Lynch, Philip (1992) British Conservatism and the concept of the nation. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

Preview

PDF WRAP_THESIS_Lynch_1992.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (19Mb)

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This thesis examines the concept of the nation found in British
conservative thought (the "conservative nation"), and its relevance to the
policies and doctrine of the Conservative Party, especially in the Thatcher
years. I argue that as a political doctrine, nationalism is essentially
nebulous, gaining distinctive character from the discourse with which it is
jointly-articulated and from its environment. Thus the British conservative
nation is a distinct form of nationalist doctrine, built on core conservative
values and on specific socio-historical factors. Its key themes are: (i)
tradition; (ii) organicism; (iii) community; (iv) hierarchy; (v) antirationalism.
The conservative nation has also been bolstered by the use of
historical myths and symbols eg imperialism, Unionism and the monarchy.
The ideal-type conservative nation fuses ethnic (cultural) and civic
(political) accounts of the nation, but contains significant sub-categories
based on a separation of the political and cultural models. Chapter Two
traces key moments in the development of the conservative nation, notably
Burke's conservative state patriotism and the late 19th century emergence
of the Conservative Party's "national strategy", based on a coherent idea of
the nation and populist nationalism. Chapter Three looks at the breakdown of
the concept into its political and cultural components by New Right
theorists. It focuses on Hayek and Oakeshott as proponents of the political
account, plus,
Scruton and Casey as adherents to a cultural account. Chapter
Four examines Powell's redefinition of the nation and the ultimate failure
of his attempt to construct a nationalist strategy to cover policy on
immigration, the European Community and the Union.
The second half of the thesis looks at Thatcherism's revival of the
language of nationhood, but argues that doctrinal tensions and the need for
pragmatic issue management worked against the development of a coherent
concept of the nation or a consistent national strategy. Chapter Five
examines Thatcherism as (a) Mrs Thatcher's personal values; (b) a political
doctrine, noting the tensions between its - free market and strong state
branches; and (c) as statecraft or issue management. The Falklands Var and
policies on the territorial Union provide examples of the relative successes
and failures in Thatcherism's "politics of nationhood". Subsequent chapters
use detailed case studies on the European Community and the politics of
race to illustrate Thatcherism's use of nationalist rhetoric, and its failure
to construct a coherent national strategy across these policy areas. Chapter
Six assesses British policy on the EC, the integration process and ideas of
sovereignty. Chapter Seven outlines the main themes of the debate between
Euro-sceptics and Euro-enthusiasts in the Conservative Party. In Chapter
Eight I examine the problems which the management of an ethnically plural
society has posed for Thatcherism and the conservative nation in general,
assessing policies an immigration and integration.
The thesis concludes by contrasting the shortcomings of the Thatcherite
account of the nation with the positive themes of identity and community
inherent in the conservative nation.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Conservative Party (Great Britain) -- History -- 20th century, Conservatism -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century, Nationalism -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	September 1992
Dates:	Date Event September 1992 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Layton-Henry, Zig ; Allison, Lincoln
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Extent:	v, 350 leaves
Language:	eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads