THE SUBVERSION OF CITIZENSHIP NEW RIGHT CONCEPTIONS OF CITIZENSHIP, TRATCHERISM, ' AND THE 'NEW POLITICS' I MICHAEL JOHN HARRIS PhD DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD MAY 1997 "The sin of the academic is that he takes so long in coming to the point. Nevertheless, there may be some virtue in his dilatoriness; what he has to offer may, in the end, be no great matter, but at least it is not unripe fruit, and to pluck it is the work of a moment. We set out to consider the kind of knowledge involved in political activity and the appropriate sort of education. And if th ,e understanding of politics I have recommended is not a misunderstanding, there is little doubt about the kind of knowledge and the sort of education which belongs to it. It is knowledge, as profound as we can make it, of our traditions of political behaviour. Other knowledge, certainly, is desirable in addition; but this is the knowledge without which we cannot make use of whatever else we may have learned. " in Politics and - Michael Oakeshott, Rationalism (1962) Other Essays - Abstract This research concerns the theory of citizenship, the new right's conceptions of citizenship, their influence on the Thatcher regime, and the contemporary left's reformulations of citizenship. Citizenship cannot be restricted to the social democratic orthodoxy, in particular the foundations supplied by T. H. Marshall. The new right developed powerful models of citizenship which offered alternative theoretical routes to 'universal membership', the key ethical notion at the heart of citizenship. However these were deficient in , practical terms, leading to greater inequality and reduced genuine individual autonomy. Paradoxically, the new right's conceptions of citizenship were used ultimately to undermine full citizenship for all. These arguments are illustrated in four case studies of policy change under Thatcherism - the Education Reform Act 1988, the Community Charge, '-workfare' programmes, and Corkservative rhetoric of active citizenship'. Despite their deficiencies, new right conceptions of citizenship found a better reception in the dominant political culture because their discourses on freedom and the market appeared more closely-aligned with commo n perceptions. Thatcherism and the new right are characterised as seeking. to construct a rigid discursive order centring around the autonomy of the market, here termed the 'market society'. In response, the efforts of parts of the contemporary left to reformulate citizenship more astutely within the confines of the perceptions of the-dominant political culture are examined. Contents Introduction 0. - General Introduction 0.1 - Thesis Introduction 0.2 - Acknowledgements Part One - Discourses in Citizenship A- ItTA- -- r14 4- 4-i Section One - The Parameters of Citizenship 1.0 - Introduction 1.1 - 'Modern Citizenship' 1.2 - The Reformist'Debate two 1.3 - The Political Philosophies of Citizenship 1.4 - Related Discourses 1.5 - Summary to Section one Section Two - The Social Democratic Orthodoxy 1.6 - Introduction 1.7 - T. H. Marshall's Theory of Citizenship 1.8 - Critiques of Marshall's Conception 1.9 - Post-Marshallian Theories of Citizenship 1.10 - Summary to Section Two 2.0 - Introduction 2.1 - What Does 'New Right, Mean ? 2.2 - The Structure of the New Right 2.3 - The New Right and Citizenship 2.4 - Neoconservatism 2.5 - Neoliberalism 2.6 - Libertarianism 2.7 - Public Choice 2.8 - 'Liberal-Conservatism' in 2.9 - The New Right as a Project Citizenship 2.10 - Summary 3.0 - Introduction 3.1 - The Deficiencies of New Right Citizenship 3.2 - 'Universal Membership' 3.3 ', Differentiated Citizenship' 3.4 Internal Tensions 3.5 Liberal Citizenship 3.6 The Problem of Universality 3.7 The Importance of New Right Citizenship 3.8 - Discourse Analysis 3.9 - 'Civil Society' The 'Dominant 3.10 - Sedimented Discourses - Political Culture' New Order 3.11 - The New Right. as a is be Done ? 3.12 - What to 3.13 - Summary in Citizenship Part Two - Case Studies, 4.0 - The Influence of the New Right 4.1 - Role of the Case Studies 5.0 - Introduction 5.1 - Policy Outline 5.2 - Interpretations of the ERA 5.3 - The New Right Project in Education 5.4 - Policy Process 5.5 - The ERA and Citizenship 5.6 - The ERA as a Mechanism of Control 5.7 - The Post-ERA Reforms 5.8 - Summary Chapter Six - The Community Charga 6.0 - Introduction 6.1 - Policy Outline 6.2 - Policy Process 6.3 - The Community Charge and the New Right 6.4 - The Community Charge and Citizenship 6.5 - Thatcherism and Local Government 6.6 - Summary Chapter Seven - 'Workfare' 7.0 - Introduction 7.1 - Policy Outline 7.2 - American Versions of Workfare 7.3 - The New Right and Workfare 4.0 - The Influence of the New Right 4.1 - Role of the Case Studies Chanter Five - The Education Reform Act (1988) 5.0 - Introduction 5.1 - Policy Outline 5.2 - Interpretations of the ERA in 5.3 - The New Right Project Education 5.4 - Policy Process 5.5 - The ERA and Citizenship 5.6 - The ERA as a Mechanism of Control 5.7 - The Post-ERA Reforms 5.8 - Summary 6.0 - Introduction 6.1 - Policy Outline 6.. 