The Crosland Legacy

Book excerpt: In Crosland's Legacy, noted political writer Patrick Diamond explores the contemporary impact of Anthony Crosland's writings on the British Labour Party, in particular through his work The Future of Socialism, published nearly sixty years ago. Despite widespread questioning of many of Crosland's assumptions alongside obvious and important changes in British society and the economy since The Future of Socialism was published, Diamond argues that Crosland continues to serve as a key intellectual reference point for today's Labour Party. In making the claim that "socialism is about equality," Crosland set the context for debates that bridge Gaitskell's Labour Party in the 1950s and the development into New Labour headed by Blair, Brown, and Miliband. This book will examine Crosland's intellectual legacy as manifested in the debates of today's Labour Party.