The Communal Town and the Liberal City

Part six of a forthcoming book called Collected Essays.

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Towns could be characterised as being more communal whereas cities could be characterised as being more liberal. This essay will examine why this is the case by looking at sources from disparate disciplines like political philosophy, economic history, continental philosophy and modern literature. It will argue that towns are more communal because they are smaller and tend to conserve traditions. They usually have community centres, churches, health centres which everyone shares. They are often culturally and ethnically homogenous and are less amenable to social change. They often have the same economic resources. Meanwhile, cities are often more liberal, since they are larger, are more culturally and ethnically diverse and they are often the centres of finance and trade. This essay will begin by defining liberalism and communitarianism. It will do this by looking at political philosophy. It will look at the origins of liberalism and communitarianism in antiquity. Following this, it will try to establish why town are more communitarian whilst cities are more liberal. This essay will provide examples of communitarianism by looking at the think-tank Blue Labour. It will later provide examples of more individualistic thought systems by looking at existentialism and modernism. It will try to ascertain why towns and cities have the characteristics that such thought systems prescribe.

This essay will begin by offering definitions of liberalism and communitarianism. The main concern of liberalism is liberty, however different strands differ as to how this should be prioritised. Classical liberalism, as posited by John Locke, claims that laws and government limit the freedom of the individual (Gaus, Courtland, Shane and Schmidtz 1996). According to Locke, there must be a social contract which protects the liberties of everyone. However, liberals disagree as to what role the government should play in protecting these liberties. Locke claims that the government should only provide policing to protect the liberty of citizens. However, a modern liberal like John Rawls thinks that it is necessary to raise taxes to fund a more fair and just society. This is unlike classical liberals like Locke and Robert Nozick, who believe that a measure like redistribution of wealth is an illiberal encroachment on the liberties of citizens, as it uses them as means to specific ends. Additionally, another major difference amongst liberals include differences like positive and negative liberty. Issiah Berlin wrote about negative liberty, which involves an individual being able to pursue something free from coercion. A person lacks freedom if he is prevented from doing something – hence, regulations and laws prevent the individual from choosing what to do. Meanwhile, positive liberty aims to provide resources which allow freedom of choice for the individual (Gaus, Courtland, Shane and Schmidtz). According to Martha Nussbaum, this is the only real form of liberty and she regards negative liberty as ‘an incoherent idea,’ as all our choices are dependent on resources such as wages, education, electricity, laws, etc. All our choices are permitted or inhibited by others, so liberty can never truly be ‘negative’ (p. 65, Nussbaum 2011). According to the socialist theorist R. H. Tawney, ‘being free is being able to act,’ but, as Nussbaum identifies, Tawney point out that depriving the individual of resources like education, food, electricity, etc. deprives him from the ability to act (Gaus, Courtland, Shane and Schmidtz). 

            Meanwhile, communitarianism means belonging to a group of people rather simply one person (Merriam-Webster 2019). This could apply to various communities and organisations, but certain public institutions like NHS and the BBC could be called communal, as they are owned by the entire nation. Of course, the most extreme manifestation of this tendency is communism, which calls for the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange. According to Karl Marx, workers have been exploited by capitalism, so they must overcome the structures that oppress them and take control of their own labour (Wolff 2017).

            Ideas like individual agency and shared values hark back to ancient antiquity. After having defined the meaning of these terms, this essay will examine their provenance and turn to Plato and Aristotle, who debated these issues. Plato leant more towards communitarianism whilst Aristotle harboured a type of proto-liberalism. Plato believed that forms exist independently of things and that these forms apply to everything (Meinwald 1999). In other words, everything that we see is underpinned by forms. Aristotle, meanwhile, simply thought that a form is part of that individual thing. A chair is shaped in a certain way, but it does not contain a specific type of ‘chairness’ (Kenny, Amadio 1999). This metaphysical foundation extends to their political philosophies, since Plato thought that the body politic was a single organism. Meanwhile, Aristotle thought that society was comprised of a plurality of individuals who make their own choices (p. 127, Nussbaum). Although Aristotle thought that society was plural, he still thought that humans are social animals who need to form groups and private associations. Both thinkers thought that men are political and that a ‘human good’ cannot be reached in isolation. Plato even thought that his corporatist society should be controlled by state censorship and should limit education and common families (Biondi 2011).

