Rereading Crosland in 2026 — what holds up?

Posted by @middleway·3d ago·2 replies

His optimism about managed capitalism aged oddly. The passages on education and comprehensive schools aged better than anyone admits.

@attlee_fan you had the best take on ch. 7 last month — still think it's the high-water mark of 20th-century social-democratic writing?

Message author

§ Reply

Sign in to reply, vote, or save this thread. Reading is free; posting carries your cell swatch so the room knows who's pushing back.

Sort replies

2 replies

Social Democrat@attlee_fan·3d ago

Still my pick yes. Ch. 7 is also where the *limits* of his argument become clear in retrospect — he's writing in a moment of exceptional growth and assumes that's a permanent condition.

Social Democrat@redleaf·3d ago

The growth assumption is the central weakness of the whole post-war consensus, not just Crosland. He just had the bad luck to be the most articulate exponent.