Jem Edwards - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Drafts by Jem Edwards

Thatcherism, a term coined in the 80's to describe the political environment of " authoritarian p... more Thatcherism, a term coined in the 80's to describe the political environment of " authoritarian populism " {Stuart Hall 1979,1980) created by the conservative party being clearly distinguishable from other forms of conservatism in that it is fundamentally idealogical, drawing on existing strands of conservatism and, recombining them especially those which appeal to grass roots Tories rather than the hierarchy of the Tory party and it loosely knits these together with opportunistic reactions to contemporary problems and represents a shift from the traditional paternalistic Tory paradigm which included the responsibility for the " deserving poor " to the American achievement oriented philosophy spawned in the Reagan era. In the second half of Thatchers 1979-84 government education was in control of their chief ideologue of Thatcherism, Sir Keith Joseph backed up by the chief propagandist Dr.Rhodes Boyson; the opportunity and desire to implement key percepts of Thatcherism could not be combined more favourably than in education at the beginning of the 80's. The opportunity was provided by the education and political situation crystallising towards the end of the 70's. Tory cabinet shuffling drew upon a new breed of Tory from the lower and middle class, people like Norman Tebbit. This reorientation of social class within the higher echelons of the Tory party called out for a different education policy, the election of '79 had not been fought in the traditional manner of electioneering and campaigning but Saatchi and Saatchi were brought in, utilising the media to maximum effect aiming at a new social strata of electorate. There was a general consensus on the right that the Welfare State was a withering institution, growing unemployment, especially in the youth only served to highlight their failures of the social democratic policies in not producing greater equality and social justice which led to the production of casualties in the form of neglected and those who felt themselves " levelled-down " , a key constituency of Thatcherism. Associated with these points is the decline of faith in the state education system. This situation was one which the education tradition of conservatism, especially the grass roots Tory, under Thatcher were better able to react to than that of the educational tradition of the Labour party> The emphasis began to turn to education as instrumental not for the educated person-(classical toryism) but as leading to a job-or having vocational education in schools, social stratification being unnecessary for higher echelons. The kind of education policy postwar Tories had followed from1955, under Sir David Eccles as Minister for Education, up until the 1964 election was essentially non-partisan. Following the percepts of R.A.Butler's 1944 act The Education service had now expanded greatly in the number of schools, teachers, students in higher education etc. Sir Edwards Boyles' bi-partisan line was committed to selection for secondary education and opposition to comprehensive education ceased to be a central part of the Tory party education policy – the value of education in producing the kinds of people and skills necessary to ensure continued economic growth was very much taken for granted and education as a good thing in itself took a back seat. This approach had critics, especially after the election defeats of 1964 and 1966 when the first Black Papers were being published with the emphasis on standards, excellence, authority, traditional virtues at the core of Grammer schools, suggestions based on anti-stateist, economic liberal thought and the airing of ideas for educational voucher schemes. In an analysis of the motions on Education between 65-70 at conservative party conferences, 55% emanated from the libertarian right which has a number of features in common with Thatcherism, The two commonest topics were tax relief on private education fees and opposition to comprehensive schools. The strength of the opposition was clear, at the 1968 conference the official motion of Education was defeated with Sir Edward Boyle stating that he would not fight socialist dogma with conservative dogma. Thatchers appointment to minister of education in 1970 delighted the party's right wing showing clear evidence of cracks under the surface of the non-partisan approach of Eccles and Boyle. Her policies at the time were contained in the Sheldon philosophy which the party adopted under Edwards Heath to which it was committed when conservatives won the 1970 election. The Sheldon

Thatcherism, a term coined in the 80's to describe the political environment of " authoritarian p... more Thatcherism, a term coined in the 80's to describe the political environment of " authoritarian populism " {Stuart Hall 1979,1980) created by the conservative party being clearly distinguishable from other forms of conservatism in that it is fundamentally idealogical, drawing on existing strands of conservatism and, recombining them especially those which appeal to grass roots Tories rather than the hierarchy of the Tory party and it loosely knits these together with opportunistic reactions to contemporary problems and represents a shift from the traditional paternalistic Tory paradigm which included the responsibility for the " deserving poor " to the American achievement oriented philosophy spawned in the Reagan era. In the second half of Thatchers 1979-84 government education was in control of their chief ideologue of Thatcherism, Sir Keith Joseph backed up by the chief propagandist Dr.Rhodes Boyson; the opportunity and desire to implement key percepts of Thatcherism could not be combined more favourably than in education at the beginning of the 80's. The opportunity was provided by the education and political situation crystallising towards the end of the 70's. Tory cabinet shuffling drew upon a new breed of Tory from the lower and middle class, people like Norman Tebbit. This reorientation of social class within the higher echelons of the Tory party called out for a different education policy, the election of '79 had not been fought in the traditional manner of electioneering and campaigning but Saatchi and Saatchi were brought in, utilising the media to maximum effect aiming at a new social strata of electorate. There was a general consensus on the right that the Welfare State was a withering institution, growing unemployment, especially in the youth only served to highlight their failures of the social democratic policies in not producing greater equality and social justice which led to the production of casualties in the form of neglected and those who felt themselves " levelled-down " , a key constituency of Thatcherism. Associated with these points is the decline of faith in the state education system. This situation was one which the education tradition of conservatism, especially the grass roots Tory, under Thatcher were better able to react to than that of the educational tradition of the Labour party> The emphasis began to turn to education as instrumental not for the educated person-(classical toryism) but as leading to a job-or having vocational education in schools, social stratification being unnecessary for higher echelons. The kind of education policy postwar Tories had followed from1955, under Sir David Eccles as Minister for Education, up until the 1964 election was essentially non-partisan. Following the percepts of R.A.Butler's 1944 act The Education service had now expanded greatly in the number of schools, teachers, students in higher education etc. Sir Edwards Boyles' bi-partisan line was committed to selection for secondary education and opposition to comprehensive education ceased to be a central part of the Tory party education policy – the value of education in producing the kinds of people and skills necessary to ensure continued economic growth was very much taken for granted and education as a good thing in itself took a back seat. This approach had critics, especially after the election defeats of 1964 and 1966 when the first Black Papers were being published with the emphasis on standards, excellence, authority, traditional virtues at the core of Grammer schools, suggestions based on anti-stateist, economic liberal thought and the airing of ideas for educational voucher schemes. In an analysis of the motions on Education between 65-70 at conservative party conferences, 55% emanated from the libertarian right which has a number of features in common with Thatcherism, The two commonest topics were tax relief on private education fees and opposition to comprehensive schools. The strength of the opposition was clear, at the 1968 conference the official motion of Education was defeated with Sir Edward Boyle stating that he would not fight socialist dogma with conservative dogma. Thatchers appointment to minister of education in 1970 delighted the party's right wing showing clear evidence of cracks under the surface of the non-partisan approach of Eccles and Boyle. Her policies at the time were contained in the Sheldon philosophy which the party adopted under Edwards Heath to which it was committed when conservatives won the 1970 election. The Sheldon