Peter Sedgwick
Encyclopedia
Peter Sedgwick was a translator of Victor Serge
, author of a number of books including PsychoPolitics and a revolutionary socialist activist.
, where he became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
. In 1956, after the Hungarian Revolution
he left and joined the Socialist Review Group, later the International Socialists (forerunner to the Socialist Workers Party
) He wrote for the group’s press whilst also involved in the activities of rank-and-file members. He was opposed to the International Socialism group's renaming itself as the Socialist Workers Party in 1976, refusing to join the new organisation while always remaining a man dedicated to the far left
. (Christopher Hitchens
called him "a noble remnant of the libertarian left
" and dedicated his book 'Letters To A Young Contrarian' to him.)
Peter Sedgwick wrote a book on psychiatry
called PsychoPolitics. In many respects this book predicted and explained the severe Thatcher
/Reagan
–era reductions in US and UK National Health Service
psychiatric services, especially in the number of NHS beds for the mentally ill which were reduced by 80,000 in the UK during the 1980s. Peter Sedgwick identified that "politically correct
" conceptions of mental illness
, such as those of the anti-psychiatry
writers Michel Foucault
, R.D. Laing and Thomas Szasz
, could be exploited by the right wing to reduce services. His ideas have not been forgotten and Peter Sedgwick's views about psychiatry have been developed and reinterpreted in a marxist and situationist context at the web site Psychopolitics.net.
Peter Sedgwick was found dead in 1983 in a canal in Northern England. He was editing the works of Victor Serge at the time of his death.
Victor Serge
Victor Serge , born Victor Lvovich Kibalchich , was a Russian revolutionary and writer. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks five months after arriving in Petrograd in January 1919 and later worked for the Comintern as a journalist, editor and translator...
, author of a number of books including PsychoPolitics and a revolutionary socialist activist.
Life
Peter Sedgwick grew up in Liverpool, and won a scholarship to Balliol College, OxfordBalliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, where he became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
. In 1956, after the Hungarian Revolution
Hungarian Revolution
Hungarian Revolution may refer to:* The Hungarian Revolution of 1848.* The Hungarian Revolution of 1919, which led to the formation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic headed by Béla Kun.* The Hungarian Revolution of 1956....
he left and joined the Socialist Review Group, later the International Socialists (forerunner to the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
) He wrote for the group’s press whilst also involved in the activities of rank-and-file members. He was opposed to the International Socialism group's renaming itself as the Socialist Workers Party in 1976, refusing to join the new organisation while always remaining a man dedicated to the far left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
. (Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
called him "a noble remnant of the libertarian left
Libertarian socialism
Libertarian socialism is a group of political philosophies that promote a non-hierarchical, non-bureaucratic, stateless society without private property in the means of production...
" and dedicated his book 'Letters To A Young Contrarian' to him.)
Peter Sedgwick wrote a book on psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
called PsychoPolitics. In many respects this book predicted and explained the severe Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
/Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
–era reductions in US and UK National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
psychiatric services, especially in the number of NHS beds for the mentally ill which were reduced by 80,000 in the UK during the 1980s. Peter Sedgwick identified that "politically correct
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
" conceptions of mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
, such as those of the anti-psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry is a configuration of groups and theoretical constructs that emerged in the 1960s, and questioned the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry, such as its claim that it achieves universal, scientific objectivity. Its igniting influences were Michel Foucault, R.D. Laing,...
writers Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
, R.D. Laing and Thomas Szasz
Thomas Szasz
Thomas Stephen Szasz is a psychiatrist and academic. Since 1990 he has been Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He is a well-known social critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, and of the social...
, could be exploited by the right wing to reduce services. His ideas have not been forgotten and Peter Sedgwick's views about psychiatry have been developed and reinterpreted in a marxist and situationist context at the web site Psychopolitics.net.
Peter Sedgwick was found dead in 1983 in a canal in Northern England. He was editing the works of Victor Serge at the time of his death.
Selected articles/works
- Introduction to Victor Serge Memoirs of a Revolutionary (1963)
- George Orwell: International Socialist? (1969)
- PsychoPolitics (1982; 2nd ed. 1987)
- "The Unhappy Elitist: Victor Serge’s Early Bolshevism" (1984)