            Now that this essay has defined these terms and examined its historical roots, it will try to gauge why towns are more communal whereas cities are more liberal. Towns harbour institutions that everyone shares, such as libraries, health centres and churches. Nearly everyone uses the same supermarkets and shops. They also often conserve traditions for centuries and many families live in the same town for many decades. Towns are neither countercultural, in the way that many cities are, nor are they revolutionary in the way that communism delineates. Meanwhile, cities are comprised of thousands or millions of individuals who pursue conflicting goals. Immigration in cities creates more diversity, as foreign-born residents often account for one-third of the population in London (Sullivan 2015). Cities often integrate foreign communities, which make them more plural and diverse. 95% of immigrants in the UK live in an urban area (100 Resilient Cities 2017) and this affects social and community cohesion. Cities are often centres of finance, which are a hub of international transactions. Cities are also a hub of tourism and culture whereas towns are not. However, this was only a relatively recent development, as urbanisation started to occur around 1920 when it reached a 50% threshold. There were 7.7 times as many household areas in cities in 2000 than in 1920 (Cox 2013). Cities are also more liberal as they create more atomisation, meaning that they are comprised of individuals who pursue conflicting interests. Groups and individuals are detached from one another and do not encounter one another. This is even enabled by ‘urban and architectural regulations,’ which create segregations (p. 114, Netto 2018).

By contrast, smaller towns primarily voted for Brexit and they are less diverse, less liberal and less tolerant of social change (Jennings, Stoker and Warren 2018). The vote as being interpreted as being conservative and nostalgic. People rued a bygone era of mining pits, full employment and high wages. This makes them more nationalistic whereas cities looked outward by voting for Remain. Interestingly, the rise of London as a financial power coincided with the UK losing its mettle in manufacturing and with the decimation of manufacturing jobs in northern towns. Manufacturing accounted for 21.57% of GDP in the 1970s and went down to 15.8% by the 1990s (p. 4, Rhodes 2018), when financial services were the bedrock of the British economy. The UK began to lead the world in financial services in the 1980s (Stewart and Goodley 2011). It currently totals £2.5 trillion in international bonds, which is the largest in the world and it has £8 trillion in banking assets (Davies 2016). This makes a city like London international and liberal, as it is comprised of a plurality of cultures which trade with each other. It is centred in London, meaning that it booms in the city whereas communal towns fall behind. For example, towns were more likely to vote leave in the Brexit referendum, as they had suffered from the decline in manufacturing and the rise in city-centred financial services. People were more likely to vote Leave in towns that had been neglected by policy makers (Jennings, Stoker and Warren).

This essay will look at examples of communitarian or liberal thinking and in what ways this make towns more communal and cities more liberal. It will use the think-tank Blue Labour as an example of the former. The think-tank argues that the Labour Party lost its way when it preoccupied itself with abstract ideas like equality and justice, which led to ‘vapid liberalism’ (p. xvii, Bew 2016). It is also sceptical of the welfare state implemented by Clement Attlee from 1945-51 because it claims that it created a large bureaucracy which intruded into the private lives of families and that it created a culture of dependency (Score 2011). It views George Lansbury as its best leader (p. xvii, Bew). It criticises Blair for embracing globalisation, since in its view it has decimated British manufacturing, depressed working-class town and, as such, destroyed local communities (Derbyshire 2011). Blair was keen to welcome giant financial banks to the city of London (Shaxson 2011). It also distrusts Gordon Brown’s world-view, as he embraced both the state and the market (Derbyshire). Brown invested in social programs such as early intervention programs, Sure Start, tax credits and investment in schools, hospitals and other public services. However, previous Labour governments funded investment in public services by taxing incomes whereas Brown largely raised his tax revenues from tax receipts from the deregulated financial sector (Freedland 2014). Hence, unbridled market capitalism created enough revenues for record investment in social programs.  

