Agreed nightowl. The words are not Corbyn’s but James Schneider's, political organiser and writer currently serving as Communications Director for Progressive International and co-founder of Momentum. They were spoken in an interview with Oliver Eagleton (son of Terry) for New Left Review. He makes it very clear he is talking theoretically.
I suggest OP reads the interview, then she might understand what he’s saying and even agree with the sentiments expressed.
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/building-the-party
In contemporary Britain, the establishment has no story to tell: it says that everything is basically fine and you should shut up about your problems. The reactionary bloc, meanwhile, says that everything is bad: you can’t get an NHS appointment, housing is unaffordable, your pay has gone down, and the reason for all this is Muslims, migrants and minorities. When these are the only two narratives on offer, then the latter is likely to win, because at least it speaks to some real grievances. But the truth is that attacking minorities is itself a minority position. There might be a certain type of pervasive racism in Britain, but most people really do not spend their time thinking about how much they hate foreigners, so there is a clear opening for a different narrative. What we should be offering instead is ‘class war with a grin’. We should reject all the pieties of the political-media-state class, for they are hated by the public, and rightly so. We should create controversies rather than retreating from them. This communicative style is often called left populism. It involves drawing a big, bold line of antagonism in which there is unity on our side and division on the other. That line of antagonism is extremely simple: the reason for our problems is the bankers and the billionaires. They are at war with us, so we are going to war with them. We should aim to baffle and outrage the media establishment with a political style that is combative but also joyful. We should have meetings like those I’ve been describing, with music and food and discussion groups, and where people can come away with clear actions to carry out. This naturally means that the party should be based mostly outside Westminster; it should not be associated with blokes in suits who spend their time mumbling disingenuously to news cameras.
My dream is a party that hits with the same impact as ‘Turn the Page’, the opening track on The Streets’ debut album Original Pirate Material. Something you’ve never heard before, yet instantly recognisable; unmistakably British and rooted in everyday life, from the pubs to the pavements. A sound – or in our case, a politics – that effortlessly blends cultures and traditions, anchored in class and community but moving forward with confidence and style. We need to inhabit this sort of national-popular register. To put it in a more theoretical way, the efficacy of this kind of politics stems from unlocking the potential progressive valence of the ‘national’ dimension of the capital-nation-state triad.
Valence is the pleasantness (or unpleasantness) of an experience, associated with emotions and how they are perceived; put simply, how good (or bad) something makes someone feel.
Those of us despairing that some of the policies of this current Labour government are a far cry from socialism, welcome and feel rather good about what Corbyn and Sultana are aiming to do, in other words, progressive valence.