Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface / Patricia Hewitt -- Introduction: Holding the Thread / Jane Roberts and Sebastian Kraemer -- 1. The Political Context / Marjorie Mowlam -- 2. Attachment Theory: A Secure Base for Policy? / Jeremy Holmes -- 3. Personal and Social Influences on Parenting and Adult Adjustment / Lynne Murray -- 4. Hope in the Inner City: Towards a New Deal / Andrea Pound -- 5. Tough on the Causes of Crime? Social Bonding and Delinquency Prevention / David Utting -- 6. Friendly Society / Ray Pahl -- 7. Gender Crisis and Community / Beatrix Campbell -- 8. Place and Local Identity / George Nicholson -- 9. Is There an Alternative to the Global Society? / Ian Taylor -- 10. The Business of 'Community' / Jonathan Gosling -- 11. New Paradigms and Practices for Local Government: Capacity Building Within Civil Society / John Benington -- 12. The Life of a Legislator: Can Politicians be Normal People? / Tessa Jowell -- 13. You Pays Your Money: Models of Capitalism / Paul Ormerod -- 14. The Management of Uncertainty / Peter Marris -- 15. Digital Community: 'Only Connect' / Oleg Liber -- 16. Attachment in Context / Michael Rustin -- 17. Aux Armes, Citoyens! / Helena Kennedy -- Afterword / Sebastian Kraemer and Jane Roberts.

What are the roots of 'feeling good'? As the battle of ideas at the centre left of politics escalates, it is becoming clear that social and economic justice, while necessary, are not in themselves sufficient conditions for a secure society. There is little sense of the human predicament in the middle of contemporary politics. Growing insecurity and uncertainty seem to characterize the human condition at the end of the twentieth century. The contributors to The Politics of Attachment - all distinguished authorities from a variety of backgrounds in public, professional and academic life - share a common conviction that we all have a powerful need to belong, to be attached to people, places and projects, and that social and political processes must reflect that. The writers draw on recent research and debate in developmental psychology and political science to provide a unique dialogue between the psychological and the social - a political grasp of ordinary human needs.