Bernard Crick
Encyclopedia
Sir Bernard Rowland Crick (16 December 1929 – 19 December 2008) was a British political theorist and democratic socialist whose views were often summarised as "politics is ethics
done in public". He sought to arrive at a "politics of action", as opposed to a "politics of thought" or of ideology
.
, and the London School of Economics
for his doctorate (1950–52). He began teaching at Harvard and taught at McGill
before returning to Britain and the LSE in 1956, where he taught for 11 years.
During his time at LSE, recollections of which appear in his contribution to My LSE, Abse, Joan (ed)., London: Robson, 1977, Crick craved for greater recognition than his Senior Lecturership signified. LSE's promotion system was notoriously slow at the time. When appointed Professor of Political Theory and Political Institutions at Sheffield in 1965 Crick told Beaver, the LSE student newspaper, that he was "going to a better place from the point of view of teaching students". This may have been true but only a half-truth about his motivation: he was going quite reasonably for a professorship.
Crick sponsorsed the LSE's new-formed "Society Against Racial Discrimination" (1963). The indigenous British, he remarked, should treat immigrant ethnicities "as equals – and as no more than equals". At least one member of audience wondered who proposed treating immigrants as "more than equals". The remark was an arrow without a target.
Any university teacher has to manage the transition from school to university for his or her students. A first-year undergraduate in 1963, Geoffrey Thomas (later of the Philosophy department, Birkbeck College, London) recalls his naive bewilderment at a clash between authorities. Professor H.R.G. Greaves promoted one view of cabinet collective responsibility in his lectures, and Dr Crick quite another in his classes. "You might be interested to know," Thomas innocently remarked with some bafflement in a tutorial, "that your views on collective responsiibity are polar opposite to those of Professor Greaves". "Then," Crick urbanely observed, "having equal access to both of us you are in a position of unique advantage". A student learnt one difference between school and university that afternoon.
Crick's lectures at LSE displayed the freshness of his language – one might approach a subject, he once said, 'with an eye well-dressed with knowledge' but this is only one of many Crickian metaphors – and his humour. Thomas recalls the following: "There are two questions: whether ideals have an influence on history and whether politics is to be sensibly seen as the attempt to achieve values. Are all ideals the product of circumstance ?" The answer might have been sententious. Instead Crick said: "Marxism grew out of one messianic, ill-tempered, bearded, boily individual".
Bernard Crick was an advisor to British Labour Party
leader Neil Kinnock
during the 1980s. When Labour came to power in 1997, Crick was appointed by his former student David Blunkett
to head up an advisory group on citizenship education
. The group's final report in 1998, known as the Crick Report, led to the introduction of citizenship as a core subject in the National Curriculum. He was knighted in the 2002 new years honours list for "services to citizenship in schools and to political studies". He authored the 2004 Home Office book Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship, which forms the basis for the new citizenship test
required by all people naturalising as British citizens.
He taught for a number of years at the University of Sheffield
and Birkbeck College, University of London
. He was a Vice-President of the British Humanist Association
. He took early retirement in 1984, setting off for Edinburgh to be with his wife, Una MacLean. He remained domiciled there, becoming an ardent proponent of a Scottish parliament.
His ambition was not sated by his high academic reputation, which was recognised in the award of four honorary doctorates. He was made a vice-president of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom
, which also gave him a lifetime achievement award on its 50th anniversary in 2000. In an interview with "Beaver", the LSE's undergraduate newsheet, in 1965 Crick announced his ambition to write "a big book on the conditions of political freedom". None such appeared; and the fact is congruent with Crick's cast of mind. Despite the scintillating fun and real perceptiveness of In Defence of Politics, Crick had little aptitude for the higher reaches of political theory. He was creative about institutional politics, as 'The Reform of Parliament' (1964) makes clear, but his biography of Orwell, well-researched and competent, operated at the middle range of political theory with which (at least on one view – nothing is uncontroversial) he was most at home.
