Mark Boyle – författare

An honest, radical and moving account of life off the grid. It was 11pm when I checked my email for the last time and turned off my phone for what I hoped would be forever.No running water, no car, no electricity or any of the things it powers: the internet, phone, washing machine, radio or light bulb. Just a wooden cabin, on a smallholding, by the edge of a stand of spruce.In this upfront and lyrical account of a remarkable life without modern technology, Mark Boyle explores the hard won joys of building a home with his bare hands, learning to make fire, collecting water from the spring, foraging and fishing.What he finds is an elemental life, one governed by the rhythms of the sun and seasons, where life and death dance in a primal landscape of blood, wood, muck, water, and fire – much the same life we have lived for most of our time on earth. Revisiting it brings a deep insight into what it means to be human at a time when the boundaries between man and machine are blurring.***‘Boyle's memoir of his first year off-grid is fascinating… A poetic meditation on the almost-mystical benefits of falling in sync with nature.’ —New Statesman‘A warts-and-all look at an extreme way of life, but one that, by the end of this engrossing book, makes the world around it seem dysfunctional.’ —Irish Independent, BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019‘A beautiful and thought-provoking story that will inspire you to live differently. Mark asks the most fundamental questions then sets out to live the answers.’ Lily Cole, model and activist

That we need money to live like it or not is a self-evident truism. Right? Not anymore. Drawing on almost three years of experience as The Moneyless Man, ex-businessman Mark Boyle not only demystifies money and the system that binds us to it, he also explains how liberating, easy and enjoyable it is to live with less of it. In this book, Mark takes us on an exploration that goes deeper into the thinking that pushed him to make the decision to go moneyless, and the philosophy he developed along the way. Bursting with radical new perspectives on some of the vital, yet often unquestioned, pillars of economic theory and what it really means to be 'sustainable' as well as creative and practical solutions for how we can live more with less Boyle offers us one of the world s most thought-provoking voices on economic and ecological ideas. Mark's original, witty style will help simplify and diversify your personal economy, freeing you from the invisible ties that limit you, and making you more resilient to financial shocks. The Moneyless Manifesto will enable you to start your journey into a new world.

The astonishing reality of living without our most important resource: money.'An inspiring and entertaining guide to escaping the money trap and reconnecting with reality.' Paul Kingsnorth, author of Real EnglandImagine a year living without spending money...Former businessman Mark Boyle undertook this extraordinary challenge and recounts the amazing adventure it led him on. Going back to basics and following his own strict rules, Mark learned ingenious ways to eliminate his bills and discovered that friendship has no price.Encountering seasonal foods, solar panels, skill-swapping schemes, caravans, compost toilets, and – the unthinkable – a cash-free Christmas, Boyle puts the fun into frugality and offers some great tips for economical (and environmentally friendly) living. A testament to Mark’s astounding determination, this witty and thought-provoking book will make you reevaluate what is most precious in life.

More than ever, people across the planet want deep and meaningful change. From those campaigning for social justice and ecological sustainability, to those who want to protect animals, indigenous cultures and those in poverty, millions are realising that another world is not only possible, but absolutely essential. Yet despite the creative and determined efforts of so many, our crises deepen. A politico-economic system, increasingly benefiting a small elite, has brought us to the brink of climate catastrophe, ransacking ecosystems and unravelling communities, forcing us into unhealthy ways of life that conflict with our deepest yearnings. The problem may no longer be a lack of will - but a dogmatic adherence to laws and cultural narratives designed to keep things just the way they are. In this incendiary book, best-selling author Mark Boyle explores, with terrible beauty, the uncharted depths of these challenges, and how we might face them with dignity, great heart and potency.Drawing on inspiration from the natural world, he sets out the case for the rewilding of our political landscapes, calling for solidarity between reformers, revolutionaries and resisters for the creation of a world worth sustaining.His uncompromising and surprising conclusions could revolutionise the way we face the challenges of our time.

