Responsibility and the Big Society

Antje Bednarek

Sociological Research Online, 2011, vol. 16, issue 2, 150-154

Abstract: This paper focuses on the interplay between Conservative thought as evinced by the current Conservative Party leadership and the idea of responsibility, which is a central concern in the Big Society programme. I show that responsibility holds different meanings based on attitudes to work and the welfare state and that the differentiation in meaning map onto a working class/middle class distinction. I then argue that the ‘good society’ as it emerges from the Big Society idea would be a more stratified one that accepts large degrees of inequality. Leaving the conceptual plane, I then provide support for my argument with findings from qualitative research into the lifeworld of young Conservatives.

Keywords: Big Society; Responsibility; Conservative Party; Values; Sociology of Morality; Young Conservatives (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socres:v:16:y:2011:i:2:p:150-154

DOI: 10.5153/sro.2384

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