Exclusion and the New Politics of Hatred - by Colin Crouch (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Colin Crouch argues that at the base of all political conflicts are struggles over which types of people should be included in and which excluded from various rights, including the right to exist at all within a particular society. This is more fundamental than any conflict between left and right or between classes, and it gives rise to tropes of inclusionary and exclusionary rhetoric that can be transferred across issues - from material inequality to ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, and including demands for nations to isolate themselves as much as possible from contacts with others.

Today the forces seeking exclusions of many kinds are gaining ground in the strategies of many governments, parties and movements. Drives to exclude lead rapidly to the incitement of hatred, which leads in turn to acts of performative cruelty and physical violence.

Deeply opposed as he is to the politics of exclusion, Crouch seeks to understand and explain its rationality. He passionately advocates a politics of inclusion but, at the same time, he recognises the real obstacles that a commitment to inclusion must confront. While not fully optimistic about how these struggles will play out in the coming years, he sees that there is a path through which campaigns for openness and welcome could still triumph in dark times.

Review Quotes

"This is an immensely thoughtful and at times ground-breaking rethinking of the nature of current politics and the conventional categories used to understand it. It is one of those rare books in politics which helps people see the world in new ways and to understand the dynamics of what is unfolding around them."
Andrew Gamble, University of Cambridge

"Colin's optimism is life-enhancing. His passionate advocacy of inclusive social democracy and his faith in its prospects in the UK and elsewhere is illuminated by his deep knowledge of developments in Europe, his command of the data on voting and attitudes and his realism about how we do, in his words, grow to be 'more at ease with each other and at ease with the world'. Anyone tempted to despair at the state of things will be heartened and inspired by his marshalling of economic and social facts, powered by his confidence that a better, fairer world is possible."
Polly Toynbee, The Guardian

"The political divide that structures national politics is shifting from the traditional fight between left and right to a battle between inclusion and exclusion. As national societies and global politics change, should our obligation to others change too? In this powerful, deeply reasoned book, Colin Crouch explains what is happening to politics and society, and suggests how we ought respond."
Henry Farrell, Johns Hopkins University

"Fresh and helpful"
Nick Spencer, Church Times

About the Author