23rd December 2007, 02:16 PM
This is rather a worrying (albeit muddled and contradictory) piece. Kenny's central idea is that "Our work is ultimately for the public benefit..." and that this means that 'we' should cease from being "disinterested technicians", by promoting the idea of... well, yes, the idea of what exactly??? Some kind of shared identity, er, but not nationalistic...er, er...
The idea that a "shared British identity" can be meaningfully distinguished from 'chauvanistic beliefs' or 'patriotism' as Kenny claims is problematic. The shared sense of community he referes to is based on the nation state and will end up reinforcing the idea of the nation state. In the face of escalating warfare and global warming, I'm not sure that a greater support for nation states is a positive thing.
Even if it can, is it right to promote such a thing? It is certainly arguable that what is needed in Britain today is less focus on supposedly shared values, and more focus on the ever-widening gap between rich and poor. Unless we recognize such a division, its hard to do anything about it, which is why nationalism has been traditionally promoted by the Right and eschewed by socialists, anarchists and others on the Left.
I'm surprised an archaeologist of Kenny's standing should so easily re-hash this (New Labour?) 'sense of community' stuff, when, once you get past the "Oh, what a pretty cathedral"-stage, a glance at our 'shared' heritage reveals so much division: roundhouses versus villa, hovels versus castle, slave ships and workhouses versus mansion. Oh, and the trenches at Ypres. Which of these exactly "has the potential to strengthen the sense of community", Kenny?
In short, Kenny is asking all of us to intervene politically in the way that HE thinks is best. Whats especially sinister is the way in which - lest we forget - a senior member of the IFA is willing to tar all those of us who feel uncomfortable about his vision as "self-centred and self-serving individuals". Sound rather Stalinist, that... to the gulags with them!!