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{{Short description|British journalist and activist (born 1984)}}{{Other people}}{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

factoids

| birth_place = Sheffield, South Yorkshire, EnglandUniversity College, Oxford (Bachelor of Arts>BA, MSt)Columnist|author}}Labour Party (UK)>Labour Party (1999–2024)| mother = Ruth Aylett| module =

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Left-wing politics

Trade unionism{edih}

• (Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class|Chavs) (2011)
• (The Establishment: And How They Get Away with It|The Establishment) (2014)
• The Alternative (2019)
• This Land (2020){edih}

}}| module2 = {{Listen| pos = center| embed = yes| filename = Owen Jones's voice.oggOwen Jones's voice}}| type = speech(:File:Owen Jones's voice.ogg|Recorded June 2014)}}}}}}Owen Peter Jones (born 1984)WEB, Registry Entry,weblink FreeBMD, Free BMD, 20 March 2024, is a British newspaper columnist, commentator, journalist, author and political activist.He writes a column for The Guardian and contributes to the New Statesman, Tribune, and The NationalNEWS, Webster, Laura, Owen Jones joins The National as a new regular contributor, 4 January 2024,weblink The National, Glasgow, 20 January 2024, and was previously a columnist for The Independent.He has two weekly web series, The Owen Jones Show and The Owen Jones Podcast.

Early life and education

Jones was born in Sheffield and raised in Stockport, where he attended Bramhall High School and Ridge Danyers Sixth Form College.WEB, Owen Jones,weblink Mirror, 12 January 2024, He read History at University College, Oxford and graduated in 2005.WEB, Owen Jones Graphic novels and Illustration Non-Fiction,weblink British Council, 12 January 2024, Before entering journalism, he worked as a trade union lobbyist and a parliamentary researcher for the Labour Party MP John McDonnell.WEB,weblink Time to abolish Oxbridge?, 9 June 2011, The Oxford Student, 18 February 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131029195403weblink">weblink 29 October 2013, live, MAGAZINE, Meltzer, Hannah,weblink John McDonnell interview: how Labour is moving to the left, 3 March 2013, New Statesman, 19 April 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150407093236weblink">weblink 7 April 2015, live, registration, At one point he was also hired by the historian Eric Hobsbawm to index and archive his papers.BOOK, Evans, Richard J., Eric Hobsbawm: A Life in History, Oxford University Press, 2019, 978-0-19-045964-2, New York, 642,

Writings and public career

Columnist, broadcaster and writer

Jones is a weekly columnist for The GuardianWEB, Owen Jones,weblink The Guardian, London, 12 December 2016, 11 December 2016,weblink live, after switching from The Independent in March 2014. His work has appeared in the New Statesman, the Sunday Mirror, Le Monde diplomatique and several publications with lower circulations. He writes from a left-wing perspective.NEWS,weblink The Marx effect, 23 April 2011, Neather, Andrew, Evening Standard, 8 May 2012, WEB, Tattersall, Amanda, ChangeMakers, Jones, Owen, 2020, Changemaker Chat with Owen Jones: The story behind one of the United Kingdom's most high profile left wing figure,weblink live, 22 June 2022,weblink 22 June 2022, Commons Social Change Library, In 2011, Jones published his first book, (Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class), dissecting cultural stereotypes of the British working-class as boorish and anti-social "chavs". The book was selected by critic Dwight Garner of The New York Times as one of his top 10 non-fiction books of 2011, and reviewed by MP Jon Cruddas.NEWS,weblink Book of the week: Chavs: the demonization of the working class by Owen Jones, 3 June 2011, Cruddas, Jon, Jon Cruddas, The Independent, 15 September 2011, London,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110924140655weblink">weblink 24 September 2011, live, NEWS, 2 June 2011, Book of the week: Chavs: the demonization of the working class by Owen,weblink 14 January 2024, The Independent, London, In November 2012, Jones was awarded Journalist of the Year at the Stonewall Awards, along with The Times journalist Hugo Rifkind.PRESS RELEASE,weblink Media, Stonewall, 27 August 2014,weblink 6 October 2014, live, Jones' second book, (The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It), was published in September 2014.WEB,weblink Owen Jones, David Higham, 27 August 2014, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111201003903weblink">weblink 1 December 2011, In February 2013, when Jones was awarded the Young Writer of the Year prize at the Political Book Award, he donated half the £3,000 prize money to support the campaign of Lisa Forbes, a Labour parliamentary candidate, and the other half to Disabled People Against Cuts.MAGAZINE, Crampton, Caroline,weblink Watch: Lord Ashcroft tries to pwn Owen Jones, fails, New Statesman, London, 7 February 2013, 19 April 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130216093117weblink">weblink 16 February 2013, live, registration, (File:Owen Jones, 2016 Labour Party Conference.jpg|upright|thumb|Jones in 2016)In November 2013, he delivered the Royal Television Society's Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture, Totally Shameless: How TV Portrays the Working Class.WEB,weblink The Royal Television Society Lecture 2013 – 'Totally Shameless: How TV Portrays the Working Class', BBC, 24 November 2013, 27 August 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140221200005weblink">weblink 21 February 2014, live, On 24 September 2020, Jones published This Land: The Struggle for the Left.BOOK, This Land: The Story of a Movement, Penguin Books, 2020, 978-0-241-47094-7, Jones was interviewed by Huck about the book.MAGAZINE, Daisy, Schofield, Owen Jones: I never wanted a Platform,weblink 7 October 2020, Huck Magazine, 19 December 2023, The book received a negative review from British trade unionist Len McCluskey,MAGAZINE, Len, McCluskey, 14 October 2020, I had high hopes for Owen Jones's book on Corbynism. But I was disappointed,weblink 19 December 2023, New Statesman, London, and was praised by Melissa Benn in the New Statesman: "Owen Jones has managed to produce a whodunnit political page-turner and a surprisingly fair account (given that Jones was a player in the Corbyn circles)".MAGAZINE, Benn, Melissa, Books of the year - 2020,weblink 11 November 2020, New Statesman, London, 19 December 2023,