This comprehensive volume explores the political, social, economic and geographical implications of Brexit within the context of an already divided UK state. It demonstrates how support for Brexit not only sharpened differences within England and between the separate nations comprising the UK state, but also reflected how austerity politics, against which the referendum was conducted, impacted differently, with north and south, urban and rural becoming embroiled in the Leave vote. This book explores how, as the process of negotiating the secession of the UK from the EU was to demonstrate, the seemingly intractable problem of the Irish border and the need to maintain a ‘soft border’ provided a continuing obstacle to a smooth transition.The authors in this book also explore various other profound questions that have been raised by Brexit; questions of citizenship, of belonging, of the probable impacts of Brexit for key economic sectors, including agriculture, and its meaning for gender politics. The book also brings to the forefront how the UK was geographically imagined – a new lexicon of ‘left behind places’, ‘citizens of somewhere’ and ‘citizens of nowhere’ conjuring up new imaginations of the spaces and places making up the UK.This book draws out the wider implications of Brexit for a refashioned geography. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Space and Polity.

In a lecture entitled ’Scotland’s shame’, delivered at the Edinburgh Festival in August 1999, Scotland’s leading musical composer James MacMillan sought in an explosive way to expose the continuing pervasiveness of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sectarianism and bigotry in contemporary Scotland. A decade of heated public debate has followed. Drawing upon post-colonial critiques of the provincial nature of metropolitan theory, this book approaches the Scotland's shame debate as, in many ways, itself a classic metrocentric cultural struggle over the true and essential telos of a once colonised population. It argues that the most interesting question the debate has provoked, a question which thus far has failed to generate a worthy answer, is: is the Irish Catholic encounter with Scotland intelligible and if so, what is the nature of this intelligibility? The purpose of this book is to harness the complex and rich theory of colonialism which French philosopher, political activist and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre developed and struggled over, to venture a qualified and partial interpretation of the Irish Catholic experience of Scotland. Nevertheless, in so doing, the book takes seriously the charge of metrocentricism as it bears on the search for the meaning of the Irish Catholic adventure in Scotland and refuses to permit any simplistic interpretation of this adventure. Presenting findings from a new oral history archive consisting of 67 interviews with members of the Irish Catholic community in Scotland, attention is given to the themes of national identity, estrangement and belonging; diasporic imaginings of Ireland; anti-imperial activism, agitation and advocacy; culture, faith and family; and poverty, work education and equality.

This comprehensive volume explores the political, social, economic and geographical implications of Brexit within the context of an already divided UK state. It demonstrates how support for Brexit not only sharpened differences within England and between the separate nations comprising the UK state, but also reflected how austerity politics, against which the referendum was conducted, impacted differently, with north and south, urban and rural becoming embroiled in the Leave vote. This book explores how, as the process of negotiating the secession of the UK from the EU was to demonstrate, the seemingly intractable problem of the Irish border and the need to maintain a ‘soft border’ provided a continuing obstacle to a smooth transition.The authors in this book also explore various other profound questions that have been raised by Brexit; questions of citizenship, of belonging, of the probable impacts of Brexit for key economic sectors, including agriculture, and its meaning for gender politics. The book also brings to the forefront how the UK was geographically imagined – a new lexicon of ‘left behind places’, ‘citizens of somewhere’ and ‘citizens of nowhere’ conjuring up new imaginations of the spaces and places making up the UK.This book draws out the wider implications of Brexit for a refashioned geography. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Space and Polity.

