3. Narratives of Fundamentalism, Negative Capability and the Democratic Imperative

In the next chapter, ‘Narratives of Fundamentalism, Negative Capability and the Democratic Imperative’ (Ch3), Linden West and Alan Bainbridge together explore politics, religion, economics and ideology through a case study of fundamentalism (and, indirectly exclusion and poverty) in a post-industrial city in the north of England, ironically the home of the Workers’ Educational Association, which was founded in 1908. The chapter offers a wide-ranging discussion of its subjects through a psychological lens, drawing on John Keats’ notion of negative capability to theorize fundamentalism as a determination to ‘grab’ at new belief systems, or remain securely within established ones, rather than risk more nuanced understandings or change as these can appear threatening.