Political activism

Jones spoke at a press conference to launch the People's Assembly Against Austerity on 26 March 2013, and regional public meetings in the lead-up to a national meeting at Central Hall Westminster on 22 June 2013.WEB, Wotherspoon, Jenny,weblink People's Assembly: Writer Owen Jones Helps Build Nationwide Anti-Cuts Movement In The North East, 23 May 2013, Sky, 25 June 2023,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130927180739weblink">weblink 27 September 2013, In 2015, Jones was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv) by Staffordshire University in recognition of his campaigning on social inequality.WEB,weblink Owen Jones, Staffordshire University, {{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Jones supports abolishing the monarchy of the United Kingdom.NEWS, BBC's Nicholas Witchell slammed over 'tasteless' speculation on Queen's health,weblink Hamish, Morrison, The National, Glasgow, 8 September 2022, 10 September 2022, He has spoken out about transphobia and LGBTQ rights.MAGAZINE, Stroude, Will, Owen Jones: 'Whenever the far-right is strong, LGBTQ people are at risk',weblink 27 March 2024, Attitude Magazine, 3, Stream Publishing, 14 October 2019, WEB, Billson, Chantelle, Owen Jones explains how right-wing media is fuelling a transphobic 'cult',weblink 12 January 2024, Pink News, London, 19 October 2022, In 2019, Jones and some friends were attacked outside a London pub in a homophobic attack.NEWS, Parson, Vic, Gay journalist Owen Jones says the vicious attack on him is proof the UK isn't fighting far-right extremism properly, Pink News, London,weblink 27 March 2024, 20 July 2020, MAGAZINE, 5 January 2016, Owen Jones does #DryJanuary for Cancer Research UK,weblink live,weblink 4 March 2016, 12 January 2016, Gay Times, London, MAGAZINE, Lees, Paris, Paris Lees, 23 April 2015, Paris Lees: 'We won't fix society for trans people without strong allies', Attitude Magazine,weblink dead, 27 March 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160322235106weblink">weblink 22 March 2016, All the perpetrators were convicted.NEWS, 24 July 2020, Man jailed for attacking journalist Owen Jones, BBC News,weblink 24 July 2020, 24 July 2020,weblink live, Jones is a former member of the Labour Party, having held membership of the party since the age of 15 and cancelling his membership in March 2024.NEWS, Jones, Owen, 21 March 2024, The Labour party is in my blood. Here's why I've just cancelled my membership,weblink The Guardian, 23 March 2024, In his reasoning for leaving the party, Jones stated that it had become "a hostile environment" for those that support the policies that party leader, Keir Starmer won his leadership on, which Starmer has since rejected, such as scrapping university tuition fees and support of public ownership.WEB, 21 March 2024, Owen Jones urges Labour voters to back other parties,weblink BBC News, 21 March 2024, Jones also criticised the Labour Party's rejection of a cap on bankers' bonuses and its opposition to a wealth tax, among other issues.

Books

• BOOK, (Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class), Verso Books, 2011, 978-1-78168-398-9,
• BOOK, (The Establishment: And how they get away with it), Penguin Books, 2014, 978-0-14-197499-6,
• BOOK, The Alternative: And How We Build It, Penguin Books, 2019, 978-0-241-25396-0,
• BOOK, This Land: The Story of a Movement, Penguin Books, 2020, 978-0-241-47094-7, (originally published as This Land: The Struggle for the Left)

References

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External links

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• Articles in The Guardian
• Articles in the New Statesman
• {{IMDb name|4460951}}
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120402223229weblink">Articles in The Independent
• YouTube channel
• {{Muckrack}}

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