Latest thinking

Behavioural Boozenomics!

Blog

04 Apr 2013

Nathalie Spencer

Gathered together in a snug area of a busy central London pub, people are enjoying a drink and nibbling on some crisps, enthusiastically chatting to one another. So far, so normal. But when you get within earshot of this group, you realise something surprising: they are all talking about things like irrationality, randomised controlled trials, social norms and cognitive biases…

The fortnight in Fellowship: Raspberry Pi; Whitley Arts; Stephen Fry; Good People...

Blog

03 Apr 2013

Here at the RSA and across the 101 countries where we have Fellows there is always something interesting going on…

Is a home where the heart is?

Blog

03 Apr 2013

Matthew Taylor

I haven’t got many responses to my posts about care.

The Marxist revolution has begun but no-one’s really noticed yet.

Blog

31 Mar 2013

For Marx, meaningful change would only come about when the workers seized control of the means of production.  In his day that meant land, factory machinery and transport networks. Were he around now, I think he would probably cast a tired eye over the left’s moral crusading on executive remuneration and welfare payments and look instead with enthusiasm to what is stirring in the economy. 

Compassion and sacrifice should be welcome gifts, not required expectations

Blog

28 Mar 2013

Matthew Taylor

Does the following clarification help us better frame the debate over care?

Hordes of scrounging immigrants? Just say ‘No’

Blog

27 Mar 2013

Matthew Taylor

Disillusionment with Hollywood came in my teens. Like millions of filmgoers I had been thrilled by Alan Parker’s Midnight Express, which told the often harrowing story of the brutal imprisonment of Billy Hayes by the Turkish authorities after he was convicted of trying to smuggle hashish out of the country.  I was dimly aware when I saw the film that the Turkish authorities were aggrieved but assumed this was standard propaganda from an oppressive and backward state.

The Big Idea: allowing visitors to make easy digital donations

Blog

25 Mar 2013

Joanna Massie

William Makower FRSA has set up the National Funding Scheme which was supported with two grants totalling £7,000 from RSA Catalyst. Our grants helped William develop graphics and a demo for launch events. In this guest blog William sets out the thinking behind the idea and how Fellows can get involved:

Stigma of mental illness? Alive and well

Blog

25 Mar 2013

The stigma of mental illness is alive and well. Despite the fact that campaigns like Time to Change have been working hard to eliminate stigma and discrimination against people with mental health conditions, it seems that it’s still all too easy to casually slip into a culture of blame.

Me, myself and I

Blog

22 Mar 2013

Matthew Taylor

In my annual lecture last year I argued that a decline in the performance and legitimacy of institutions along side a weakening of social solidarity had led to individualism being the dominant way in which we think about and pursue change.  The problem is not so much individualism per se (like hierarchical authority and social solidarity, it has its weaknesses and strengths as a mode of operation) but that it is required to do too much work in terms of resolving hard problems. For example, as I have also argued, the political establishment continuously and erroneously maintains that the individualistic idea of social mobility is the most appropriate and effective way of addressing social injustice.