Crick was married and divorced three times. His first wife was Joyce Crick, herself a senior lecturer in German at University College, London, and well known as a translator of Thomas Mann
and Sigmund Freud
. By her he had two sons. His oldest son Olly is an educator and drama practitioner, who among other things has written a well-received book on Commedia dell'arte. His younger son Tom works in international conflict resolution. There were no children of his later marriages.
Crick died from prostate cancer
at the age of 79, in St. Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh
.
with the help of Orwell's second wife Sonia Brownell
. The hardback edition rights were used to set up a grant in conjunction with Birkbeck College
to fund projects by new writers that would have interested Orwell. In 1980, just before the book was published, a friend of Crick's, David Astor
, agreed to match the grant. Over the years there were contributions by Richard Blair, Orwell's adopted son and also The Observer
newspaper, among others. Due to a lack of discernible projects, after five years the fund was diverted to produce an annual memorial lecture at Birkbeck College and the University of Sheffield
, and also to provide small departmental grants. The lectures at Birkbeck continue; in November 2009 the Orwell Lecture was given by Hilary Mantel
.
In 1993 Crick set up the Orwell Prize
with sponsorship from The Political Quarterly
to honour political writing. Two awards are given out each year – one for political journalism and the other for a political book. The first awards in 1994 went to Anatol Lieven
for his book The Baltic Revolution and to The Independent on Sunday journalist Neal Ascherson
. Crick was on the judging panel until the 2007 awards.
of China
said, "Power grows from the barrel of a gun," and Joseph Stalin
of Russia
said, "The Pope
? How many battalions does he control?" Such views, in Crick's estimation, are anti-political, because the speaker seeks to overcome any ethics of his constituency with the threat of violence.
The "political virtues" were an important feature of Crick's classic book, In Defence of Politics; he saw them as an alternative to "ideology
" or any "absolute-sounding ethic
". They included but were not limited to:
Recently he was writing a book on The Four Nations of the UK and a history of the journal Political Quarterly.
edited by Crick:
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
done in public". He sought to arrive at a "politics of action", as opposed to a "politics of thought" or of ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
.
Career
Crick was born in England and educated at Whictgift School, University College LondonUniversity College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, and the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
for his doctorate (1950–52). He began teaching at Harvard and taught at McGill
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
before returning to Britain and the LSE in 1956, where he taught for 11 years.
During his time at LSE, recollections of which appear in his contribution to My LSE, Abse, Joan (ed)., London: Robson, 1977, Crick craved for greater recognition than his Senior Lecturership signified. LSE's promotion system was notoriously slow at the time. When appointed Professor of Political Theory and Political Institutions at Sheffield in 1965 Crick told Beaver, the LSE student newspaper, that he was "going to a better place from the point of view of teaching students". This may have been true but only a half-truth about his motivation: he was going quite reasonably for a professorship.
Crick sponsorsed the LSE's new-formed "Society Against Racial Discrimination" (1963). The indigenous British, he remarked, should treat immigrant ethnicities "as equals – and as no more than equals". At least one member of audience wondered who proposed treating immigrants as "more than equals". The remark was an arrow without a target.
Any university teacher has to manage the transition from school to university for his or her students. A first-year undergraduate in 1963, Geoffrey Thomas (later of the Philosophy department, Birkbeck College, London) recalls his naive bewilderment at a clash between authorities. Professor H.R.G. Greaves promoted one view of cabinet collective responsibility in his lectures, and Dr Crick quite another in his classes. "You might be interested to know," Thomas innocently remarked with some bafflement in a tutorial, "that your views on collective responsiibity are polar opposite to those of Professor Greaves". "Then," Crick urbanely observed, "having equal access to both of us you are in a position of unique advantage". A student learnt one difference between school and university that afternoon.
