Remoralizing Britain?

Peter Scott is Senior Lecturer in Christian Social Thought and Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester. Chris Baker is Director of Research for the William Temple Foundation and Part-time Lecturer at the University of Manchester in Urban Theology. His research focuses on the impact of faith based engagement in UK Civil Society and Public Policy. His recent book The Hybrid Church in the City: Third Space Thinking was published by Ashgate in 2007. Elaine L. Graham is Samuel Ferguson Professor of Social and Pastoral Theology, University of Manchester, England.

"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

• 1. Introduction: Doing God? Public Theology under Blair, Elaine Graham (University of Manchester, UK); Part I: Ethics and Politics; 2. New Labour and the Issue of Multiculturalism, Anthony Giddens (London School of Economics, UK); 3. Blair and Trust in Politics: No Saint But Not a Sinner, Gerry Stoker (University of Southampton, UK); 4. Demoralising Britain: 10 Years of Depoliticisation, Stefan Skrimshire (University of Manchester, UK); 5. The Creation of 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 Trust Association, UK); 9. Community and Identity: Ten Years in the History 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), 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? Why Tony Blair Backs George W. Bush's Foreign Policy, Inderjeet Parmar (University of Manchester, UK); 15. The Intertwining of the Ethical, Theological and the Political in the Interpretation of New Labour's Governance, Peter Manley Scott (University of Manchester, UK), Elaine Graham (University of Manchester, UK) and Chris Baker (University of Manchester, UK).