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Blue Labour: The Politics of the Common Good
Labour has been on a wild ride over the past thirty years. New Labour argued that we had no choice but to accept a globalized free market economy in which the race was to the swift, the open and the flexible. Corbynism reacted against this with a jumble of old school statism and identity politics. Both ultimately failed.
In this book, Maurice Glasman takes the axe to the soulless utilitarianism and ‘progressive’ intolerance of both Blair and Corbyn. Human beings, he contends, are not calculating machines, but faithful, relational beings who yearn for meaning and belonging. Rooted in their homes, families and traditions, they seek to resist the revolutionary upheaval of markets and states, which try to commodify and dominate their lives and homes, by the practice of democracy, mutuality and pluralism. This is the true Labour tradition, which is paradoxically both radical and conservative – and more relevant than ever in a post-COVID world.
This crisp statement of the real politics of Blue Labour – rather than the absurd caricature of its detractors – is Glasman’s love letter to the left-conservatism that provides Labour’s best chance of moral – and indeed electoral – redemption.
In this book, Maurice Glasman takes the axe to the soulless utilitarianism and ‘progressive’ intolerance of both Blair and Corbyn. Human beings, he contends, are not calculating machines, but faithful, relational beings who yearn for meaning and belonging. Rooted in their homes, families and traditions, they seek to resist the revolutionary upheaval of markets and states, which try to commodify and dominate their lives and homes, by the practice of democracy, mutuality and pluralism. This is the true Labour tradition, which is paradoxically both radical and conservative – and more relevant than ever in a post-COVID world.
This crisp statement of the real politics of Blue Labour – rather than the absurd caricature of its detractors – is Glasman’s love letter to the left-conservatism that provides Labour’s best chance of moral – and indeed electoral – redemption.
- GenresPolitics
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2022
22 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Maurice Glasman
3 books3 followersMaurice Glasman, Baron Glasman is an English political theorist, academic, social commentator, and Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He is a senior lecturer in Political Theory at London Metropolitan University, Director of its Faith and Citizenship Programme and a columnist for the New Statesman, UnHerd, Tablet and Spiked. He is best known as the founder of Blue Labour, a term he coined in 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 10, 2023
So I am giving this 4 starts as it is definitely a good addition to the conversation and if I am in favour of the left and the goals it wants, Glasman lays out a good case. This is a case for blue labour from its founder and honestly I wish the left would embrace this rather than identarian and authoritarian wokeism. Yet there are things that no Christian who really believes exodus 20:1-3 and Matt 28 can embrace, the whole book if built on assumptions of neutrality, increasing democracy and pluralism. However I would reccomend reading as Glasman has stuff we need to hear.
Also another review made a good point, this is very much a layout of blue labour assuming it can work so there is no engagement with any criticism of the project and it does in many ways assume it's premises and argues from that.
Also another review made a good point, this is very much a layout of blue labour assuming it can work so there is no engagement with any criticism of the project and it does in many ways assume it's premises and argues from that.
February 21, 2024
A very sharp analysis of globalization as such and offers at least an answer, which is thoroughly though-out.
It shows you, what it really means to be a socialist, that certrain traditions and somewhat of a conservative anthropological and ontological outlook can be helpful, to combine estranged interests which simply do exist in western societies.
Glasman presents us here, how the progressive left and liberals sold out the working class and lost touch with the "left behind", the "deplorables" and has become a purely progressive, cosmopolitical and egoistical movement, which just serves and secures the class-interests of the academical and cultural progressive people and has no understanding of the appollonians, meaning those who simply want to have a sense of belonging and a place to call home.
He does a very good job at this and if applied correctly, it can be seen as the antidote to the rise of nowadays authoritarian populist movement/the new right. It shows you, what does it mean to be a left-conservative and how conservatism can only be achieved with a thorough critique of the market, of the domination of money power and the state power as neither of them respect place and the honest wishes of the society.
It shows you, what it really means to be a socialist, that certrain traditions and somewhat of a conservative anthropological and ontological outlook can be helpful, to combine estranged interests which simply do exist in western societies.
Glasman presents us here, how the progressive left and liberals sold out the working class and lost touch with the "left behind", the "deplorables" and has become a purely progressive, cosmopolitical and egoistical movement, which just serves and secures the class-interests of the academical and cultural progressive people and has no understanding of the appollonians, meaning those who simply want to have a sense of belonging and a place to call home.
