Good Society Archives | Rethinking Poverty

Good Society

Rethinking Poverty: what needs to change?

By Barry Knight

09 Jun 2021

We have the ideas for change It is now more than three years since Rethinking Poverty began to compile resources to support the development of a good society without...

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Now is the time to talk about a good society, argues Compass paper

15 May 2020

Compass last week published a paper Towards a Good Society, written by Ruth Lister, Labour peer and the outgoing chair of the Compass board. Cries of ‘we cannot go...

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Will individualism survive the Coronavirus?

By Stuart Cartland

26 Mar 2020

The current national and global crisis in which we find ourselves has exposed the myth that a society based upon individualism can work, flourish and be sustainable. We can...

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Rethinking Poverty and The Orwell Youth Prize 2020 – The Future We Want

12 Nov 2019

‘To take a rational political decision one must have a picture of the future’  (George Orwell, 1944) The Orwell Youth Prize, supported by Rethinking Poverty, has launched its 2020...

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How can public policy support an ‘infrastructure of kindness’ in Scotland?

24 Oct 2019

A new report from Carnegie UK, Public policy and the infrastructure of kindness in Scotland, explores the decision to put kindness at the centre of the Scottish National Performance... Read More

Does “The Wigan Deal” anticipate a more radical future?

By The Alternative UK

23 Oct 2019

 “The Wigan Deal” beats austerity by putting unique human relationships at the core. Does it anticipate a more radical future too? This affecting, even moving video above comes... Read More

Reinventing social services

By Bob Rhodes

18 Sep 2019

As part of its Manifesto for Social Care Reform, the Centre Welfare Reform proposes a radical reinvention of social services and the reintegration and refocusing of social work on... Read More

Talking Points: July/August 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

11 Sep 2019

This month’s Talking Points ranges widely from US companies’ new professed purpose of improving our society to a change of direction at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, ideas for transforming public... Read More

Children’s well-being lowest in eight years, report finds

30 Aug 2019

The Children’s Society annual report, The Good Childhood Report, published this week, has found a significant decrease in children’s overall happiness.  The report, now in its eighth year, is part... Read More

Forty years of bumpy road

By Barry Knight

16 Jul 2019

This article is based on a talk to the Voluntary Action History Society on 10 June 2019. Arthur Marwick said that a society without an understanding of its history... Read More

How to live better together

By Barry Knight and Colin Greer

10 Jul 2019

The unseen driver of our troubles causes no pain. But it is quietly destroying you and me. What is it? We reckon that most of you will have thought... Read More

Building communities for the Scotland we want

By Barry Knight

24 Jun 2019

What follows is the text of a speech given by Barry Knight at a conference of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) on 12 June 2019. The speech... Read More

Powering a good society

By Barry Knight

03 Jan 2019

Last year was a bad year for anti-poverty campaigners. Poverty rose significantly and yet the government summarily dismissed reports from the UN and JRF. If we are to produce... Read More

Thoughts on a good society

By Katy Goldstraw

19 Dec 2018

Current discussion of a good society takes place in a period of profound global change, and there is no agreement about what a good society would look like. In... Read More

Principles for a Good Society

By Ghiyas Somra

24 Oct 2018

Rethinking Poverty advocates a move away from ‘top-down approaches drawing on the views of professional experts’ such as the bottom-up approach 45 Degree Change and actually hearing from the communities... Read More

Creating a new narrative for a good society – lessons from Letchworth

By Rethinking Poverty, Compass, TCPA, University of Hull, UCL

26 Sep 2018

What would a good society look like and how can we achieve it? As described in yesterday’s blog, a small group of people got together in Letchworth Garden City... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: Towards the Webb Legacy – a summary

By Caroline Hartnell

24 Apr 2018

Barry Knight’s book Rethinking Poverty:What makes a good society? was published last September, eliciting a wide range of responses, published on the Rethinking Poverty blog. Barry’s new paper, summarised... Read More

We need knowledge and leadership for a good society

By Nat O’Connor

19 Mar 2018

Barry Knight, and others, are right to move beyond the word ‘poverty’. It is a loaded term and people carry so many preconceptions into any conversation on poverty that... Read More

Forging a Good Local Society

By Neil McInroy

27 Jul 2016

  For too long we have either turned a blind eye to poverty and disadvantage or hoped that a general rising tide of economic wealth would trickle down. The... Read More