The Future of Socialism

In the blood of the socialist, Anthony Crosland argued, 'there should always run a trace of the anarchist and the libertarian, and not too much of the prig and the prude.' His classic manifesto, The Future of Socialism, first appeared when its author was thirty-eight years old. Asa Briggs described it in the Observer as 'a fascinating an original survey of contemporary British society which will appeal to a far wider circle of readers than confirmed Socialist.' More than twenty years on, the brilliance, urgency, humanity and eloquence of Crosland's message are not diminished: Croslandism, as it now is know, remains the aim of democratic socialists in many countries besides Britain. Crosland's philosophy stemmed from his feelings for man as an individual - passionate feelings for equality matched by respect for personal liberty. He combined the intellectual and the politician in a way that was perhaps unique in this century. Irreverence and humour add to the penetration and width of his argument. 'Total abstinence and a good filing-system are not now the right sign-posts to the socialist Utopia,' Crosland once said; 'or at least, if they are, some of us will fall by the wayside.' Shortly after Crosland died, Michael Young wrote in Encounter: 'His voice carried conviction because it was the voice of someone thinking out his position for himself.' It is a measure of the book that John Strachey's directive in the New Statesman is as true and relevant today as ever it was. 'No-one must in future take part in the controversy on Socialism without having read it.'