Revised, Extended, and Extensively Updated Text Uses Historical Geographical and Thematic Approach to Provide Undergraduates with a Firm Foundation in Human GeographyDrawing on nearly three decades of instructional experience and a wealth of testing pedagogical innovations with students, Mark Boyle has revised and expanded this authoritative and comprehensive introduction to Human Geography. As with the First Edition, Boyle follows the premise that “history makes geography whilst geography makes history,” and that the key to studying the principal demographic, social, political, economic, cultural and environmental processes in any region in the world today is to look at how that region has been impacted by, and in turn has impacted, the story of the rise, reign, and decline of the West. Moreover he argues that Human Geog­raphy itself is best understood as both an intellectual endeavour and a historical, political, and institutional project.Informed by recent developments in post-colonial scholarship, the book covers key concepts, seminal thinkers, and influential texts in the field. Although designed for the beginner student, Boyle does not shy away from ideas and debates often avoided in introductory texts, clearly communicating theory without condescension. In addition, he places human geography in its larger academic context, discussing the influences on the field from related subjects. Notable features in the Second Edition include: Extensive revision and updating of coverage of key ideas, developments, debates and case studiesNew chapter on uneven geographical development at different scales and development theory and practiceDedicated coverage of Covid-19s geographiesNew learning resources (figures, tables, plates, maps, Deep Dive boxes, etc.) throughout the text, plus learning objectives, essay questions, checklists summarizing key ideas, and guidance for further readingUpdated and expanded companion website with MP4 and MP3 chapter-by-chapter lectures and PowerPoint slides for each chapter, new multiple-choice exam paper and additional essay-style exam questions, and a wide range of student tutorial exercisesHuman Geography: An Essential Introduction, Second Edition is an excellent foundational text for undergraduate courses in human geography, globalization, Western civilization, historiographies of intellectual thought, the grand public problems confronting humanity in the twenty first century, and other wider social science courses.

In a lecture entitled ’Scotland’s shame’, delivered at the Edinburgh Festival in August 1999, Scotland’s leading musical composer James MacMillan sought in an explosive way to expose the continuing pervasiveness of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sectarianism and bigotry in contemporary Scotland. A decade of heated public debate has followed. Drawing upon post-colonial critiques of the provincial nature of metropolitan theory, this book approaches the Scotland's shame debate as, in many ways, itself a classic metrocentric cultural struggle over the true and essential telos of a once colonised population. It argues that the most interesting question the debate has provoked, a question which thus far has failed to generate a worthy answer, is: is the Irish Catholic encounter with Scotland intelligible and if so, what is the nature of this intelligibility? The purpose of this book is to harness the complex and rich theory of colonialism which French philosopher, political activist and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre developed and struggled over, to venture a qualified and partial interpretation of the Irish Catholic experience of Scotland. Nevertheless, in so doing, the book takes seriously the charge of metrocentricism as it bears on the search for the meaning of the Irish Catholic adventure in Scotland and refuses to permit any simplistic interpretation of this adventure. Presenting findings from a new oral history archive consisting of 67 interviews with members of the Irish Catholic community in Scotland, attention is given to the themes of national identity, estrangement and belonging; diasporic imaginings of Ireland; anti-imperial activism, agitation and advocacy; culture, faith and family; and poverty, work education and equality.

This book seeks to better understand the meaning and implications of the UKs calamitous encounter with the COVID-19 global pandemic for the future of British neoliberalism.Construing COVID-19 as a political pandemic and mobilising a novel applied political philosophy approach, the authors cultivate fresh intellectual resources, both analytical and normative, to better understand why the UK failed the COVID-19 test and how it might ‘fail forward’ so as to strengthen its resilience. COVID-19 they argue, has intercepted the UK government’s decades-long experimentation with neoliberalism at what appears to be a threshold moment in this model’s life course. Neoliberalism has served as a key progenitor of the country’s vulnerability: the pandemic has cruelly unveiled the failings of neoliberal logics and legacies which have placed the country at elevated risk and hampered its response. The pandemic in turn has attenuated underlying systemic maladies inherent in British neoliberalism and served as a great disruptor and potential accelerant of history; a consequential episode in the tumultuous life of this politico-economic model.  To meaningfully ‘build back better’, a true renaissance of social democracy is needed. Drawing upon the neorepublican tradition of political philosophy, the authors confront neoliberalism’s hegemonic but parochial  concept of human freedom as non-interference and place the neorepublican idea of freedom as non-domination in the service of building a new UK social contract.This book will be of interest to political philosophers, political geographers, medical sociologists, public-health scholars, and epidemiologists, to stakeholders engaged in the public inquiry processes now gathering momentum globally and to architects of build back better programmes, especially in western advanced capitalist economies.