Citizenship in Modern Britain

This textbook provides an introduction to the theory and practice of citizenship in modern Britain. Keith Faulks looks at liberal theories of citizenship, including classical, social and neo-liberal conceptions, and outlines the flaws in these theories at both a conceptual level and in practical terms. This is done via a detailed examination of the Thatcherite governments of 1979 to 1997 and concludes with an assessment of the future of citizenship under Tony Blair's leadership.The author argues that the development of citizenship in Britain has to be understood in terms of the complex inter-relationship of the state, economy and social change and puts forward a more sophisticated theory for understanding how citizenship has developed in Britain, concluding that a truly inclusive and meaningful concept of citizenship must look beyond the limits of liberal theory and the liberal state.