Overview

The Victorian era was one that teemed with multitudinous and sometimes opposing visions of polity yet rarely questioned the very existence of the State. What might be called the pragmatism of the elite gave rise to a form of democratic compromise, allowing the growth of political ideas that may still be found in contemporary political thought. Have reformist, socialist, liberal or utilitarian ideas avoided the dogmatism of twentieth century politics or paved the way to other forms of ideology? To what extent has the organization or gradual obliteration of the State been influenced by evolutionary theories, the quest for effective government and expertise or, more generally, refusal of the past? What was the impact of Victorian thinkers and ideas on the mutation of contemporary political ideas? Have we reached a post-Victorian period or are we still using a Victorian rhetoric as well as Victorian theories? Have we not, also, reached a stage in which retrieving some of those ideas might help to solve some of our contemporary political problems? The essays presented in this book all attempt to answer some of these questions and try to show how nineteenth century thought and culture have shaped British modern political debate and, for some, still continue to do so. It will prove useful to academics and the general public interested in contemporary politics as well as the history of ideas and political philosophy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Catherine Marshall ,  Stéphane Guy
Publisher:   Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Imprint:   Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Edition:   New edition
Volume:   4
Dimensions:   Width: 15.00cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 22.50cm
Weight:   0.540kg
ISBN:  

9783034314954

ISBN 10:   3034314957
Pages:   376
Publication Date:   12 May 2014
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Contents: Emmanuelle De Champs: Bentham in the Twentieth Century – Catherine Heyrendt-Sherman: Thomas Carlyle’s Legacy, Past and Present – Gregory Claeys: Negative Liberty and Mill’s Libertarian Reputation: A Reconsideration – Aude Attuel-Hallade: Whig Thought: Historiographical Perspectives – Michael Henkel: The Legacy of British Idealism in Political Thought and Today’s Problems of State Building – Maria Dimova-Cookson: Welfarist and Moral Justifications of the Strong State: Reconciling Hobhouse’s and Bosanquet’s Perspectives on the Role of the State – Colin Tyler: A Forgotten Hero of British Social Democracy? The Historical Significance of Edward Caird – Andrew Vincent: Idealism and Religion: The Legacy of Victorian Debates – Jean-Paul Rosaye: Mark Bevir and Victorian Idealism – Mark Bevir: Victorian Idealism - Then and Now – Christian Auer: Margaret Thatcher’s «Victorian values»: A Reappraisal – Françoise Orazi: Margaret Thatcher and Conservative Feminism - A Rehabilitation of Victorian Values – Neil Davie: The Victorian Prison Revisited? The Antecedents of British Penal Policy, 1993-2010 – Marie Terrier: New Labour’s Discourse on Social Cohesion and the First Fabians’ Paradoxical Legacy: the Case of Anti-Social Behaviour – Yann Béliard: The Lib-Lab Roots of New Labour – Jean-Paul Révauger: Social Policy Serving the Economy: A Victorian Legacy – Christine Dunn-Henderson: The «Problem» of the Poor: Welfare Reform in Contemporary Britain and the Legacy of Tocqueville’s Mémoire sur le paupérisme – Noel O’Sullivan: Conclusion: Beyond the Victorian Legacy.

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Author Information

The two editors, Catherine Marshall and Stéphane Guy, are Senior Lecturers in British Studies, specialised in the history of ideas, at the University of Cergy-Pontoise in France. They are both members of the CICC (Centre de recherche en civilisations et identités culturelles comparées). Stéphane Guy is currently working on British socialism and the Fabian Society. Catherine Marshall is about to finish, along with Bernard Lightman and Richard England, a critical edition in 3 volumes of the papers of the Metaphysical Society (1869-1880).

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