Peter Harold Sedgwick (9 March 1934 – c. 8 September 1983) was a translator of

Victor Serge Victor Serge (; born Viktor Lvovich Kibalchich, ; 30 December 1890 – 17 November 1947) was a Belgian-born Russian revolutionary, novelist, poet, historian, journalist, and translator. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks in Janu ...

, 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, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he became a member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. In 1956, after the Hungarian Revolution, he left and joined the ''Socialist Review'' Group, later the International Socialists (forerunners of the Socialist Workers Party). He wrote for the group's press while also getting involved in the activities of rank-and-file members. He was opposed to the International Socialists' renaming themselves the Socialist Workers Party in January 1977 and refused to join the new organisation. However, he remained dedicated to the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of Christopher Hitchens bibliography, 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born ...

called him "a noble remnant of the libertarian left" and dedicated his book ''Letters to a Young Contrarian'' (2001) to Sedgwick's memory. For the 15 years until his death Sedgwick earned his living as a lecturer in politics at the Universities of York and Leeds. In his book ''PsychoPolitics'' (1982) he argued that the severe reductions in psychiatric services that were already taking place as a result of the "

politically correct "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

" conceptions of

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, such as those of the

anti-psychiatry Anti-psychiatry, sometimes spelled antipsychiatry, is a movement based on the view that psychiatric treatment can often be more damaging than helpful to patients. The term anti-psychiatry was coined in 1912, and the movement emerged in the 1960s, ...

writers

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

R.D. Laing Ronald David Laing (7 October 1927 – 23 August 1989), usually cited as R. D. Laing, was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illnessin particular, psychosis and schizophrenia. Laing's views on the causes and treatment o ...

and

Thomas Szasz Thomas Stephen Szasz ( ; ; 15 April 1920 – 8 September 2012) was a Hungarian-American academic and psychiatrist. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. A dis ...

, were actually being pursued by governments anxious to reduce spending on health care.

Ben Watson (music writer) Ben Watson (born 1956) is a British writer on music and culture of Marxist views, known especially for his writings on Frank Zappa. Watson is well known as a regular contributor to ''The Wire'', as well as the author of numerous books, often enta ...

has compared the spirit of Sedgwick's work to the later campaigns of the Mad Pride movement.Psycho Politics
Ben Watson, Newhaven Journeyman magazine issue #1, 5 January 2015 Sedgwick was found dead on 8 September 1983, aged 49, in a canal near his home in Shipley, Yorkshire. He was editing some of the works of Victor Serge at the time of his death.

Selected writings

*Translation (with introduction) of Victor Serge's '' Memoirs of a Revolutionary'' (1963) *"George Orwell: International Socialist?" (1969: the second part of this article was promised, but has never been published) *''PsychoPolitics'' (Pluto Press, 1982, 2nd edition 1987) New edition, Unkant, July 2015. *"The Unhappy Elitist: Victor Serge’s Early Bolshevism" (1984)

References

External links

Peter Sedgwick ArchivePeter Sedgwick Archive at Bishopsgate Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sedgwick, Peter 1934 births 1983 deaths British Marxist writers History of mental health in the United Kingdom Socialist Workers Party (UK) members People involved with mental health British Trotskyists Academics of the University of York