Nathalie Olah

This book is not a taste, nor an anti-taste, manual. This is an interrogation of the importance we place on seemingly objective ideas of taste in a culture that is saturated by imagery, and the dangerous impact this has on our identities, communities and politics. This book is dedicated to understanding the industries of taste. From the food we eat to the way we spend our free time, Olah exposes the shallow waters of 'good' and 'bad' taste and the rigid hierarchies that uphold this age-old dichotomy. - How did minimalism become a virtue, and who can afford to do it justice? When did blue-collar jackets become a fashion item? Who stands to gain from the distinction made between beauty, and sex? - Bold, original and provocative, Bad Taste is a revelatory exploration of the intersection between consumerism, class, desire and power, and a rousing call-to-arms to break free from the restrictive ways we see those around us.

Or the Politics of Ugliness

Bad Taste

A book about how austerity has made our society and culture less equal, and what we can do to challenge it. The 2010s have been a lost decade. For many of us who entered the workplace over the last nine years, there is a feeling of having been sold a lie. We were promised social mobility, a country freed from its feudal past by the liberal free-market politics of the coalition and Conservative governments, as they built upon the political project started by Thatcher and continued under New Labour. But as anyone from a low-income family seeking to go beyond the fold of professional services to shape the arts, culture and even systems of governance will tell you, that promise was false. After a decade of mourning, Steal as Much as You Can is a call to mobilise the effective methods at our disposal to overcome the paralysing effects of this carefully constructed myth of social mobility and achieve self-determination. By rejecting the established routines of achieving prosperity, and by stealing what you can from them on the way, this book offers hope to anyone who feels increasingly frustrated by our increasingly unequal society.

Nathalie Olah

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