The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control?
There is a familiar analysis of the 1970s in Britain, of a country locked in decline, paralysed by recurring confrontations due to the ideological fault-lines between capital and labour, and reliant on a political system undermined by an unspoken consensus shared by the ruling elite that the most th...
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| Publicado no: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb, |
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| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
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Revue française de civilisation britannique
2016
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| Acesso em linha: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:rfcb_962 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:rfcb_962 https://doi.org/10.4000/rfcb.962 urn:doi:10.4000/rfcb.962 en https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/962 2016-10-09T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/k142 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control? Revue française de civilisation britannique CRECIB - Centre de recherche et d'études en civilisation britannique info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2429-4373 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0248-9015 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb Raymond, Gino British history Labour Party Thatcher Ideology Conservative Party Parti travailliste Parti conservateur Thatcher histoire britannique idéologie There is a familiar analysis of the 1970s in Britain, of a country locked in decline, paralysed by recurring confrontations due to the ideological fault-lines between capital and labour, and reliant on a political system undermined by an unspoken consensus shared by the ruling elite that the most that could await a post-war and post-imperial Britain was a ‘soft landing’. In this analysis, the failures of the post-war right and left in Britain provide a platform for a political outsider, Margaret Thatcher, to over-turn the political apple-cart and usher in a new ideological revolution founded on reinvigorated concepts of economic agency and individual choice. This article will argue that the Thatcherite revolution was not so much a crisis for the traditional ideologies of left and right, as an indication of the way politics had moved beyond ideology. Drawing parallels with the apparent rebirth of socialism in France that ran concurrently with the Thatcherite revolution, this article will suggest that the success of Thatcher owes much to the divorce between image and reality and the symbolic power this allows leaders to deploy subsequently. Ultimately, we will argue, Thatcher was willing to steer the transformation of British society in ways that ran contrary to the principles of those assumed to be her intellectual mentors, in order to satisfy her desire for control. Il y a une analyse répandue de la Grande Bretagne durant les années soixante-dix qui propose que ce pays fut voué au déclin, paralysé par les affrontements récurrents entre le capital et les ouvriers, et dépendant d’un système politique affaibli par un consensus tacite partagé par la classe dirigeante que le sort de la Grande Bretagne d’après-guerre et postcolonial ne pouvait être qu’un déclassement en douce. Selon cette analyse, les échecs de gauche et de droite ont préparé le terrain pour l’outsider, Thatcher, et lui ont permis de changer la donne politique afin d’effectuer une nouvelle révolution fondée sur des idées redynamisées telles que la primauté de l’acteur économique et le choix individuel. Cet article suggère que la révolution thatchérienne signalait un dépassement idéologique plutôt que la crise des idéologies traditionnelles de gauche et de droite. A base de certaines comparaisons avec la renaissance du socialisme qui se manifeste en France à cette époque, nous attribuons une partie importante du succès de Thatcher à la rupture entre l’image et la réalité et par conséquent le pouvoir symbolique que cela permet aux leaders de déployer. En fin de compte, Thatcher fut disposée à orienter la transformation de la société britannique dans un sens contraire aux principes de ses supposés mentors, afin de combler son désir de contrôle. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
British history Labour Party Thatcher Ideology Conservative Party Parti travailliste Parti conservateur Thatcher histoire britannique idéologie |
| spellingShingle |
British history Labour Party Thatcher Ideology Conservative Party Parti travailliste Parti conservateur Thatcher histoire britannique idéologie Raymond, Gino The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control? |
| description |
There is a familiar analysis of the 1970s in Britain, of a country locked in decline, paralysed by recurring confrontations due to the ideological fault-lines between capital and labour, and reliant on a political system undermined by an unspoken consensus shared by the ruling elite that the most that could await a post-war and post-imperial Britain was a ‘soft landing’. In this analysis, the failures of the post-war right and left in Britain provide a platform for a political outsider, Margaret Thatcher, to over-turn the political apple-cart and usher in a new ideological revolution founded on reinvigorated concepts of economic agency and individual choice. This article will argue that the Thatcherite revolution was not so much a crisis for the traditional ideologies of left and right, as an indication of the way politics had moved beyond ideology. Drawing parallels with the apparent rebirth of socialism in France that ran concurrently with the Thatcherite revolution, this article will suggest that the success of Thatcher owes much to the divorce between image and reality and the symbolic power this allows leaders to deploy subsequently. Ultimately, we will argue, Thatcher was willing to steer the transformation of British society in ways that ran contrary to the principles of those assumed to be her intellectual mentors, in order to satisfy her desire for control. |
| author |
Raymond, Gino |
| author_facet |
Raymond, Gino |
| author_sort |
Raymond, Gino |
| title |
The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control? |
| title_short |
The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control? |
| title_full |
The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control? |
| title_fullStr |
The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The 1970s and the Thatcherite Revolution: Crisis of Ideology or Control? |
| title_sort |
1970s and the thatcherite revolution: crisis of ideology or control? |
| publisher |
Revue française de civilisation britannique |
| publishDate |
2016 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/rfcb.962 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/962 |
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1877242496007798784 |