Both Blair and Brown’s embrace of globalisation is inimical to Blue Labour, as globalisation has affected northern towns in the UK. The decline of industry, the rise of the internet and robotics and the lure of London also had an economic impact. It fragmented cultures, as people moved south to look for jobs. The population in England that lived in the north went down from 35% to 27%, then down to 27% since then (Julian 2016). What bound them together – mining pits, labour union movements and political affiliations – have also disappeared due to the rise of globalisation and financial capital in cities (Julian). Additionally, labour markets have been changed by globalisation. The UK economy is interdependent with globalisation, as exchange rates affect the level of exports, which later affects competition and employment. The global financial crisis of 2007, for example, affected job security and unemployment rates. Another impact on northern towns has been the globalisation of labour, as immigration has an impact on wages. Globalisation offers good price stability, which is why foreign workers go to the UK to work (Hanley 2011).

Having examined an example of communitarian thinking, this essay will turn to two strands of thought that emerged after the rise of cities. Existentialism and modernism were two movements which emerged in the 1920s, when urbanisation reached its 50% threshold. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf was published in 1927, Ulysses was published in 1922, The Trial by Franz Kafka was published in 1927 and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner was published in 1929. Prescriptive thought systems such as Christianity had been shattered, which led to movements like existentialism. Existentialism argued that individuals should forge their own moral values in a Godless universe (Burnham 1995). Jean-Paul Sartre formulated his philosophy by arguing that existence precedes essence; that is, we are shaped by our existence and social environment (p. 20, Sartre 1947). Our existence creates who we are and we determine the kind of people we are by making our own choices (p. 20). There is no God who determines who we are, as we are born with a blank slate. Hence, the individual is responsible for his choices. However, existentialism is a highly moralistic philosophy and it is concerned as to how these choices affect others (p. 23). The individual must grapple with moral choices. Sartre includes examples such as whether a worker should join a Christian trade union or become a communist, whether an individual commits himself or the whole of humanity to monogamy by getting married and whether an individual should fight in a world war or take care of his dying mother (p. 24). All this makes existentialism a thoroughly individualistic philosophy, as it places greater emphasis on individual choice and individual responsibility. It is closer to the definitions of liberalism that this essay provided. Although it places greater emphasis on individual agency, it is still determined by strong moral values. This kind of mind-set had become more entrenched after the rise of industrialisation and urbanisation.  As Sartre says in his book Existentialism is a Humanism (1947), existentialism had become fashionable term that had been casually thrown around. It was popular in the type of bohemian and literary circles that harbour in cities. Existentialism linearly follows from Nietzsche’s ‘death of God’ pronouncement and that the individual creates who he becomes. This is unlike the more communal nature of towns, where traditions and cultures are passed down from generation to generation.

Meanwhile, modernism was a literary movement that often recreated the sense of alienation that individuals experienced within industrialised cities. Modernism started after WWI, after the rise of cities: ‘The modern impulse is fuelled in various ways by industrialisation and urbanisation and by the search for an authentic response to a more changed world’ (Kuiper 2009). Modernism was also particularly interested in consciousness and capturing the subjective perception of time (Taunton 2016). For example, Ulysses takes place over a single day and it is over a thousand pages long. Social realist novels of the 19^th recreated society whereas modernism tended to recreate subjective perceptions and the alienation that individuals experienced within industrialised cities. The Trial (1927) by Franz Kafka is an example of a modernist novel that does this.

  This essay will provide a close reading of The Trial and it will try to ascertain how it recreates the alienation that the individual experiences in the city. The novel follows its character Joseph K. being arrested and no reason is given for his arrest. A lot of the novel follows him working as a clerk in a city, presumably Prague. Of course, an effect of urbanisation and industrialisation led to an increase in administrative work. Indeed, the novel describes how this creates needless and excessive bureaucracy. As a result, K.’s arbitrary arrest is the result of this large bureaucracy and, despite, speaking to endless lawyers, no-one can explain why he has been arrested and no-one denies that he is guilty. As a result of working in an office, K. is often overworked and he has no time for leisure: ‘He was in the office most days until nine o’clock’ (p. 13, Kafka 1927). He is so attached to his office work that he does not enjoy leisure time: ‘Every hour spent in the office grieved him’ (p. 154) Additionally, the complex laws and bureaucracy is intractable and there is no lee-way in the process: ‘The court can never be persuaded to change its opinion. […] [It is] firmly convinced of the accused person’s guilt’ (p. 153) This is close to totalitarian regimes, which disregard human rights and which repress all dissenting views and opinions. To conclude, the city in the novel has created more administration and bureaucracy, which intrude into the private life of the individual. It does not let him have any leisure time and he is even hounded by it during his free time. This bureaucracy is even totalitarian, as it arrests people in arbitrary way, crushes dissent and tries to control all aspects of human society, even the private lives of individuals.

