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A common view of ideologies reifies them to postulate an unchanging core of moral principles or debates that frame changing attitudes to particular policies. Thus, scholars have sought to map New Labour onto ideological traditions by comparing it with the core features of the traditions. In contrast, this article argues that ideologies are in a constant process of change, with every one of their elements being open to such change, and with change in one element having spillover effects on others. New Labour should not be compared with reified ideologies but rather traced historically as a refashioning of socialism to meet problems such as inflation, the underclass and the changing nature of the working class, where the consequent changes in policy have entailed further changes in ethical principles.

A common view of ideologies reifies them to postulate an unchanging core of moral principles or debates that frame changing attitudes to particular policies. Thus, scholars have sought to map New Labour onto ideological traditions by comparing it with the core features of the traditions. In contrast, this article argues that ideologies are in a constant process of change, with every one of their elements being open to such change, & with change in one element having spillover effects on others. New Labour should not be compared with reified ideologies but rather traced historically as a refashioning of socialism to meet problems such as inflation, the underclass, & the changing nature of the working class, where the consequent changes in policy have entailed further changes in ethical principles. 77 References. Adapted from the source document.

The Labour Church movement was a leading expression of British ethical socialism. Historians have approached the movement from the perspective of a dominant Marxist or labourist historiography according to which a quasi-religious, ethical socialism represents a primitive rebellion to be replaced by a mature, secular and class-based socialism. Historians have explained the rise of the Labour Church as part of a transfer of religious energy to the political sphere; and they have explained its demise by reference to the continuing process of secularisation. This essay challenges the dominant historiography by taking seriously the religious self-understanding of the Labour Church. First it explains the rise of the movement in terms of the immanentist theology with which many Victorians and Edwardians responded to the crisis of faith. Then it uses the doctrinal basis of the movement to explain its appeal, structure, and activities. Finally it suggests the decline of the movement reflects the weaknesses of its theology as a political theory.

Foucault argues the subject is a function of regimes of power/knowledge. The claim seems to be valid as the composed one that all agency is influenced by its social context: the subject is not autonomous. The claim is not valid as the excitable one that all actions and beliefs are fixed by their social context: the subject is an agent who can make choices and act creatively against a given social background. This essay then sets outs to explore the normative implications of a composed reading of Foucault through his work on governmentality and an ethic of care for the self. To begin, a composed reading is shown to be sufficient to sustain the critical force of genealogy. Then it is shown to support an ethical preference for power that recognises the other as an agent rather than violence. Finally it is shown to support an ethical preference for technologies of the self that resist the normalizing effects of modern power.