Individualism
A podcast of this event is available to download (MP3, 23MB)
Date and venue: 18 November, The RSA - London (now sold-out)
Speakers: Neal Lawson, Matthew Taylor, Stephen Thake
Respondents: Katherine Rake
Chair: Julia Unwin
“What is required is a redefinition of freedom. Instead of viewing it only through the prism of limited individualism and consumerism, freedom needs to be recast in more expansive terms to give people real autonomy, defined as control over our lives.”
Neal Lawson
“The era of rampant individualism and social pessimism may now be drawing to a close. New solutions require us to engage with all the ways in which we are human.”
Matthew Taylor
“Countering individual excess is not just a question of addressing a social evil but of social justice and environmental sustainability.”
Stephen Thake
Neal Lawson discusses why we are less happy and why our lives feel more out of control than ever before, despite gaining many individual liberties.
Stephen Thake argues that, in the face of selfish individualism and wasteful consumerism, we must focus on new forms of agency, solidarity and individual behaviour to rebuild a strong civil society.
Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA, questions the very foundations of who we think we are as individuals and asks whether we are heading towards a new Enlightenment.
Neal Lawson
Neal Lawson writes regularly for the Guardian and the New Statesman about equality, democracy and the future of the left. He often appears on TV and radio as a political commentator. He is chair of the centre-left pressure group Compass, whose goal is for a more equal and democratic world. He is author of Compass pamphlets on democracy and the future of the NHS and public service reform. He is Contributing Editor of the social democracy policy journal Renewal. He is an Associate of the think tank Demos, on the Board of CentreForum and a Research Fellow at the Global Policy Institute at London Met University.
Neal was formerly an adviser to Gordon Brown and before that a trade union researcher. For ten years he worked as a public affairs consultant and ran his own company. He co-edited The Progress Century (Palgrave, 2001) and is currently writing a book called ‘All Consuming’ for publication by Penguin in May 2009.
Matthew Taylor
Matthew Taylor became Chief Executive of the RSA in November 2006. Prior to this appointment, he was Chief Adviser on Political Strategy to the Prime Minister.
Matthew was appointed to the Labour Party in 1994 to establish Labour’s rebuttal operation. His activities before the Labour Party included being a county councillor, a parliamentary candidate, a university research fellow and the director of a unit monitoring policy in the health service. Until December 1998, Matthew was Assistant General Secretary for the Labour Party.
During the 1997 General Election he was Labour’s Director of Policy and a member of the Party’s central election strategy team. He was the Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research between 1999 and 2003, Britain’s leading centre left think tank.
Matthew is a frequent media commentator on policy and political issues, and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Observer, New Statesman and Prospect.
Stephen Thake
Stephen Thake, is Reader in Urban Policy at London Metropolitan University. He is a member of the Quirk Review group advising the Secretary of State at the Department on Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on asset transfer. He leads the team evaluating the Adventure Capital Fund, sponsored by the Cabinet Office, DCLG and London Development Agency. He was also policy advisor to the Commission on Unclaimed Assets.
His knowledge of leading edge practice in disadvantaged neighbourhoods across the UK as well as parts of North America and Northern Europe has enabled him to propose policy frameworks and programme initiatives designed to create a sustainable community sector. He has also advised and undertaken policy analysis and programme evaluation for community focused organisations, central government departments, regional development agencies, Church of England and local authorities.
His most recent publications are Community Assets: the benefits and costs of community management and ownership (DCLG, 2006); Making Assets Work: Quirk Review of management and ownership of assets (DCLG, 2007), Delivering Against Expectations: interim report on the Adventure Capital Fund (LMU, 2008); Votes and Voices: complimentary of civic and civil societies (2008, NVCO/LGA).
Julia Unwin CBE
Julia Unwin has been the Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation since 1 January 2007.
She was previously Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency and worked as an independent consultant operating within government and the voluntary and corporate sectors. In that role, she focused on the development of services and in particular the governance and funding of voluntary organisations.
She also served as a member of the Housing Corporation Board for 10 years and a Charity Commissioner from 1998 until 2003. Among other voluntary roles, she was chair of the Trustees of the Refugee Council from 1995 until 1998.Julia has long experience as an advocate for the users of housing, health and social care services.
Julia is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Social Action, a member of the Ethics Committee at the University of York and a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute.
Katherine Rake
Dr. Katherine Rake is Director of the Fawcett Society and one of the UK’s leading specialists in gender and social policy. Under her leadership, Fawcett runs passionate, informed campaigns for women’s rights. Katherine has advised the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit, HM Treasury and a range of other Government departments. She is a regular broadcaster and has contributed to a wide range of print media.
Katherine was previously Lecturer in Social Policy at the LSE and secondee to the Women’s Unit, Cabinet Office where she edited a ground-breaking report on women’s lifetime incomes. In 2008, Katherine was awarded an OBE for services to equal opportunities, an Institute of Directors ‘Good Director’ Honour and the Social Policy Association’s Annual Award for Outstanding Contribution from a Non-academic.