Latest thinking

Avatar; indigenous peoples, carbon credits and the rainforest

Blog

13 Jan 2010

I'm loving the commentaries that have evolved around Avatar's themes of exploitation of natural resources, imperialism and biological diversity.

Family, character and class - the Cameron view

Blog

12 Jan 2010

Matthew Taylor

Our Trustees’ AwayDay (which was neither away nor a day, but very useful nevertheless) having finished, I find myself with a rare opening in my diary. How better to fill it than reading David Cameron’s speech on character and parenting delivered yesterday at Demos.

Living by Giving

Video

12 Jan 2010

With Chris Rudge, A C Grayling and Professor James Neuberger

Progressive politics, intersubjectivity and collective action

Blog

12 Jan 2010

Saturday’s Guardian featured two very good pieces. The first was Ed Miliband’s talk of ‘the power of collective action’ and ‘vision of a society where self-interest and shared interest go hand in hand – one of the first pieces from a politician or government minister to have really excited me in a while. The second featured the historian Tony Judt’s argument that ‘we now have a second generation of people who can't imagine change except in their own lives, who have no sense of social collective public goods or services, who are just isolated individuals desperately striving to better themselves above everybody else’.

Britain thinks - or does it?

Blog

11 Jan 2010

Matthew Taylor

I’ll be fascinated to see what becomes of BritainThinks, a website for collecting public opinions, which was launched last week and is the subject of an extensive (and presumably expensive) poster advertising campaign.

Smile or Die

Video

11 Jan 2010

Acclaimed journalist, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich explores the darker side of positive thinking.

Welfare and work: the Community Allowance

Blog

11 Jan 2010

I came across the CREATE consortium's Community Allowance proposal recently. The idea is to make it easier for people who are dependent on benefits to carry out work that needs doing in the community, or to be able to declare and be recognised for work they already do. Examples of such work include: care for elderly friends, relatives and neighbours; childcare; odd jobs; cleaning up parks and streets; caretaker job;, lollipop ladies (and gents); and working for local charities. Community Allowance does several things:

Schools - back to basics

Blog

09 Jan 2010

Matthew Taylor

Sometimes a series of unconnected events conspire to turn a vague conviction into a firm opinion. Try these three:

Brief moments of wonder

Blog

06 Jan 2010

Matthew Taylor

There was an hour this afternoon when the snow outside my window was a blizzard and it looked like – for once – the monuments and by-ways of central London would be shrouded in white. At exactly the same time it seemed like something exciting (I’m not saying good or bad, just ‘exciting’) might be happening in politics. Hoon and Hewitt had called for a ballot and there was an eerie silence from the Cabinet. And at just that moment Strauss and Cook were charging into an unbroken century partnership chasing the improbable target of 466 in South Africa.