New Society (magazine)
Encyclopedia
New Society was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published 1962-88. It drew on the emergent disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and social policy. It was also notable for its wide-ranging social reportage.
One critic wrote that New Society became "a forum for the new intelligentsia". This new readership was especially created by the expansion of higher education in Britain from the early 1960s on; a key date being the foundation of the University of Sussex in 1961.
The magazine was launched by a small, London-based independent publishing house, Harrison Raison, which in 1956 had successfully launched New Scientist
weekly magazine to serve the natural sciences. The idea was to create a comparable magazine of the social sciences.
New Society was usually perceived as centre-left. But it was fiercely non-partisan, never endorsing a political party. In the words of its founder-editor, Timothy Raison
(1962–68), New Society sought to "to mirror, to analyse, to understand, not to exhort or moralise." It tried to see the world as it was, not as it was supposed to be. These aims were continued and developed under the editorship of Paul Barker
(1968–86), who was described by Eric Hobsbawm
as the "most original of editors."
In the magazine's pages, "ideas were always more important than ideology". One historian wrote that "New Societys hospitality to a dissenting view" was, he judged, "evidence that the closure of our democratic traditions is not yet complete".
New Society saw itself as in the 1930s documentary lineage of Picture Post
magazine, George Orwell
, Mass-Observation
and the documentary films of John Grierson
. The magazine's founder-editor and first publisher had both been on the staff of Picture Post
. By contrast with other London-based magazines of opinion, New Societys emphasis was strongly non-metropolitan, preferring to focus on "the Other Britain.".
Two of the most influential issues of the magazine were :
1. A special issue, "Non-Plan : an experiment in freedom," 20 March 1969, in which the design historian Reyner Banham
, the urban geographer Peter Hall
, the architect Cedric Price
and Paul Barker
argued jointly that much town and country planning was misguided and counter-productive and should be scrapped.
2. The issue of 17 June 1976, which broke the Official Secrets Act
by reprinting cabinet minutes. Ministers were discussing ways to curtail benefit payments to British families. The plans were dropped. The confrontation was an important step on the long road to the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act.
The magazine's independence ended in 1988, when it was absorbed into the New Statesman
.
In 2010 the V&A held an exhibition of documentary photographs from New Society.
Three collections of essays from New Society were published: One for Sorrow, Two for Joy: Ten Years of "New Society" (1972); Arts in Society (1977); and The Other Britain (1982).
Contributors to New Society included:
One critic wrote that New Society became "a forum for the new intelligentsia". This new readership was especially created by the expansion of higher education in Britain from the early 1960s on; a key date being the foundation of the University of Sussex in 1961.
The magazine was launched by a small, London-based independent publishing house, Harrison Raison, which in 1956 had successfully launched New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
weekly magazine to serve the natural sciences. The idea was to create a comparable magazine of the social sciences.
New Society was usually perceived as centre-left. But it was fiercely non-partisan, never endorsing a political party. In the words of its founder-editor, Timothy Raison
Timothy Raison
Sir Timothy Hugh Francis Raison , was a British Conservative politician who began his career as a journalist, first working on Picture Post , then New Scientist...
(1962–68), New Society sought to "to mirror, to analyse, to understand, not to exhort or moralise." It tried to see the world as it was, not as it was supposed to be. These aims were continued and developed under the editorship of Paul Barker
Paul Barker (writer)
Paul Barker is a British journalist and writer.Barker was educated at local schools in the Calder Valley and won an Exhibition to Brasenose College, Oxford, to read French...
(1968–86), who was described by Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm
Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
as the "most original of editors."
In the magazine's pages, "ideas were always more important than ideology". One historian wrote that "New Societys hospitality to a dissenting view" was, he judged, "evidence that the closure of our democratic traditions is not yet complete".
New Society saw itself as in the 1930s documentary lineage of Picture Post
Picture Post
Picture Post was a prominent photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,700,000 copies a week after only two months...
magazine, George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, Mass-Observation
Mass-Observation
Mass Observation was a United Kingdom social research organisation founded in 1937. Their work ended in the mid 1960s but was revived in 1981. The Archive is housed at the University of Sussex....
and the documentary films of John Grierson
John Grierson
John Grierson was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. According to popular myth, in 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" to describe a non-fiction film.-Early life:Grierson was born in Deanston, near Doune, Scotland...
. The magazine's founder-editor and first publisher had both been on the staff of Picture Post
Picture Post
Picture Post was a prominent photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,700,000 copies a week after only two months...
. By contrast with other London-based magazines of opinion, New Societys emphasis was strongly non-metropolitan, preferring to focus on "the Other Britain.".
Two of the most influential issues of the magazine were :
1. A special issue, "Non-Plan : an experiment in freedom," 20 March 1969, in which the design historian Reyner Banham
Reyner Banham
Peter Reyner Banham was a prolific architectural critic and writer best known for his 1960 theoretical treatise Theory and Design in the First Machine Age and for his 1971 book Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies...
, the urban geographer Peter Hall
Peter Hall (urbanist)
Sir Peter Geoffrey Hall, FBA is an English town planner, urbanist and geographer. He is the Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration at The Bartlett, University College London and President of both the Town and Country Planning Association and the Regional Studies Association.He is...