He does a very good job at this and if applied correctly, it can be seen as the antidote to the rise of nowadays authoritarian populist movement/the new right. It shows you, what does it mean to be a left-conservative and how conservatism can only be achieved with a thorough critique of the market, of the domination of money power and the state power as neither of them respect place and the honest wishes of the society.
June 18, 2025
Glasman's mix of British socialism with Catholic Social Teaching and MacIntyrean virtue ethics makes this an absolutely fascinating book to read. He's far less strong on internationalism, but when he sticks to what he thinks "mutual reciprocity" means for British politics, he's truly excellent. I might have to post some quotes here...
February 4, 2023
I'd rate this book somewhere in the gap between 3-stars and 4-stars, though reading the initial pages, I wouldn't have rated it much higher than 2.5 stars.
From an ideas perspective I liked this short, wordy and dense book. It is well argued in an academic sort of a way, yet it isn't really that accessible for the general reader / voter by virtue of the language. Then again, the fog of clever prose clears and an idea, an approach, an argument comes through into the sunlight of everyday communication and you're hooked again!
I'm an ex business and finance person who went into systems development. The communication of ideas should be straightforward! The fact that I don't always achieve that I see as a failing. That's how I come to this book, as a reader.
On the other hand, I like Maurice Glasman's thoughts and approach. It feels like a way for the UK Labour Party to find more solid or more real ground to stand on, after seemingly losing its way for a good many years and forgetting where it came from.
Along the reading journey, there are some fascinating arguments about the EU and globalisation, people and employees as commodities or resources to be costed and new approaches to dignifying their labour. Discussions about globalisation versus internationalism are very interesting too. Anyone who has lamented the loss of our own industrial capacity and outsourcing of production to China will find this book a worthwhile read.
There! Those are my reactions and, as usual, I'm not going to summarise the book for anyone who reads this. Others have done that better than I could. Read the reviews too, though I still think this book isn't an easy read! Good luck!!!
From an ideas perspective I liked this short, wordy and dense book. It is well argued in an academic sort of a way, yet it isn't really that accessible for the general reader / voter by virtue of the language. Then again, the fog of clever prose clears and an idea, an approach, an argument comes through into the sunlight of everyday communication and you're hooked again!
I'm an ex business and finance person who went into systems development. The communication of ideas should be straightforward! The fact that I don't always achieve that I see as a failing. That's how I come to this book, as a reader.
On the other hand, I like Maurice Glasman's thoughts and approach. It feels like a way for the UK Labour Party to find more solid or more real ground to stand on, after seemingly losing its way for a good many years and forgetting where it came from.
Along the reading journey, there are some fascinating arguments about the EU and globalisation, people and employees as commodities or resources to be costed and new approaches to dignifying their labour. Discussions about globalisation versus internationalism are very interesting too. Anyone who has lamented the loss of our own industrial capacity and outsourcing of production to China will find this book a worthwhile read.
There! Those are my reactions and, as usual, I'm not going to summarise the book for anyone who reads this. Others have done that better than I could. Read the reviews too, though I still think this book isn't an easy read! Good luck!!!
March 30, 2023
Some of the ideas in it are fairly interesting. but the language is totally impenetrable, there's no depth or analysis or what they would mean, nothing on how to bring it about, nothing about why they have been tried and rejected, nothing on why they haven't been tried. Really disappointed.
June 30, 2025
I wrote a much longer review/analysis of this book, but here is a condensed version of my three main takeaways:
First, Glasman defines his 'socialism' in ways that seem to overlap almost entirely with traditional conservative principles: the importance of intermediary institutions, virtue ethics, civic responsibility and decentralised power. Is Glasman actually offering a new synthesis ('Burkean socialism'), or is he simply relabelling conservatism in a Labour-friendly package? This leads to further questions: Is there any meaningful difference between Glasman's 'socialism' and communitarian conservatism à la MacIntyre, Scruton or Red Tories? Does this book clarify or confuse the ideological landscape of British politics?
