Week 4 Questions (Alvarez)

•  Hall argues in "The Great Moving Nowhere Show" that Blair's New Labour never really provided an opposition to the political terrain created under Thatcher rather, it helped "adjust" the public to it. Reading this piece, I wondered how it could apply to the discussion surrounding immigration policies started by the first Trump administration, continued by Biden, and finally accelerated by the current admin. I bring up immigration in particular, as Hall says that the "New Labour" project (and the left in general) failed to bring opposition to Thatcher's austerity policies, specifically welfare. I thought this was very resonant for this modern issue as the Biden administration used a similar language of "common sense," "tough decisions," and "economic benefit" while still continuing a policy it was supposedly against (pg. 287, 292). 
• In "Political Commitment," Hall talks about how the media can depoliticize events by portraying issues only as they affect the established "political game" partly because anything outside of that conflict is seen as "irrelevant" or "infeasible" (Pg. 89-90). I wonder how we can use this analysis to think about the prevalence of social media, which has democratized who "controls the flow and formation of opinion, and hence the formation of consciousness" (Pg. 90). Have we seen a change in what we think is feasibly possible in politics as ideas become easier to share or does the entertainment format of social media prevent it from becoming a place where real mass political consciousness is raised?