch from the trenches of a continent-wide fight against a resurgent far-right but it is also more than that. Liz combines an account of the horrors unfolding before us with a historically and materially rooted analysis of the intersections between movements, states and an increasingly authoritarian organisation of the economy and society. It is essential reading for all of us who worry over what might happen next and who are determined to resist.”
Judge Jane Watts reflected on the process:
“Selecting the winner of a ‘radical’ book prize from a list of submissions which could encompass so many different themes is understandably difficult. Nevertheless this year, Liz Fekete’s important book did stand out as a necessary book for these difficult times. The rise of the far right across Europe (and elsewhere) needs our constant attention and action.
Europe’s Fault Lines is a well researched contribution, providing evidence to back up the activism that the left must undertake. It was not surprising to find two books about the far right on our shortlist, but it was perhaps more of a surprise not to see far more submissions focusing on climate change and environmental activism. I was of course pleased to see two feminist books on the shortlist, both offering new perspectives in contested areas and adding to the sum of our understanding.”
Bread & Roses Trustee Nik Gorecki adds: “Its been another very strong shortlist this year, not to mention the quality within the longer list of submissions. The dilemma of choosing a winner has been as hard as ever. I think we have to consider ourselves lucky to see the state of radical and progressive publishing in such good health. I also get the impression that ideas and attitudes of the Left that were once seen as extreme are increasingly becoming common sense. Hopefully that trend will continue, and publishing has a crucial role in that process.”
