The lead article in this issue of "New Formations" is an exmination of the brittle cultural logic of "cool". It traces "cool" in its movement from being a particular style of hedonistic disaffiliation, to its current status as the epitome of style itself. Briefly hijacked by new Labour, the concept of "cool" sits uncomfortably with the party's moralizing civic rhetoric; its intrinsically amoral appeal may yet prove to be one of the grave-diggers of Tony Blair's punitive democracy.