Additionally, the novel depicts the segregation and atomisation that is created by the city. Although communities exist, these communities are segregated. Joseph K. does not speak with co-workers or mingle with other demographics: ‘He was in the habit of sitting until eleven o’clock, mostly in the company of elderly gentlemen, at a table reserved for regulars.’ (p. 13). Occasionally his manager invites him to social activities, but he is largely aloof (p. 13). Also, society is highly stratified and divided into classes. There are hierarchies, as Joseph K. is arrested by a nebulous authority that never appears. His arrest is cold, affectless and this nebulous authority does not explain why he has been arrested: ‘I am exceeding my instructions by talking to you in such a friendly way’ (p. 2). There is a nebulous hierarchy which is repressive and distant. His managers in his office are equally nebulous and distant. This is unlike the solidarity that often exists in communal towns, where there is more cohesion within communities.

The society in The Trial is increasingly marketised, but the state has also increased its size dramatically. As a result, K. has not been imbued with any values. Communities in towns had churches, which imbued them with common values and a belief system. Thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre grappled with this problem, by arguing that individuals should forge their own moral values after the ‘death of God.’ There is a striking scene in The Trial which is set in a church. Although Joseph K. does not profess to be religious, he is impressed by the aesthetics of the church. At the same time, he finds it oppressive: ‘The size of the church seemed to him to border on the very limits of what was humanly endurable’ (p. 163). The priest in the church tells him a story about a man who will not be allowed to walk into a building by a guard. This has parallels with Waiting for Godot (1953) by Samuel Beckett – people look for God, but he never arrives. The man asks for admission into the building ‘for many years,’ (p. 167) which is like the life-long devotion of many believers. At the end of his lifetime, he is told: ‘Nobody else could gain admittance here, this entrance was meant only for you. I shall now go and close it’ (p. 167). This suggests that God is never present, like Beckett’s play, but it is reminiscent of the personal relationship many believers claim to have with God. Like the complex laws in the world of the novel, and like religion itself, the priest is very dogmatic. The parable that he presents can only be interpreted in a single way: ‘You have insufficient respect for the written record and you are altering the narrative’ (p. 168). Joseph challenges the priest repeatedly, which suggests that he does not think highly of religion. The city in the The Trial has lost common values like religion, but at the same time Joseph K. struggles to forge the kind of moral values formulated by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Towns are more communal, as they often have health centres and shopping centres that everyone shares. Traditions are often conserved and families often stay there for generations. As this essay illustrated, towns are often much less resistant to social change. They are often more nationalistic and nostalgic. For example, more towns voted for Brexit and they rue a golden period of mining pits, ful employment and high wages. Towns have adapted less well to globalisation and the shift from manufacturing to financial services in the British economy. Meanwhile, cities have boomed after globalisation, have integrated immigrants more successfully and they are the centres of international finance and trade. This essay provided an example of communitarianism by looking at the think-tank Blue Labour. This essay provided a definition of liberalism and it looked at both classical and social liberalism. It also showed how these debates harked back to antiquity by looking at the arguments of both Aristotle and Plato. Finally, this essay argued that more individualistic thought systems like existentialism and modernism emerged after wide-spread urbanisation in the 1920s. Sartre argued that individuals should forge their own moral values after the decline of religion. Individuals were often alienated after the rise of industrialisation, urbanisation and the decline of religion, which modernist novels grappled with. This essay examined this with a close reading of The Trial by Franz Kafka. It showed that the city has created more administration and bureaucracy, which has led to an almost totalitarian repression of the individual. The city in the novel has also created more atomisation, as Joseph K. is isolated and there are segregated communities. Finally, Joseph K. is not imbued with the kind of common values that are prevalent in towns. He has no belief system and does not believe in God. In a scene in a church, a parable is presented, which suggests that God is never present and will never arrive, which has parallels with the main narrative and theme in the novel. Having covered a plethora of disparate subjects, these are the conclusions that this essay has reached.

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