Blogs & articles

What is the Big Society Equivalent of Gandalf the White?

Blog

12 Jan 2012

Jonathan Rowson

The internet sometimes feels like one big cavern of promiscuous information where intellectual swingers throw around their ideas in search of fertile ground. It has been called an 'echo chamber' and is fuelled by the urge to link, forward, quote, repeat, retweet and so forth with a gradually vanishing care for provenance or accuracy. What 'works' online is mostly a function of 'forwardability'. The chamber thus abounds with misinformation laundered through a thousand servers, while the good, the true and the beautiful gradually lose their bearings.

Roll out the rotten barrel

Blog

12 Jan 2012

Matthew Taylor

In these hard times a free meal is always welcome so I hope it won’t be considered churlish of me to describe a recent dinner – one of the regular gatherings of a somewhat secretive members’ club - at which I was kindly hosted by some corporate friends of the RSA. As well as food, wine and good company, I overcame my aversion to black tie dress code because David Miliband was the keynote speaker.

Discrimination: why mental illness is a special case

Blog

11 Jan 2012

I’ve had a great response so far to my post about mental health and employment on Monday, and some important issues have been raised. One of the comments made directly in response to the blog was particularly challenging, and pointed to some important issues which I have tried to tackle in some of my previous work on anti-stigma education.

School oversight and getting to the point at last

Blog

11 Jan 2012

Matthew Taylor

Predictably, the Government is having to face the question of what to place in the yawning managerial gap between thousands of Academies and the Department for Education. Recent examples of Academies getting into financial trouble, or the school in Haringey refusing to ‘Academise’, highlight the vacuum left by the effective abolition of local education authorities.

Why are we so afraid to speak of the spiritual?

Blog

10 Jan 2012

Jonathan Rowson

Le 21ieme siecle sera spirituel ou ne sera pas - Malraux.

An end to the paradox?

Blog

10 Jan 2012

Matthew Taylor

Much to the relief of my PA Barbara (‘Matthew, I’m almost missing your jokes’), this is the final post in a series of seven exploring the paradox of entitlement. Along the way I have received many useful comments, some positive, other less so. A number of people have questioned the clarity and consistency of my use of the term entitlement. The criticisms are well founded. I am deliberately stretching the idea to try to develop a narrative which links all sections of society and offers a vision of solidarity and purpose instead of the prevailing atmosphere of pessimism and resentment. After reading today’s effort - come on folks just 750 words to go - you can tell me whether I have at all succeeded:

The untenable defence of unpaid internships by some of the 'charity' sector

Blog

10 Jan 2012

Atif Shafique

Thomas Lyttelton has recently put up a blog defending the use of unpaid internships by the ‘charity’ sector, including the Young Foundation.

Mental health at work – everyone’s business

Blog

09 Jan 2012

Whose responsibility is it to support people with mental health problems in/to employment? Later this month, the OECD will publish what looks like an important piece of work examining the myths and realities about mental health and work. The issue is a spectacular tangle of grey areas, discrepancies and imprecision.

Entitlement, privilege and freedom

Blog

09 Jan 2012

Matthew Taylor

Like the Harry Potter film makers I have decided to divide the final instalment of my series of posts on 'the paradox of entitlement' in two. Sadly, despite the many helpful comments I have received to the earlier posts, I don't expect millions to be waiting with bated breath for my finale.