In 2012, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and David Cameron each spoke of the role of the state and voluntary sectors delivering public services. Their viewpoints differed considerably, not least in their views of the Cameron government’s notion of a ‘Big Society’. The positions taken by Williams and Cameron echo a debate that occurred between 1945 and 1959 between the cooperative movement and the Labour Party on the delivery of public services and industries. Placing that earlier debate within a current context, this essay asks what lessons can be learned from the arguments of the post-war period and how they could be applied today.

Pages:  16
Language: English
Order: online only – PDF
Price: Free

ISBN: 978-1-904767-54-1