Introduction

This part introduction presents some key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book helps in identifying what community is out there, ready, willing and able to act as a tool of government. The main argument of the book is that the potential for any new social consensus to radically reform and democratize the welfare state needs to be considered from within an historical perspective. Any 'new' social consensus must build onto and engage with the 'old'. The 'old' has its roots in 'the pact' between the interests of organized labor and the interests of capital, a social consensus forged early in the twentieth century which provided the structural framework for the social welfare system. The 'old' consensus managed to work so well for so long because it was grounded in principles of social justice that both sides agreed were 'fair'.