Catholic Social Teaching and the Labour Party

Pope Leo XIII

It probably hasn't escaped many people's notice that the Labour Party, both in the UK as a whole and in Scotland, has been undergoing some difficulties recently.

I came across a BBC Radio 4 programme on Catholic social teaching ('Left turn to Catholic Social Teaching?' archived here) last broadcast in 2012 which deals with a (then) resurgence in the teaching particularly in the Labour Party. Figures from 'Blue Labour' such as Maurice Glasman and John Cruddas figure prominently in the discussion. Well worth half an hour of your time.

Looking back on this from four years' distance, it's odd how quickly it's become dated. There are odd resonances with today (eg: a discontent with neo-liberalism and a concern for different patterns of political authority) but also striking distances (eg: the lack of much mention of the EU seems odd in a post Brexit scene; the debate around Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and the relationship between the party members and MPs is also absent). So while it's dated, I'm not sure that is a totally bad thing: the fundamental issues seem unchanged, but the absence of present day excitements probably allows some critical distance.

On the substance of the programme, for me, the key point is the need for a continuing engagement with fundamental issues of human flourishing which stands apart from the daily noise of political discussion, but which does affect that debate. I'm slightly suspicious about the branding of the Church's insights into politics as a package of 'Catholic Social Teaching', with its foundation charter only arriving in 1891 with the Encyclical Rerum Novarum. (This disquiet is in fairness addressed in the programme.) Whilst this does have the merit of making it easy to present as a package, it does raise deep questions about authority and application. Why should non-Catholics accept a Catholic package? (Indeed, isn't its status as 'Catholic' more likely provide a reason for its dismissal?) Perhaps more importantly, by presenting it as a package (or 'gift' as it is described in the programme), the role of practical reason in the development and application of those principles is obscured. Among other issues, this tends to sever deep connections between Catholic social teaching and other modern intellectual movements such as communitarianism and virtue ethics.

That said, the programme ends with the question: 'Will we be able to adapt to profound changes without social upheaval?' This takes up a theme that Maurice Glasman had addressed earlier in the programme (about 8 mins in) where he talks about the need for 'leadership from below' and 'negotiated change' and links both of these to insights from Catholic social teaching particularly on subsidiarity and solidarity  Not a bad focus for present reflection.


Further material:

Dr Adrian Pabst is a leading intellectual figure behind Blue Labour. A recent discussion between him and a critic of Blue Labour can be found here.

Catholic social teaching's influence is certainly not confined to 'the Left'. For example, Phillip Blond (featured in the above programme) has been influential in putting forward 'Red Toryism'. He is Director of the Think Tank Respublica whose website is here.

Dr Anna Rowlands is featured on the programme where she summarizes Catholic social teaching as based on the four principles of dignity of persons, the common good, solidarity and subsidiarity. A more extended interview with her can be found here.