Second, if Glasman's historical narrative of Labour is so critical of its long-standing trajectory, why does he remain committed to the Labour Party at all? Glasman finds fault with the post-war Labour consensus, the Fabian influence, and New Labour's technocratic market-statism. He seems to prefer Catholic social teaching and the German social market model more commonly associated with Christian democracy, a tradition that is almost entirely absent from UK politics. Why remain in Labour, rather than founding or advocating for a new political alignment - perhaps a Christian democratic or 'common good' party?
Third, the book offers several thoughtful proposals - vocational colleges, regional banks, corporate governance reform, vocational representation in Parliament - but they are briefly sketched and lack detail. I think they are interesting, but I have doubts about their feasibility. While I appreciate Glasman's attempt to outline ways in which 'Blue Labour' ideas can be put into practice, these proposals would need to be developed further if they are to constitute a real political program.
First, Glasman defines his 'socialism' in ways that seem to overlap almost entirely with traditional conservative principles: the importance of intermediary institutions, virtue ethics, civic responsibility and decentralised power. Is Glasman actually offering a new synthesis ('Burkean socialism'), or is he simply relabelling conservatism in a Labour-friendly package? This leads to further questions: Is there any meaningful difference between Glasman's 'socialism' and communitarian conservatism à la MacIntyre, Scruton or Red Tories? Does this book clarify or confuse the ideological landscape of British politics?
Second, if Glasman's historical narrative of Labour is so critical of its long-standing trajectory, why does he remain committed to the Labour Party at all? Glasman finds fault with the post-war Labour consensus, the Fabian influence, and New Labour's technocratic market-statism. He seems to prefer Catholic social teaching and the German social market model more commonly associated with Christian democracy, a tradition that is almost entirely absent from UK politics. Why remain in Labour, rather than founding or advocating for a new political alignment - perhaps a Christian democratic or 'common good' party?
Third, the book offers several thoughtful proposals - vocational colleges, regional banks, corporate governance reform, vocational representation in Parliament - but they are briefly sketched and lack detail. I think they are interesting, but I have doubts about their feasibility. While I appreciate Glasman's attempt to outline ways in which 'Blue Labour' ideas can be put into practice, these proposals would need to be developed further if they are to constitute a real political program.
November 12, 2025
Better than I expected and I agreed with much of the discussion around the notion of the ‘common good’ and the ideas in his chapter on economic renewal. Some interesting conceptual points made in the sections on Polanyi and in how he joins the state and capitalism as forces which destroyed existing local structures, leaving Labour vulnerable. The analysis of globalisation and treaty law as rationalisation convincing and it aligns with Weber’s work on bureaucracy and modernity.
Other aspects such as his account on Aristotle’s role in Labour politics were less compelling. The focus on Catholicism to the detriment of non-conformism is also odd. I can accept the former may have had an outsized role, but to hardly mention the latter seems a mistaken absence.
The comparisons with Germany age poorly considering the rise of the AfD and it feels of an age where everything about the Germans was being praised in a string of nonfiction books. His idea of internationalism is much better in its critique of the link between the CCP and Global Capital than it is in anything it positively proposes as there is a failure to develop any concrete ideas on how you enforce the terms of these relationships. The threat to retreat from them is available and isolationism has some merits when opposed to the Liberal interventionism of the Third Way, but Glasman seems to want to claim to be an Internationalist interested in foreign policy but retreat to Isolationism in disagreement. Having his cake and eating it.
Other aspects such as his account on Aristotle’s role in Labour politics were less compelling. The focus on Catholicism to the detriment of non-conformism is also odd. I can accept the former may have had an outsized role, but to hardly mention the latter seems a mistaken absence.
The comparisons with Germany age poorly considering the rise of the AfD and it feels of an age where everything about the Germans was being praised in a string of nonfiction books. His idea of internationalism is much better in its critique of the link between the CCP and Global Capital than it is in anything it positively proposes as there is a failure to develop any concrete ideas on how you enforce the terms of these relationships. The threat to retreat from them is available and isolationism has some merits when opposed to the Liberal interventionism of the Third Way, but Glasman seems to want to claim to be an Internationalist interested in foreign policy but retreat to Isolationism in disagreement. Having his cake and eating it.
April 9, 2026
Glasman’s blueprint for a Post-Liberal Labour Party. This is the bible for the next generation of labour movements - those who denied it when Glasman published look remarkably silly now.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews