Dignity of Labour

Jon Cruddas is the Labour Member of Parliament for Dagenham and Rainham.

‘This book seeks to re-establish Labour as the party of work. It is an ambitious and essential read for anyone interested in how our movement can rebuild.’Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party‘The Dignity of Labour is an angry book: an exasperated cri de coeur from a politician who believes his party risks losing not only more elections, but also its grip on [its] historic mission’The Observer‘a trenchant reassertion of the centrality of work in the politics of the common good’The Guardian‘a call to arms for a coherent philosophy with which to define the [Labour Party]—something desperately needed by its current leader Keir Starmer’Prospect‘Timely [and] engaging'New Statesman‘Ranging brilliantly across economics, ethics, politics, even film, this humane and hopeful book points the way to a new politics of the common good. It is essential reading for everyone who cares about repairing our civic life.’Michael Sandel, author of The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?‘In this short book Jon Cruddas upends the assumptions of the modern left and offers a route back to relevance. Anchored in the moving story of loss, humiliation and resilience in Dagenham, he revives an exiled political tradition to restore the prospect of dignity and hope. In a time when we’ve briefly remembered the value of work, Cruddas reminds us there is nothing inevitable about the future. Surely among the most important political works of the coming decade, The Dignity of Labour offers the first, genuinely original answer to the question we are frequently asked: what is Labour for?’Lisa Nandy MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary‘Humane, intelligent and accessible. This wonderful book shows that dignity for workers must be at the heart of the post-Covid economy – and shape the future of work itself. A must-read for everyone on the left – and far beyond.’Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress‘Work is at the heart of a meaningful life. Its degradation has left people humiliated. Neither liberal technocracy nor far-left “end-of-work” utopias offer radical hope. This is one of the most important books written during the long interregnum since the 2009 financial crisis. It offers a deeper diagnosis than any binary analysis by showing how liberal democracy allied to capitalism commodifies work and incubates authoritarian populism. Played out in the history of his Dagenham constituency, Cruddas’ conception of community, nation and citizenship is anchored in a politics of work. Such a renewed public philosophy for the left can give people a more dignified life. A must-read for everyone interested in the future of social democracy and political pluralism.’Adrian Pabst, Professor of Politics at Kent and author of The Demons of Liberal Democracy‘… this book is a crucial, fixed marker in a political fog. Buy it and hold on to it.’Manchester Review of Books‘Cruddas with this work deserves to be part of mainstream thinking in the Labour Party and his ideas, if adopted, cannot help but improve Labour’s still-faltering electoral chances.’The Conservative Woman

• Preface AcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorPrologueNotes1 Work and the Modern WorldPolitics and BelongingDegradationAuthoritarian PopulismThe ChallengeThe End of Work?Pragmatic ConfusionThen Worked StoppedThe Way AheadNotesPart I The Economics of Labour2 The Labour ProblemDagenham and the 17Post-war PluralismClassical Economics and the Labour ProblemDiseaseThe CureThe Corporate StateRethinking Made in Dagenham1969Notes3 Miracle CuresStepping StonesNeo-Classical TheoryShock DoctrineUnityUnity in DagenhamMiracle Cure?Notes4 New LabourNeo-Classical Labour?Donovan’s Early InfluenceTreasury UtilityRights, Equality and EuropeBlairKnowledge WorkClosing-Down Sale – Everything Must GoBlair and Brown UnitedIgnored Not Wiped OutThe ‘Labour Problem’tNotes5 A Return to MarxModern UtopiaValue TheoryWork and MarxismReading MarxNotes Part II The Ethics of Labour6 DignityDagenham LabourThe Public Philosopher Comes to TownWhat Is Work?Early Dagenham CapitalismDignityTalking HeadsNotes7 What Do We Think and What’s Going to Happen?‘Technology Is not Destiny’Notes8 Justice and the LeftThree SpeechesPolitics, Morality and JusticeRethinking SocialismA Different MarxismA Different LabourRethinking the Oxford SchoolFootnote: Tony Blair – The Road Not TakenNotes9 Human Labour and Radical HopeA Culture DiesRadical HopeThe Political InterregnumThe RightUniversal Basic IncomeThe New Work CovenantThe Renewal of VocationNotesEpilogueNotesIndex