Crick's lectures at LSE displayed the freshness of his language – one might approach a subject, he once said, 'with an eye well-dressed with knowledge' but this is only one of many Crickian metaphors – and his humour. Thomas recalls the following: "There are two questions: whether ideals have an influence on history and whether politics is to be sensibly seen as the attempt to achieve values. Are all ideals the product of circumstance ?" The answer might have been sententious. Instead Crick said: "Marxism grew out of one messianic, ill-tempered, bearded, boily individual".
Bernard Crick was an advisor to British Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
leader Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
during the 1980s. When Labour came to power in 1997, Crick was appointed by his former student David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
to head up an advisory group on citizenship education
Citizenship education
There are two very different kinds of citizenship education,The first is education intended to prepare noncitizens to become legally and socially accepted as citizens...
. The group's final report in 1998, known as the Crick Report, led to the introduction of citizenship as a core subject in the National Curriculum. He was knighted in the 2002 new years honours list for "services to citizenship in schools and to political studies". He authored the 2004 Home Office book Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship, which forms the basis for the new citizenship test
Life in the United Kingdom test
The Life in the United Kingdom test is a computer-based test for individuals seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK or naturalisation as a British citizen...
required by all people naturalising as British citizens.
He taught for a number of years at the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
and Birkbeck College, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
. He was a Vice-President of the British Humanist Association
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
. He took early retirement in 1984, setting off for Edinburgh to be with his wife, Una MacLean. He remained domiciled there, becoming an ardent proponent of a Scottish parliament.
His ambition was not sated by his high academic reputation, which was recognised in the award of four honorary doctorates. He was made a vice-president of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom
Political Studies Association
The Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom is an association of political scientists that exists to develop and promote the study of politics in the United Kingdom...
, which also gave him a lifetime achievement award on its 50th anniversary in 2000. In an interview with "Beaver", the LSE's undergraduate newsheet, in 1965 Crick announced his ambition to write "a big book on the conditions of political freedom". None such appeared; and the fact is congruent with Crick's cast of mind. Despite the scintillating fun and real perceptiveness of In Defence of Politics, Crick had little aptitude for the higher reaches of political theory. He was creative about institutional politics, as 'The Reform of Parliament' (1964) makes clear, but his biography of Orwell, well-researched and competent, operated at the middle range of political theory with which (at least on one view – nothing is uncontroversial) he was most at home.
Crick was married and divorced three times. His first wife was Joyce Crick, herself a senior lecturer in German at University College, London, and well known as a translator of Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
and Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
. By her he had two sons. His oldest son Olly is an educator and drama practitioner, who among other things has written a well-received book on Commedia dell'arte. His younger son Tom works in international conflict resolution. There were no children of his later marriages.
Crick died from prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
at the age of 79, in St. Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
Work on George Orwell
In 1974 Crick started work on a biography of George OrwellGeorge Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
with the help of Orwell's second wife Sonia Brownell
Sonia Brownell
Sonia Mary Brownell was the second and last wife of writer George Orwell, whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair. She was also known as Sonia Blair or Sonia Orwell.-Background:...
. The hardback edition rights were used to set up a grant in conjunction with Birkbeck College
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
to fund projects by new writers that would have interested Orwell. In 1980, just before the book was published, a friend of Crick's, David Astor
David Astor
Francis David Langhorne Astor CH was an English newspaper publisher and member of the Astor family.-Early life and career:...
, agreed to match the grant. Over the years there were contributions by Richard Blair, Orwell's adopted son and also The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper, among others. Due to a lack of discernible projects, after five years the fund was diverted to produce an annual memorial lecture at Birkbeck College and the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, and also to provide small departmental grants. The lectures at Birkbeck continue; in November 2009 the Orwell Lecture was given by Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mary Mantel CBE , née Thompson, is an English novelist, short story writer and critic. Her work, ranging in subject from personal memoir to historical fiction, has been short-listed for major literary awards...
.
