Matt Beech - Böcker

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the political thought and practice of Raymond Plant (Professor Lord Plant of Highfield) and celebrates the three aspects of his public life which speak to his idea of the good society: scholarship, politics, and civil society.Firstly, Plant's scholarship was remarkable in its breadth including philosophy, social work, political studies, social policy, theology, and jurisprudence. In particular, Plant's work on Hegel, the New Liberals, social democracy, Hayek, and Rawls has had significant impact. Secondly, Plant's long association with the Labour Party which began in Grimsby in his youth through his friendship with the local MP Tony Crosland. He later chaired the Party's commission into electoral reform, took a seat on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, and chaired the Fabian Society commission into taxation and citizenship. Thirdly, his work with civil society including time as President of the NCVO, as chair of Centrepoint, as a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, and appointment as a lay canon of Winchester Cathedral. This collection brings together distinguished scholars and contemporaries on all of the main aspects of Plant's thought and practical work and honours the remarkable scope and influence of his life.

Evaluates the Blair government from 1997-2007 conducting high quality research into aspects of British politics with particular emphasis on parties, policies and ideologies. With contributions from key figures in the field further topics include New Labour's record on social policy, defence policy, constitutional reform and public expenditure.

The Brown Government provides an interim evaluation of Gordon Brown’s Labour administration through identifying continuities and discontinuities with the Blair governments from 1997. By focusing on key ideas and areas of public policy it presents an analysis of the first 18 months of Brown’s government. This book is notable for its topicality particularly for the discussions of the credit crunch, the British banking crises and the interconnectedness of these events with the global economic downturn.A study of Brown’s handling of these crises in the economy is important as it is arguable that the present recession and credit crunch will reach unprecedented proportions and therefore define the character and content of British politics in the coming years. By conducting an examination of the Brown Government’s public policy priorities one can begin to decipher its aims and values and, by so doing, begin to understand the next phase of the New Labour project. In this sense the book is a contribution to the ongoing study of contemporary British social democracy.This book was published as a special issue of Policy Studies.

This Companion provides a comprehensive overview of the life, work and legacy of Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Expert contributors examine the major impact she had on British and global politics as the longest-serving Prime Minister in modern British history.Organised into three substantive parts exploring Thatcher’s political life before, during and after her premiership, this Companion guides the reader through the key periods of a unique and varied political career. Specialists from a range of fields explore how Thatcher ascended to become Prime Minister, the differences she made when in power, and her legacy after departing from high office. They include new perspectives and material on previously neglected areas of Thatcher’s work, presenting original reflections from those who worked with her. Chapters cover a breadth of Thatcher’s policies, from the environment to the economy, and reveal insights into her temperament as well as her pragmatic approach to politics and problem solving.The Elgar Companion to Margaret Thatcher is an indispensable resource for scholars and students of British politics, political theory, international relations, and public policy. It is also a vital read for politicians and journalists.

The election of the most left-wing Labour Party Leader since 1945, followed by the Party's third consecutive general election defeat and the ongoing cultural divisions around Brexit present an ideal opportunity for a thorough re-evaluation of the state of the Party within its broader ideological and historical context.This second edition of this highly respected book analyses the current developments and places them in their historical setting through a clear three-part framework of Ideological Positions, Struggles and Commentaries. Thoroughly updated and featuring contributions by leading academics and politicians, it continues to represent one of the most ground-breaking and thorough analyses of Labour's political thought in a generation and will be of key interest to scholars, students and observers of British Politics, British History, Party Politics, and the Labour Party.

The election of the most left-wing Labour Party Leader since 1945, followed by the Party's third consecutive general election defeat and the ongoing cultural divisions around Brexit present an ideal opportunity for a thorough re-evaluation of the state of the Party within its broader ideological and historical context.This second edition of this highly respected book analyses the current developments and places them in their historical setting through a clear three-part framework of Ideological Positions, Struggles and Commentaries. Thoroughly updated and featuring contributions by leading academics and politicians, it continues to represent one of the most ground-breaking and thorough analyses of Labour's political thought in a generation and will be of key interest to scholars, students and observers of British Politics, British History, Party Politics, and the Labour Party.

