Crosland, European Social Democracy and New Labour

Abstract

A full evaluation of Anthony Crosland as a theorist and practitioner of Social Democracy requires that he be placed in a broader context than is usually the case. In particular, his contribution has to be analysed in relation to both British and other European Social Democratic traditions and experiences. A central argument of this chapter is that Crosland is the nearest thing to a radical ‘European-style’ Social Democrat that English politics has produced in the postwar period. Such a perspective marks Crosland out as more radical than many of his revisionist colleagues — a potentially controversial position in both the British and the wider European debates. Many of the strengths of his position reflect the mixture of pragmatism and a continuing radicalism which is, I think, characteristic of the most successful of Europe’s Social Democratic Parties.

Written for this volume.