NEW ENCLOSURE

Sub-titled 'The Appropriation of Public Land in Neoliberal Britain', much has been written about Britain's trailblazing post-1975 Privatisation Programme, but the biggest privatisation of them all has until now escaped scrutiny - the privatisation of land. Since Margaret Thatcher took power in 1979, and hidden from the public eye, about 10% of the entire British land mass including some of its most valuable real estate has passed from public to private hands. Forest land, defence land, health service land and above all else local authority land for farming and school sports, for recreation and housing has been sold off en masse. Why? How? And with what social, economic and political consequences? This book is the first ever study of this profoundly significant phenomenon, setting it as a centrepiece of neoliberalism in Britain as a successor programme to the original 18th century enclosures. With more public land still slated for disposal, the book identifies the stakes and asks what if anything can and should be done. 'Necessary reading for anyone who wants to know where ruling-class power comes from, and how to take it back.' - Owen Hatherley. The economic geographer looks at the whole of Britain's 80,823 square miles. 362pp, paperback.