In 1993 Crick set up the Orwell Prize
Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize used to be regarded as the pre-eminent British prize for political writing.Three prizes are awarded each year: one for a book, one for journalism and another for blogging...
with sponsorship from The Political Quarterly
The Political Quarterly
The Political Quarterly is a British political journal founded in 1930 by Leonard Woolf, the husband of Virginia Woolf. It is broadly centre-left in outlook, but has published articles by a wide range of political thinkers including William Beveridge, Samuel Brittan, Ernest Gellner, Richard...
to honour political writing. Two awards are given out each year – one for political journalism and the other for a political book. The first awards in 1994 went to Anatol Lieven
Anatol Lieven
Peter Paul Anatol Lieven is a British author, journalist, and policy analyst. He is presently a Senior Researcher at the New America Foundation, where he focuses on US global strategy and the War on Terrorism, Associated Scholar of the Transnational Crisis Project, Chair of International...
for his book The Baltic Revolution and to The Independent on Sunday journalist Neal Ascherson
Neal Ascherson
Charles Neal Ascherson is a Scottish journalist and writer.- Background :He was born in Edinburgh and educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he read history. He was described by the historian Eric Hobsbawm as "perhaps the most brilliant student I ever had...
. Crick was on the judging panel until the 2007 awards.
Ideas
According to Crick, the ideologically driven leader practises a form of anti-politics in which the goal is the mobilisation of the populace towards a common end—even on pain of death. Mao ZedongMao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
said, "Power grows from the barrel of a gun," and Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
said, "The Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
? How many battalions does he control?" Such views, in Crick's estimation, are anti-political, because the speaker seeks to overcome any ethics of his constituency with the threat of violence.
The "political virtues" were an important feature of Crick's classic book, In Defence of Politics; he saw them as an alternative to "ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
" or any "absolute-sounding ethic
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
". They included but were not limited to:
- PrudencePrudencePrudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four Cardinal virtues .The word comes from Old French prudence , from Latin...
- ConciliationConciliationConciliation is an alternative dispute resolution process whereby the parties to a dispute agree to utilize the services of a conciliator, who then meets with the parties separately in an attempt to resolve their differences...
- CompromiseCompromiseTo compromise is to make a deal where one person gives up part of his or her demand.In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving variations from an original goal or desire.Extremism is often considered as...
- Variety
- AdaptabilityAdaptabilityAdaptability is a feature of a system or of a process. This word has been put to use as a specialised term in different disciplines and in business operations. Word definitions of adaptability as a specialised term differ little from dictionary definitions...
- Liveliness
Publications
Crick's works include:- The American Science of Politics (1959).
- In Defence of Politics (1962, and five subsequent editions, the last in 2002).
- Political Theory and Practice (1963).
- The Reform of Parliament (1964).
- Parliament and the people (with Sally Jenkinson) (1966).
- Essays on Reform (1967).
- Crime, rape and gin: reflections on contemporary attitudes to violence, *** and addiction (1974).
- Essays on political education (with Derek Heater) (1977).
- George Orwell: A Life (1982; revised and updated edition 1992).
- Socialist values and time (1984).
- Socialism (1987).
- What is Politics? (with Tom Crick).
- The Labour Party's aims and values: an unofficial statement (with David Blunkett) (1988).
- Essays on Politics and Literature (1989).
- Political Thoughts and Polemics (1990).
- To make the Parliament of Scotland a model for democracy (with David Miller) (1995).
- Education for citizenship and the teaching of democracy in schools (aka The Crick Report) (1998).
- Crossing Borders: Political Essays (2001).
- Democracy: A Very Short Introduction (2002).
Recently he was writing a book on The Four Nations of the UK and a history of the journal Political Quarterly.
edited by Crick:
- The Commons in transition (with A.H. Hanson) (1970).
- The future of the social services (with William Robson) (1970).
- Protest and Discontent (1970).
- Taxation Policy (with William A. Robson) (1973).
- The Discourses by Niccolò Machiavelli (1974).
- Political education and political literacy (with Alex Porter) (1978).
- Unemployment (1980).
- National identities: the constitution of the United Kingdom (1991).
- Citizens: towards a citizenship culture (2001).
- Education for democratic citizenship (with Andrew Lockyer) (2003).