social democracy

This Unit aims to

• Continue on from Unit 19, following the economic and political scene in Britain after the Second World War.
• Investigate the failure of Keynesian demand management.
• Examine the post-war shop stewards movement.
• Look at the decline of the Communist Party and the emergence
• of the ‘new left’ and rank and file movement.
• Chart the onslaught of Thatcherism on the working class.

Terms and abbreviations

Keynesian Economics: An economic theory advocating government intervention, or demand side management of the economy, to achieve full employment and stable prices.
Macro-economic: The performance of the overall economy, inflation, unemployment, and industrial production.

The collective nature of the British trade union movement is gradually disappearing. Where as in the past unions saw strength through unity as the means to confront the boss class, increasingly unions are now turning to the idea of union rights enshrined in law as the way to protect workers. These changes date back to the 1980's when union leaders, faced with rapid economic change, collapsing membership and a hostile Thatcher government, decided to abandon "outdated" notions such as class struggle and replacing capitalism with some form of socialism, in favour of social partnership.