, the architect Cedric Price
Cedric Price
Cedric Price was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.The son of an architect, Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire and studied architecture at Cambridge University Cedric Price (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential...
and Paul Barker
Paul Barker (writer)
Paul Barker is a British journalist and writer.Barker was educated at local schools in the Calder Valley and won an Exhibition to Brasenose College, Oxford, to read French...
argued jointly that much town and country planning was misguided and counter-productive and should be scrapped.
2. The issue of 17 June 1976, which broke the Official Secrets Act
Official Secrets Act
The Official Secrets Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India and Malaysia and formerly in New Zealand for legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security.-United Kingdom:*The Official Secrets...
by reprinting cabinet minutes. Ministers were discussing ways to curtail benefit payments to British families. The plans were dropped. The confrontation was an important step on the long road to the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act.
The magazine's independence ended in 1988, when it was absorbed into the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
.
In 2010 the V&A held an exhibition of documentary photographs from New Society.
Three collections of essays from New Society were published: One for Sorrow, Two for Joy: Ten Years of "New Society" (1972); Arts in Society (1977); and The Other Britain (1982).
Contributors to New Society included:
- Reyner BanhamReyner BanhamPeter Reyner Banham was a prolific architectural critic and writer best known for his 1960 theoretical treatise Theory and Design in the First Machine Age and for his 1971 book Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies...
- John BergerJohn BergerJohn Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was...
- Asa Briggs
- David CannadineDavid CannadineSir David Nicholas Cannadine, FBA is a British historian, known for a number of books, including The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy and Ornamentalism. He is also notable as a commentator and broadcaster on British public life, especially the monarchy. He serves as the generaleditor...
- Angela CarterAngela CarterAngela Carter was an English novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works...
- Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
- Stanley CohenStanley Cohen (sociologist)Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...
- David Donnison
- Mary DouglasMary DouglasDame Mary Douglas, DBE, FBA was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism....
- Frank Field
- Peter FullerPeter FullerPeter Michael Fuller was a British art critic and magazine editor who was educated at Epsom College and Peterhouse, Cambridge....
- Ray GoslingRay GoslingRay Gosling is an English journalist, author, broadcaster and gay rights activist. In February 2010, he claimed during a local BBC television programme to have killed a lover, in an act of euthanasia. He was arrested and released on police bail...
- Peter HallPeter Hall (urbanist)Sir Peter Geoffrey Hall, FBA is an English town planner, urbanist and geographer. He is the Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration at The Bartlett, University College London and President of both the Town and Country Planning Association and the Regional Studies Association.He is...
- Eric HobsbawmEric HobsbawmEric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
- Douglas JohnsonDouglas JohnsonDouglas Johnson , a British historian, was born in Edinburgh in 1925. He attended the Royal Grammar School, Lancaster, and then Worcester College, Oxford, on a history scholarship...
- RW Johnson
- John LahrJohn LahrJohn Lahr is an American theater critic, and the son of actor Bert Lahr. Since 1992, he has been the senior drama critic at The New Yorker magazine.-Biography:...
- R.D. Laing
- Colin MacInnesColin MacInnesColin MacInnes was an English novelist and journalist.-Early life:MacInnes was born in London, the son of singer James Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Thirkell, who was also related to Rudyard Kipling and Stanley Baldwin. His family moved to Australia in 1920, MacInness returning in 1930...
- George MellyGeorge MellyAlan George Heywood Melly was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for The Observer and lectured on art history, with an emphasis on surrealism.-Early life and career:He was born in Liverpool and was educated at Stowe...
- Ann OakleyAnn OakleyAnn Oakley is a distinguished British sociologist, feminist, and writer. She is Professor and Founder-Director of the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London and in 2005 partially retired from full-time academic work to concentrate on her writing and...
- Geoffrey Parkinson
- Dennis PotterDennis PotterDennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
- Cedric PriceCedric PriceCedric Price was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.The son of an architect, Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire and studied architecture at Cambridge University Cedric Price (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential...
- Alan RyanAlan RyanAlan James Ryan, FBA was Warden of New College, Oxford, and Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford and currently a lecturer at Princeton University....
- Caroline St John-BrooksCaroline St John-BrooksDr Caroline St. John-Brooks was an Anglo-Irish journalist and academic.She gained a BA in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin, an MA in Education from the University of Ulster at Coleraine, and a PhD in the teaching of English in secondary schools from Bristol University in 1980...
- Jeremy Seabrook
- Laurie TaylorLaurie Taylor (sociologist)Laurence John "Laurie" Taylor is an English sociologist and radio presenter originally from Liverpool.-Academic career:After attending Roman Catholic schools including the direct grant grammar school St Mary's College in Crosby at the same time as Liverpool poet, Roger McGough, Taylor first...
- E P Thompson
- Colin WardColin WardColin Ward was a British anarchist writer. He has been called "one of the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian." -Life:...
- Peter Willmott
- Michael WoodMichael Wood (academic)Michael Wood born in Lincoln, England, is the Charles Barnwell Straut Class of 1923 Professor of English and Professor of comparative literature at Princeton University. He is an alumnus of St John's College, Cambridge....
- Barbara Wootton
- Michael Young