2 - Policy Process New Right 6.3 - The Community Charge and the 6.4 - The Community Charge and Citizenship 6.5 - Thatcherism and Local Government 6.6 - Summary Chapter Seven - 'Workfare, 7.0 - Introduction 7.1 - Policy Outline Workfare 7.2 - American Versions of Workfare 7.3 - The New Right and 7.4 - The Institutional and Ideological Roots of British 'Work-Welfare, 7.5 - Aspects of Thatcherite Workfare 7.6 - Workfare and Citizenship 7.7 - Further Reforms 7.8 - Summary Chanter Eight - Conservative 'Active Citizenshiv, 8.0 - Introduction 8.1 - The Rhetoric of Conservative 'Active Citizenship, 8.2 - Thatcherism's Moral Agenda 8.3 - The (Centre) Left's Response 8.4 - 'Active Citizenship, and the Left's Detachment 8.5 - The Strength of Conservative 'Active Citizenship, 8.6 - Summary in Part Three - Political Projects Citizenship - Thatcherism and the 'New Politics' of the Left Chapter Nine - Thatcherism - The Subversion of CitizenshiiD in the 'Market Society' 9.0 - Introduction Non-Scepticism 9.1 - Between Scepticism and Studies 9.2 - Integrating Case Ideology 9.3 - Thatcherism and 9.4 - Incorporating Contradiction 9.5 - Thatcherism as a Developing Project 9.6 - Political, Social and Economic Context 9.7 - Thatcherism's 'Politics of Support' 9.8 - Thatcherism as Discourse 9.9-- *,Two Nations' ? 9.10 - Thatcherism as a Project in Citizenship 9.11 - Thatcherism and Conservatism 9.12 - Summary Chapter Ten Reversing the Subversion of Citizenship - Citizenship in the 'New Politics, of the Left 10.0 - Introduction 10.1 - The Left's 'Crisis of Politics' 10.2 - The 'New Politics' 10.3 - The Purpose of the Left 10.4 - 'Generative Politics' 10.5 - Critical Demands on Citizenship Theory 10.6 - Citizenship as Individual Autonomy 10.7 - 'Universal Membership, 10.8 - Resolving the Problem of Universality 10.9 - Economic Citizenship 10.10 - Citizenship and 'the Market' 10.11 - 'Market Socialism' 10.12 - 'Social Capital' 10.13 - Welfare and Education 10.14 - Summary 11.0 - Summary 11.1 - The Dilemma of 'Politics, 11.2 - Conclusion INTRODUCTION 0. General Introduction is "It no doubt a sign of the times - that is, of the open questions at the end of the 1980s boom - that citizenship has become a fashionable concept all over the political spectrum. People sense that there is something in citizenship that defines the needs of the future - in this they are right but proceed to bend the term to their own predilections. The right prefers to speak of '*active citizenship, in order to emphasise the obligations of people. The left tries to develop a notion of 'communitarian citizenship, which combines solidarity with welfare rights. The centre turns the concept into an almost vacuous label for everything that' is not to be regarded as either right or left. At times one wants to despair aý the distortions of one of the great ideas of social and political thought and begis to wonder whether it can be rescued 'from its ideological abuses. But it must be. " This is, in part, the aim of the project here. The potential scope of the concept of ', citizenship, is immense. No single study can expect to note all of the questions it raises, let alone deal adequately with them. However, it is hoped that this enquiry in cuts to the heart of the question of citizenship, particular the issue of what constitutes social 'membership'. It tries to develop a clearer and potentially tore productive understanding of what citizenship is. I Dahrendorf, 'The Changing Quality of Citizenship', in Steenbergen (1994), p. 13. i Further, it attempts to use this understanding to investigate aspects of the right and Thatcherism in particular, and in its wake the contemporary development of the left. The concept of citizenship has become much discussed since the late 1980s. This has occurred for two main reasons. First, because of the scope of the concept, and its perceived relevance to so many areas of enquiry. Second, because of its perceived purpose. The latter is more contentious. It appears that the prevalence of citizenship has been seen as an opportunity for some form of project for social inclusion and solidarity combined with individual liberty and autonomy. Yet the limits of the concept need addressing as well as its possibilities. This sensing of opportunities implied by the concept of citizenship is related -to the f eeling shared on the lef t that the contemporary era is which is lone marked by its hostility to political projects seeking to unite equality and liberty. Despite recent political developments in Britain, few progressives have come to feel that the last decades have been'ones of retrenchment against the continuing victories of the right.