O'Donnell Lecture

Monday 20 March, 2006
O'Donnell Lecture
'The Rise of Nationalism and the Decline of the British Keynesian Welfare State.’
Professor James Mitchell from the University of Strathclyde will deliver the O’Donnell Lecture at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth on Tuesday, 28 March 2006, at 7pm in Old Hall, Old College. The title of Professor Mitchell’s lecture will be ‘Citizens and Nations: The Rise of Nationalism and the Decline of the British Keynesian Welfare State’.
The lecturer
James Mitchell is currently Professor of Politics at the Department of Government, University of Strathclyde. His publications are numerous, and include ‘Governing Scotland: The Invention of Administrative Devolution’ (2003) and ‘Strategies for Self-Government’ (1996). He was also co-author of the title ‘ScotlandDecides: The Devolution Issue and the 1997 Referendum’ (2000) and another title ‘Devolution in the United Kingdom’ is forthcoming. Professor Mitchell is also Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London, and a member of the Scottish Steering Committee of Hansard Society (Scotland).
The lecture
Mrs Thatcher is often portrayed as the midwife of devolution. As well as providing a focus around which opposition was mobilised in favour of a Welsh National assembly and a Scottish Parliament, Mrs Thatcher challenged our basic understanding of citizenship, the relationship between the individual and the state.  The corollary of the myth of the unitary state in citizenship terms has been the idea of equality or, more accurately, uniformity of rights and obligations for citizens regardless of place of residence. 
Mrs Thatcher undermined some of the key props which helped maintain the unitary state myth and associated notions of uniform citizenship.  Today, we have devolved government but still struggle to find a new language of citizenship to replace those associated with the unitary state.  The centralised Keynesian interventionist state has gone but has yet to find a replacement.  This is one of the main challenges of devolution.  A new understanding of citizenship in our multi-level polity is now required.

 

For further information about the lecturer is available at http://www.strath.ac.uk/government/staff/mitchell.html.