Colin Hay and Stephen Farrall
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265703
- eISBN:
- 9780191771880
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265703.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter reflects on the debates surrounding Thatcherism with the benefit of hindsight. Most commentators seem to accept that Thatcherism is now a historic concept—referring, if not exactly to ...
More
This chapter reflects on the debates surrounding Thatcherism with the benefit of hindsight. Most commentators seem to accept that Thatcherism is now a historic concept—referring, if not exactly to the period 1979–90, then certainly to events now largely concluded. This allows us a degree of historical perspective that was previously unavailable. Current assessments by political scientists of the rise of ‘New Labour’ and of the development of the British state in the post-war period have had to grapple with this period (and, indeed, 1997). But there are other reasons for returning to Thatcherism and perhaps even for preferring the term ‘Thatcherism’ to the more recent ‘neo-liberalism’. ‘Thatcherism’—however hard it remains to offer a strict definition—embraced more than just neo-liberal ideas. Thatcherism combined both neo-liberal and neo-conservative strands and was often at its more radical and consequential when it identified policy targets which combined elements of both.Less
This chapter reflects on the debates surrounding Thatcherism with the benefit of hindsight. Most commentators seem to accept that Thatcherism is now a historic concept—referring, if not exactly to the period 1979–90, then certainly to events now largely concluded. This allows us a degree of historical perspective that was previously unavailable. Current assessments by political scientists of the rise of ‘New Labour’ and of the development of the British state in the post-war period have had to grapple with this period (and, indeed, 1997). But there are other reasons for returning to Thatcherism and perhaps even for preferring the term ‘Thatcherism’ to the more recent ‘neo-liberalism’. ‘Thatcherism’—however hard it remains to offer a strict definition—embraced more than just neo-liberal ideas. Thatcherism combined both neo-liberal and neo-conservative strands and was often at its more radical and consequential when it identified policy targets which combined elements of both.
Stephen Farrall and Colin Hay (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265703
- eISBN:
- 9780191771880
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265703.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
Three decades after the election of Mrs Thatcher, it is perhaps time to take stock of the concept of ‘Thatcherism’ and the prominent role it has played in the history of post-war Britain. Of course, ...
More
Three decades after the election of Mrs Thatcher, it is perhaps time to take stock of the concept of ‘Thatcherism’ and the prominent role it has played in the history of post-war Britain. Of course, there is much debate about what ‘Thatcherism’ was, with some arguing that Thatcherism was more noteworthy for its rhetoric than for its achievements. Indeed, when it came to the welfare state little had changed after 13 years of Thatcherism. Some historians have additionally suggested that other social forces that had existed prior to Thatcher will outlast her. Yet, whichever way one looks at it, the Thatcherite project of the 1980s brought about a fundamental reorganization of much of the UK’s social and economic life. Did Thatcherite policies dramatically alter the trajectory of the country’s development? Can even long-term and seemingly enduring path dependencies be altered as dramatically as claimed? Ought Thatcher’s period in office be seen as a ‘critical juncture’ for the UK? This book brings together a range of experts in housing, economics, law and order, education, welfare, families, geography, and politics to discuss the enduring legacy of those social and economic policies initiated by the first of the UK’s New Right governments (1979–90).Less
Three decades after the election of Mrs Thatcher, it is perhaps time to take stock of the concept of ‘Thatcherism’ and the prominent role it has played in the history of post-war Britain. Of course, there is much debate about what ‘Thatcherism’ was, with some arguing that Thatcherism was more noteworthy for its rhetoric than for its achievements. Indeed, when it came to the welfare state little had changed after 13 years of Thatcherism. Some historians have additionally suggested that other social forces that had existed prior to Thatcher will outlast her. Yet, whichever way one looks at it, the Thatcherite project of the 1980s brought about a fundamental reorganization of much of the UK’s social and economic life. Did Thatcherite policies dramatically alter the trajectory of the country’s development? Can even long-term and seemingly enduring path dependencies be altered as dramatically as claimed? Ought Thatcher’s period in office be seen as a ‘critical juncture’ for the UK? This book brings together a range of experts in housing, economics, law and order, education, welfare, families, geography, and politics to discuss the enduring legacy of those social and economic policies initiated by the first of the UK’s New Right governments (1979–90).
Leon Fink
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807834503
- eISBN:
- 9781469603322
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807877807_fink.10
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
This chapter describes how the presence of strong trade unions in the maritime industry was all but taken for granted in the mid-1960s. Neither the unions nor their employer counterparts likely ...
More
This chapter describes how the presence of strong trade unions in the maritime industry was all but taken for granted in the mid-1960s. Neither the unions nor their employer counterparts likely imagined that their worlds would be shaken to the core within just two decades. Yet, if the loss of union influence became a common theme of contemporary political history across Europe as well as North America, the sustained “renewal” of maritime unionism at the end of the twentieth century stood out as a dramatic exception. The players involved in this transformation, encompassing both national and international organizations spread across the globe, offered a testament to the power of transnational civil society. Moreover, that such a renewal should come at the very hands of the world economy that was otherwise shredding traditional worker protections made the latest chapter of maritime labor regulation perhaps the most surprising of all.Less
This chapter describes how the presence of strong trade unions in the maritime industry was all but taken for granted in the mid-1960s. Neither the unions nor their employer counterparts likely imagined that their worlds would be shaken to the core within just two decades. Yet, if the loss of union influence became a common theme of contemporary political history across Europe as well as North America, the sustained “renewal” of maritime unionism at the end of the twentieth century stood out as a dramatic exception. The players involved in this transformation, encompassing both national and international organizations spread across the globe, offered a testament to the power of transnational civil society. Moreover, that such a renewal should come at the very hands of the world economy that was otherwise shredding traditional worker protections made the latest chapter of maritime labor regulation perhaps the most surprising of all.
