Crosland's Future

Anthony Crosland, a member of Harold Wilson''s cabinet and the author of The Future of Socialism, was immensely influential in seeking to modernise the ideology of the Labour Party, to put opportunity and empowerment, the fairness of life chances and the sharing of social experiences at its centre in place of nationalisation. The party''s belated redefinition guarantees a prominent role in its intellectual history to the revisionists'' champion. Though Crosland wrote when economic growth could be taken for granted as the basis for social reform, his emphasis on fairness and community, on education and opportunity, continues to illuminate political debate in harder times.