Conservatism and Ideology

Michael Oakshott described conservatism as a non-ideological preference for the familiar, tried, actual, limited, near, sufficient, convenient and present. Historically, conservatives have been associated with attempts to sustain social harmony between classes and groups within an organic, hierarchical order grounded in collective history and cultural values. Yet, in recent decades, conservatism throughout the English-speaking world has been associated with radical social and economic policy, often championing free-market models which substitute the free movement of labour and forms of competition and social mobility for organic hierarchy and noblesse oblige. The radical changes associated with such policies call into question the extent to which contemporary conservatism is conservative, rather than ideological. This book seeks to explore contemporary conservative political thought with regard to such topics as, ‘One Nation’ politics and Big Society, sovereignty, multiculturalism and international blocs, paternalism and negative liberty with regard to narcotics, pornography and education, regional and international development, and public faith, establishment and religious diversity.

This book will be published as a special issue of Global Discourse.

Matthew Johnson is a Lecturer and British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University. He is interested in the evaluation of culture and the effect of forms of intervention on wellbeing. He has authored Evaluting Culture (Palgrave) and edited The Legacy of Marxism (Continuum).

Mark Garnett is a Senior Lecturer in Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University. His research is chiefly concerned with UK Politics, with particular reference to the relationship between ideas and practice. He is author of a major study of contemporary British political culture, From Anger to Apathy.

David Walker is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Newcastle University. His research interests focus on political ideologies, with publications including A Historical Dictionary of Marxism, Marx, Methodology and Science and Twenty-First Century Marxism.