I, Daniel Blake: A Critique of Small Government and the Conservative Concept of “Big Society”

Ken Loach offers a critique of the neoliberal concept of small government and big society, which ought to free the potential of individuals, but, in reality, it forces them into poverty, hopelessness and queues in front of food banks. As the only possible answer, he suggests an intergenerational and interethnic solidarity, class consciousness but also con ict with the centres of power. The cry “I, Daniel Blake” as the affrmation of one’s worth in relation to the system that forces you into denying that you are a dog.

The integral version of this article can be found in the printed KINO!