Tony Blair's government promises the making of a new Britain. A constitutional revolution, welfare to work and lifelong learning have become the lexicon of a political reformation. The labels "left" and "right" have been superseded by the claims of the new and the defeat of the old, modernization versus traditionalism are the faultlines that determine politics today. This text explores the varying options for radical politics that exist on the terrain of the new Labour Britain - options which pose difficult choices as assessments of Blair's Premiership begin to take shape. Yet the choices will help determine whether the radicalism of the early 21st century will reproduce the progressive principles and policies of the past 100 years, or will be founded on new values and visions. Party reform, the restructuring of the British state, the competing claims of the theories of modernization, and the potential appeal of an alternative politics of the new are all chronicled in this text.
Acknowledgements v Notes on Contributors vi Introduction: A Deeper Shade of Politics 1(14) Anne Coddington Mark Perryman Section One: The New Labour Settlement After the Watershed, The Conservative Eclipse 15(17) Andrew Gamble Section Two: Members, Voters and Critical Masses The Permanent Revolution of New Labour 32(15) Paul Richards Shifting to the Bright -- In Search of the Intellectual Left 47(12) Geoff Andrews Currying Favour? Race and Diaspora in a New Britain 59(16) Rupa Huq Blurred Vision: Pop, Populism and Politics 75(16) Jeremy Gilbert Section Three: The State Were Not In Towards a Radical Reformism 91(20) Nina Fishman Caledonian Dreaming: The Challenge to Scottish Labour 111(32) Gerry Hassan Retrolution: Culture and Heritage in a Young Country 143(14) Andrew Blake Section Four: The Vision Thing From Realism to Creativity -- Gramsci, Blair and Us 157(18) Anne Showstack Sassoon Together Again After All these Years: Science, Politics and Theology in the New Modernity 175(17) Wendy Wheeler Who Cares Who Wins? Postmodernisation and the Radicalism of Indifference 192(21) Tim Bewes Section Five: Definitely, Maybe -- the Uncertain Future of Politics The Diary of New Labour MP Stephen Twigg, Aged 31 1/4 213(19) Stephen Twigg At Home in Green Wood, The Politics of Small change 232(12) Nicola Baird War on the Vague -- Towards the New Tories 244(18) Michael Gove Anxiety and Identification on the British Left 262(17) Kevin Davey Index 279
Mark Perryman is a contributor to the New Statesman, he also convenes the highly regarded research group Signs of the Times. He is the editor of Altered States (L&W 1994) and The Blair Agenda (L&W 1996) - Ann Coddington is a former editor of New Times, author and broadcaster.