The Brown Government provides an interim evaluation of Gordon Brown’s Labour administration through identifying continuities and discontinuities with the Blair governments from 1997. By focusing on key ideas and areas of public policy it presents an analysis of the first 18 months of Brown’s government. This book is notable for its topicality particularly for the discussions of the credit crunch, the British banking crises and the interconnectedness of these events with the global economic downturn.A study of Brown’s handling of these crises in the economy is important as it is arguable that the present recession and credit crunch will reach unprecedented proportions and therefore define the character and content of British politics in the coming years. By conducting an examination of the Brown Government’s public policy priorities one can begin to decipher its aims and values and, by so doing, begin to understand the next phase of the New Labour project. In this sense the book is a contribution to the ongoing study of contemporary British social democracy.This book was published as a special issue of Policy Studies.

Is New Labour more style than substance? Are its policies merely driven by pragmatism? Little has been published on the party's core ideas, the very existence of which is contested. This book is a study of the political philosophy of New Labour. Matt Beech approaches the study of New Labour's political philosophy in two ways. The first section of the book attempts to place New Labour in the intellectual history of the Labour Party and to set the context out of which New Labour has developed. It charts the intellectual history of the Labour Party from its nineteenth century origins in the Labour Movement, through the twentieth century, and into the 21st Century.The second section is an analysis of the basic ideas of New Labour and their contemporary interpretation of traditional values such as equality, liberty and community. This is then compared to New Right and various 'Old Labour' or traditional social democrat perspectives on these values. Matt Beech claims that New Labour in power is a revisionist social democratic government.Beech argues that New Labour believes in positive as well as negative liberty, prioritarian conceptions of equality that focus on the poorest groups in society and believes in a communitarian social philosophy.

"Labour's Thinkers" seeks to examine the key ideas emphasised by the twelve individuals whom the authors judge to have made the most significant development to the political thought of the Labour Party since the 1930s. Hickson and Beech argue the Labour Party is a party of values but often not of ideas. The number of people involved in the serious discussion of ideas in the Labour Party is relatively small and intellectuals are often viewed with suspicion in what is, or was, a party set up to represent the interests of the working classes. The formulation and development of ideas are therefore crucial to understanding the outcomes of the Labour Party's internal struggles and the basis of the party's appeal. "Labour's Thinkers" highlights influential and, at times, controversial figures involved in the battle of socialist ideas in the Labour Party thus exploring concepts, such as equality, liberty, community, power, the state, ownership and patriotism.

This volume examines the impact of Brexit on political traditions such as nationalism, liberalism and conservatism, cosmopolitanism and decentralization. Bringing together scholars of British Politics, the chapters focus on the following topics: Brexit and the myth of British National identity since World War II;

This volume examines the impact of Brexit on political traditions such as nationalism, liberalism and conservatism, cosmopolitanism and decentralization. Bringing together scholars of British  Politics, the chapters focus on the following topics: Brexit and the myth of British National identity since World War II; the evolution of discourses surrounding Brexit and the broader shifts in the character of British liberal and conservative traditions; how the phenomenon of Brexit has decentered the Labour Party’s ideational tradition; the expression of beliefs about Brexit and British foreign policy; the ‘identity effects’ of Brexit on unionism and nationalism in Northern Ireland; whether the UK require a more decentred local government at a community level in order for people to feel both represented, and able to participate.

This book provides the first evaluation of the three Conservative administrations which have been affected, shaped and largely determined by the age of Brexit.It breaks new ground by collectively analysing the Cameron, May and Johnson administrations in an era of political and social shock and disruption, caused by the phenomenon of Brexit.