Changement social et problématique du pouvoir : le parti travailliste britannique de 1983 à 1992
Institution:
Bordeaux 3Disciplines:
Directors:
Abstract EN:
In the 80s, the british labour party went through a series of significant changes. When james callaghan lost the general election in 1979, the party experienced serious difficulties, worsened by the election of michael foot as leader of the party in 1980. After the 1983 electoral defeat, a reordering was seen as a priority by a growing number of party members and officials. The action of neil kinnock, who became leader in 1983, expresses the will of the party to succeed in the next election. He started a process oof ideological reneewal, the "policy review", as well as a restructuring of the movement. The backgrop to these changes is the social, economic and political changes in great britain, under the successive thatcher governments. The labour party does not seem to be able to rally people's interest : though it has overcome some difficulties in relation to public opinion (unilaterialism or political extremism for instance), it doesn't arouse people's enthusiam. While at the beginning of the 20th century, the working class from which the "party of labour" originated was, practically and symbolically, its political basis, no social group can now embody the labour values.
Abstract FR:
L'echec de james callaghan aux elections legislatives de 1979 a marque le debut de graves perturbations au sein du parti, accelerees par l'election de michael foot a la tete du mouvement en 1980. Apres la defaite electorale de 1983, la necessite d'une remise en ordre devient une priorite aux yeux d'un nombre croissant de responsables et d'adherents. Neil kinnock, qui prend la direction en 1983, incarne la volonte du parti de retrouver les chemins du pouvoir. Parallelement a sa ferme reprise en main du mouvement, il engage un processus de renouvellement ideologique en profondeur. La reorganisation de la structure et la revision programmatique, policy review, sont les deux aspects qui dominent les annees 80 au sein du parti travailliste. Ces changements s'inscrivent dans le contexte de l'evolution sociale, economique et politique de la grande-bretagne sous les gouvernements successifs de margaret thatcher. Si le "parti du travail" a surmonte un certain nombre de problemes vis-a-vis de l'opinion publique, comme l'extremisme politique ou l'unilateralisme en matiere de defense, sa difficulte majeure, a l'oree des annees 90, est son incapacite a soulever l'enthousiasme des britanniques, et a s'assurer le soutien de groupes sociaux specifiques.