Personal and theoretical politics in the writings of C.P. Snow

Abstract

CP. Snow's work may usefully be treated as a whole, despite the verity of forms in which it appears. As such, it contains a comprehensive set of related theories relevant to political activity and founded on Snow's view of the individual, and centreing on the relationship between personal and theoretical politics. This thesis presents a reconstruction of Snow's basic theories of the individual condition and the processes of political activity. Personal politics describes the immediate interaction of individuals in situations of acknowledged limited conflict; theoretical politics refers to any theory of the mode of political activity. These categories overlap but do not coincide with, Snow's own categories of "open" and "closed" politics, and Snow's thoughts and attitudes to his own dichotomy are discussed. The crucial action of the individual is that of making decisions, and a parallel is seen in social organisation, where the mode of activity is persuasion, the effective resolution is through compromise and the tools of insist and reason. While Snow's writings otherwise represent a congruent system of ideas there is an apparent gap between his analysis and his hopes for (the future, which is resolved in terms of his own theories, and his contribution is found to provide a certain type of political education.