24 Jun 2010
From David Cameron's 'big society' to numerous think tank projects on civic engagement, why is the concept of community suddenly at the centre of political debate? At a time when traditional approaches to social ills proposed by the left and right - more state intervention versus less regulation of the market - are failing to offer new answers, it's perhaps not surprising that both main parties now emphasise the role of active citizenship as a model for revitalised neighbourhoods and communities. But what does the 'big society' look like? What does it mean to live according to the values of citizen ethics? What happens when we embrace citizen power? And what has to change in politics and society for those ideas to become part of how we live, rather than the latest faddish notion?
Chaired by ICA director Ekow Eshun, speakers include influential conservative thinker Phillip Blond, author of Red Tory, writer and journalist and co-founder of the Citizen Ethics Network Mark Vernon, and Stewart Wallis, Executive Director of the New Economics Foundation.