Table of Contents

Preface - Anthony Giddens 1. Introduction 2. Doing God? Public Theology under Blair, Elaine Graham (University of Manchester, UK) Part I: Ethics and Politics 3. Let Citizens Without Sin Cast the First Stone: Judging the Moral Failings of Blair and Politics, Gerry Stoker (University of Southampton, UK) 4. Demoralizing Britain: 10 Years of Depoliticisation, Stefan Skrimshire (University of Manchester, UK) 5. New Labour and a Liberal Labour Tradition, Will Hutton (former editor of the Observer and Director of the Work Foundation, UK) 6. Gordon Brown and his Presbyterian Moral Compass, Douglas Gay (University of Glasgow, Scotland) Part II: Justice and Community 7. Are We Happier, Mr Brown? John Atherton (William Temple Foundation, UK) 8. Social Justice, Social Control or the Pursuit of Happiness? The Goals and Values of the Regeneration Industry, Jess Steele (Development Trusts Association, UK) 9. But What is Community? The Continuing Development of a New Labour Concept, Mark Chapman (Ripon College, Cuddesdon, UK) 10. Constructing Christian Right Enemies and Allies: US, UK and Eastern Europe, Cynthia Burack (Ohio State University, USA) and Angelia R. Wilson (University of Manchester, UK) 11. The Moral Bases of the Black Panther's Breakfast Program, Head Start (US) and Sure Start (UK): A critical Comparison, Emily Hicks (San Diego State University, USA) 12. Putting the Moral Majority Back in Charge: New Labour's Punitive Politics of Respect, Phil Edwards (University of Manchester, UK) Part III: Justice and International Order 13. Tony Blair and the Commission for Africa: A Fig Leaf For Iraq or a Moral Imperative?, Paul Vallely (the Independent) 14. Soul Brothers? Blair, Bush and the Compact Between Liberal Interventualism and Conservative Nationalism, Inderjeet Parmar (University of Manchester, UK) 15. When Remoralizing Fails? Christopher Baker, Elaine Graham and Peter Manley Scott (University of Manchester, UK) and (University of Manchester, UK).

Promotional Information

Drawing together theorists from a range of backgrounds, this interdisciplinary collection gives a decade of New Labour an ethical and theological reckoning.

About the Author

Peter Manley Scott is Senior Lecturer in Christian Social Thought and Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester.
 
 


 


 


         


 


 

Christopher Baker is Director of Research for the William Temple Foundation and Senior Lecturer in Public and Urban Theology at the University of Chester, UK. Elaine Graham is Grosvenor Research Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Chester, UK.

Reviews

"The authors of this engaging book provide a multifaceted theological engagement with the last ten years of British politics, or the 'Blair years'. These years marked a decline in political engagement in Britain, and a loss of faith in politics. They also revealed a continuing moral decline that was only exacerbated by the moral confusion in Blair's own leadership. The authors suggest that only an ecclesial politics can provide the resources for a remoralization of Britain in the context of the evident moral decline that has marked the last forty years of liberalism and neoliberalism. They suggest that while the churches in Britain face a variety of challenges, not least from the decline in churchgoing, nonetheless they remain a more deliberative and participative form of political organisation than any of Britain's political parties. This collection makes a powerful case for the continuing public significance of religion as a source of moral and political capital in contemporary Britain and makes a crucial contribution in this time of social and economic crisis." - Professor Michael Northcott, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, UK

"This collection of essays on the moral claims of Tony Blair's New Labour strategy and government could not be more timely and relevant. With the collapse of its economic claim to growing prosperity and financial prudence, what is left to sustain New Labour's agenda? Remoralizing Britain provides a unique interdisciplinary account of the religious sources and political impact of New Labour's critical turn from common ownership to communal values as the basis of its electoral appeal and government policies. These essays evaluate how that ethical turn worked out in practice in the Blair years. I commend this major case study to all who are concerned about the relationship between morality and government as citizens, members of faith communities and scholars." - William Storrar, Director, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton.