Amidst 'Brexit', a divided and out of power Labour Party, and the wider international rise of populism, contemporary British social democracy appears in a state of crisis. This book, a collection of essays by some of Britain's leading academics, public intellectuals and political practitioners, seeks to engage with the 'big picture' of British social democracy, both historical and contemporary, and point to grounds for greater optimism for its future prospects. It does so in honour of the renowned centre-left thinker David Marquand. Drawing on many of the themes which have preoccupied Marquand in his career and his writing, such as social democratic citizenship, values and participation, the volume offers the original perspective that social democracy is as much about cultures and mindsets as it is about economic policy or public institutions.

Reviews

'Over the years that great democrat, David Marquand, has applied his intellectual prowess to the most pressing political challenges of the times. In this book his huge contributions to public discourse are analysed and savoured. A wonderful tribute to a great man.'
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

'Readable, lively and provocative, with new insights into social democracy in Britain in the past and today. . This wonderful re-assessment is shaped by Marquand's own life and his deep optimism about citizens' abilities to drive change.'
Anne Deighton, Emeritus Professor of European International Politics, University of Oxford

'This collection does more than honour the work and influence of an outstanding and essential scholar. It shows us how, as the post-war British political order failed, at least one man on the inside blew a clear and authoritative whistle. . This book shows how his journey and the development of his thought will come to be seen as central -- as he kept his nerve when Brexitannia did not.'
Anthony Barnett, Co-Founder of openDemocracy and author of The Lure of Greatness: England's Brexit & America's Trump

1 Making social democrats - Jeremy Nuttall and Hans Schattle
Part I: Progressive dilemmas: the historical long view
2 Social democracy and the people - Jeremy Nuttall
3 British liberalism in search of ideological recalibration - Michael Freeden
4 A labour of Sisyphus: the quest for a great Labour Party - Andrew Gamble
Part II: Citizenship, republicanism and democracy
5 Globalisation, the breaking and re-making of social democratic citizenship - Hans Schattle
6 A Marquandian moment? The civic republican political theory of David Marquand - Stuart White
7 A union of hearts? Republican social democracy and Scottish nationalism - Ben Jackson
Part III: The principled society: mindsets and values
8 The politics of neighbourliness: social democracy on the home front in Britain during the Second World War - Clare Griffiths
9 As if: contestation, care and the 'temper of the country' - Gideon Calder
10 Principles and the progressive alliance in a networked society: what we can learn from
Marquandism in the making and unmaking of social democrats - Neal Lawson
11 Progressivism to democratic socialism: the special case of Dr Christopher Addison -
Kenneth O. Morgan
Part IV: Prospects, reflections and realities
12 Democracy and social democracy - Tony Wright
13 Social democracy before and after the EU referendum - Lord David Owen
14 From Bodmin Moor to Cardiff Bay: a European education? - David Marquand
15 David Marquand and liberal social democracy - Will Hutton
16 Not just any social democracy: 'Marquandism' and the primacy of pluralism and republicanism - Hans Schattle and Jeremy Nuttall

Editors

Hans Schattle is Professor of Political Science at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea

Jeremy Nuttall is Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at Kingston University