Darren McGarvey

People from deprived communities all around Britain feel misunderstood and unheard. Darren McGarvey aka Loki gives voice to their feelings and concerns, and the anger that is spilling over. Anger he says we will have to get used to, unless things change. He invites you to come on a safari of sorts. A Poverty Safari. But not the sort where the indigenous population is surveyed from a safe distance for a time, before the window on the community closes and everyone gradually forgets about it. I know the hustle and bustle of high-rise life, the dark and dirty stairwells, the temperamental elevators that smell like urine and wet dog fur, the grumpy concierge, the apprehension you feel as you enter or leave the building, especially at night. I know that sense of being cut off from the world, despite having such a wonderful view of it through a window in the sky; that feeling of isolation, despite being surrounded by hundreds of other people above, below and either side of you. But most of all, I understand the sense that you are invisible, despite the fact that your community can be seen for miles around and is one of the mostprominent features of the city skyline.

Understanding the Anger of Britain's Underclass

Poverty Safari

Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality. A ravine cuts through it, partitioning the powerful from the powerless, the vocal from the voiceless, the fortunate from those too often forgotten. This distance dictates how we identify and relate to society's biggest issues - from homelessness and poverty to policing and overrun prisons - ultimately determining how, and whether, we strive to resolve them. So why, for generations, has a select group of people with very limited experience of social inequality been charged with discussing and debating it?

I've sat on cold pavements with beggars, asking them why they would rather wander the streets than live in supported accommodation. I've pleaded with alcoholics to give sobriety one last shot before they end up dead - and read their obituaries in the paper weeks later. I've sat with youth workers at their wits' end as diversionary services are cut amid a surge in gang and knife violence. Too many people remain so far from this nightmarish social reality that even when they would earnestly wish to bring about change, they don't know where to start. So start here.

How Our Remote Politics Wrecked Britain

The Social Distance Between Us

How Oversharing Became a Product in a Digital World

Trauma Industrial Complex

We live in hostile times. Trust in authority is at an all-time low, and public anger is high. But hostility isn't born: it's created. In this powerful polemic against the systematic inequalities in the UK, the Orwell Prize-winning author Darren McGarvey lifts the lid on public fury and the institutions that drive it, from austerity to populism. Meeting people across the UK whose lives have been destroyed by systems that have little to do with making life better for the 99%, he uncovers the truth about what's making us so angry - and explains how we can overcome it. Is there a safety-valve to depressurise society, or is it already too late? A shocking and heartbreaking account of the state of our nation, Hostile Environments is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the truth about modern Britain.

Darren McGarvey

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