The Crosland Legacy : The Future of British Social Democracy

Anthony Crosland bequeathed a significant intellectual legacy to the Labour Party including his celebrated treatise The Future of Socialism published sixty years ago. In this timely book, Patrick Diamond argues that Crosland continues to serve as a vital reference point for today’s Labour Party. He considers a wide range of Crosland’s writings on the economy and politics, relating his ideas to ideological debates taking place within the Labour Party about egalitarian social democracy, electoral strategy, the European question, and the importance of progressive liberalism on the British centre-left. This is the first substantial work to fully consider Crosland’s legacy for British social democracy. Written in a clear and persuasive way, it will appeal to a broad audience of thinkers and activists with an interest in the history of the Labour Party and the British Left. THE CROSLAND LEGACY 2 Contents 6 About the author 7 Preface 8 1. Introduction: Crosland’s Legacy 14 Introduction 15 Croslandite social democracy and the role of ideas 21 Labour in the post-war years 24 Crosland and where Labour goes next 28 The structure of this book 33 Conclusion 35 2. Crosland: the socialist theoretician as hero 38 Introduction 39 Crosland: his life and career 40 Crosland’s ministerial experience 47 Crosland as socialist theoretician 50 Crosland: his influence and appeal 57 Crosland as enlightenment rationalist 62 Conclusion 63 3. Egalitarian social democracy: ‘Is equality of opportunity enough?’ 66 Introduction: Crosland’s legacy and egalitarian social democracy 67 Equality and the Attlee governments 70 Crosland’s view of equality 74 Crosland, equality of opportunity and social mobility 79 The critique of Croslandite egalitarianism 83 Crosland, equality and New Labour 87 Crosland’s egalitarian legacy 96 Conclusion 98 4. Crosland and liberal progressivism: the politics of ‘conscience and reform’ 102 Introduction: Crosland’s legacy and progressive liberalism 102 Crosland’s liberal progressivism 104 Clause 4 socialism 108 Crosland and the Webbs’ socialism 116 Crosland and the New Liberalism 121 Crosland and liberal social democracy 138 The Left and British liberalism 148 Conclusion 151 5. America and Europe in post-war social democracy 154 Introduction: Crosland’s legacy, Europe and America 154 Crosland’s admiration for America 156 Crosland and European social democracy 162 Britain’s role in Europe 166 Conclusion 172 6. Crosland’s electoral strategy: ‘Can Labour win?’ 176 Introduction: Crosland’s legacy as revisionist political strategist 177 The 1959 general election defeat 178 The battle for organisational ascendancy 183 Labour’s ‘forces of conservatism’ 188 Crosland’s revisionism 190 Crosland and the rise of the New Left 193 Labour and the politics of class 195 Labour: a divided party? 202 Labour’s revisionism today 206 Conclusion 214 7. Crosland and Labour party modernisation: from Kinnock to Blair 216 Introduction 217 Crosland’s influence since 1979 218 Labour after Crosland: from ‘New’ to ‘Blue’ to ‘One Nation’ Labour 226 Conclusion 251 8. The future of social democracy and the British Left 256 Introduction 256 Challenges for the next decade 275 Where next for Labour? 285 The central tasks of British social democracy 288 The stakeholder society 300 Conclusion 307 9. Conclusion: a future for socialism? 310 Introduction 311 Croslandism: a critique 312 Crosland in retrospect 328 Revisionism: hope betrayed? 333 Summary 337 References 342 Notes 368 Index 424 In Crosland's Legacy, noted political writer Patrick Diamond explores the contemporary impact of Anthony Crosland's writings on the British Labour Party, in particular through his work The Future of Socialism, published nearly sixty years ago. Despite widespread questioning of many of Crosland's assumptions alongside obvious and important changes in British society and the economy since The Future of Socialism was published, Diamond argues that Crosland continues to serve as a key intellectual reference point for today's Labour Party. In making the claim that "socialism is about equality," Crosland set the context for debates that bridge Gaitskell's Labour Party in the 1950s and the development into New Labour headed by Blair, Brown, and Miliband. This book will examine Crosland's intellectual legacy as manifested in the debates of today's Labour Party.-- Provided by Publisher Anthony Crosland bequeathed a significant intellectual legacy to the Labour Party including his celebrated treatise The Future of Socialism (1956) which was published sixty years ago. In this timely book, Patrick Diamond argues that Crosland continues to serve as a vital reference point for todays Labour Party. He considers a wide range of Croslands writings on the economy and politics, relating his ideas to ideological debates taking place within todays Labour Party on egalitarian social democracy, electoral strategy, the European question, and the importance of progressive liberalism on the British centreleft. This is the first substantial work to fully consider Crosland's legacy for the Labour Party. Written in a clear and persuasive way, it will appeal to a broad audience of academics, students, activists, Labour Party members and associated think tanks. Patrick Diamond considers a wide range of Anthony Crosland's (1918-1977) writings, relating his ideas to ideological debates taking place within today's Labour Party on egalitarian social democracy, electoral strategy, the European question, and the importance of progressive liberalism on the British centreleft