Before and Beyond the 'Big Society'

Dr Joseph Forde is Honorary Research Fellow in Historical Theology at the Urban Theology Union, Sheffield. After working for twenty-six years in NHS management, he gained a PhD in Theology from the University of Manchester. He is Chair of Sheffield's Church Action on Poverty.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionPart 1: Locating John Milbank's Thinking on Welfare and the Church within the Anglican Socialist Tradition1. Three Anglican Socialist Strands: Welfare Statist, Christendom, Revolutionist2. Anglican Socialism and the Rise and Fall of the British Welfare State ConsensusPart 2: John Milbank's Blue Socialist Thinking and His Perspective on the British Welfare State3. John Milbank Writing in the Christendom Strand4. John Milbank's Thinking on Welfare and the Church of England's Role in its Provision since 1945Part 3: John Milbank, the 'Big Society' Project and the Church of England5. The 'Big Society' Project and the Church of England: An Analysis of the Influences that Shaped GS18046. John Milbank and the Church of England's Future Approach to WelfareConclusionEpilogueAppendix 1: GS1804: 'The Big Society' and the Church of EnglandAppendix 2: List of QuestionsBibliographyIndex

In his wide-ranging book that does not shy away from bold policy suggestions, Joseph Forde offers a detailed exposition and critique of John Milbank, and a profound reflection on the Church's response to the reshaping of the Welfare State after the financial crash of 2008. Forde's lively and provocative book will stimulate all those who are interested in the Church's involvement with rebuilding society.Mark D. Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology, University of OxfordAn accessible, balanced and compelling account of recent theological and political history. Dr Forde recalls how John Milbank and Radical Orthodoxy re-connected Anglican social thought and political policy in ways not seen since the 1980s, but also outlines the challenge the Church of England now faces to think beyond the Blue Labour/Big Society paradigm to a theology of the State that can meet existential social threats such as climate emergency, growing poverty and global pandemics.Chris Baker, William Temple Professor of Religion, Belief and Public Life at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Director of Research at the William Temple FoundationJohn Milbank's influential political theology has played an important part in the current renewal of Anglican Social Theology. Forde expertly locates Milbank's work, scholarly and journalistic, in this Anglican tradition and assesses its contribution to debates on the 'Big Society' and the future of welfare. Anyone interested in Anglican Social Theology, Blue Labour, and the contribution of theology to public life will benefit from reading this book.Peter Scott, Samuel Ferguson Professor of Applied Theology and Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute, University of ManchesterHow does the Church, as well as thousands of voluntary agencies work alongside government to create a just, fair and compassionate society?This book puts this important question in a much larger historical and theological timeframe. It is a must-read for all interested in such concerns for the welfare of all our fellow citizens.Adrian Alker, Progressive Christianity Network, 5th July 2022This book, the outcome of doctoral research by Joe Forde, is a substantial contribution to the study of the Church of England's attitude to welfare provision over the last hundred years.John Schofield, Centre for Radical Christianity Online, July 2022The book draws on a remarkably wide range of sources and contains many wise reflections on a subject dear to my heart - the role of the Church in relation to poverty, inequality and welfare.I recommend Joe's book as shedding much fascinating light on the role of Church and state in our society today.David Price, Mark's Messenger - The Parish Magazine of St Mark's Church, July 2022The book is a thorough going examination of the Church of England's approach to welfare, historically and, more specifically, since 2010 . It is good and worth reading. But don't take my word for it.Ian K. Duffield, in Urban Theology Union Newsletter, Autumn 2022Forde has produced an extremely helpful and readable book which offers an excellent provocation for a return to a Temple-like advocacy of welfare statism. Forde's argument will help those from different strands of Anglican social thought to interrogate and clarify their position.Revd Dr Matt Bullimore, in Modern Believing, Volume 64, Number 3Forde's book is immensely thorough and a passionate plea for sound historical analysis, the area where he finds most to criticise in Milbank's approach. He points out that the voluntary sector, including the Church, was highly active in the provision of welfare long before the "Big Society" was proposed, and that it is a false reading of the Beveridge/Temple tradition to suggest that it intended to put all provision of welfare in the hands of the State and marginalise the voluntary sector.The Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby, Honorary Visiting Professor in Theology and Religious Studies at King's College, In Church Times, London, August 2023What is telling in this book, ultimately, is its ironic, tragic, carefully reconstituted account of how a socialist theologian inadvertently made it conceptually possible for the Church to naively baptise a neoliberal government, which did extraordinary social and economic damage, thinking all the time that its actions were socially and theologically prudent.Charles Pemberton In Studies in Christian Ethics, Volume 37, Issue 1, March 14, 2024The main focus of Forde's thoughtful and well-researched book, however, is the established Church of England's social policies (which to a significant extent lined up with Big Society thinking) and the influence of the theologian and commentator John Milbank on this. Milbank, known for being the prime mover in the Radical Orthodoxy movement, has also been a significant figure in relation to the ide