Common Cause March newsletter: Focussing on neoliberalism isn’t enough
Dear friends, Many of us working in networks focused on promoting social change identify neoliberalism as the root problem of the challenges that we confront. As Common Cause often highlights, neoliberalism encourages extrinsic values — the pursuit of material self-interest through the accumulation of wealth, and the desire for social status and public image. These […]
Healing division through exploration of shared values
Originally published 15/02/22 on the Othering & Belonging Institute It seems that we live in a time of polarisation. The most salient areas of public debate are characterised by deep division on, for example, immigration, restrictions implemented to reduce transmission of covid, vaccination, membership of the European Union. In this context, the assertion wheeled out […]
Neoliberalism is not the Only Problem
We recently came across a provocative essay co-authored by Jack Coffin, an academic at the University of Manchester. Many of us working in networks focused on promoting social change identify neoliberalism as the root problem of the challenges that we confront. Not so, argues Jack. Neoliberalism, though important, is actually a symptom of a deeper […]
Common Cause February newsletter: When it feels like we’re Wordles apart
Dear friends, If you’re not already playing Wordle, then you’ve probably heard of it; the ‘viral puzzle craze’ which has swept the internet in 2022. Of course the big news this month is that the game has been sold to the New York Times for an undisclosed ‘seven figure sum’, but its origins are much more […]
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
When I was a child, the definite marker of the start of the festive season was spotting the Coca-Cola Christmas advert on TV. I vividly remember running around our living room in my pyjamas shrieking ‘Holidays are Coming’ at the top of my little lungs, much to my parents utter dismay – especially as the […]
Living our multi-issue lives
That the challenges which we collectively confront are deeply interlinked becomes ever more apparent. Empirical evidence for these interconnections continues to accumulate. We know that speciesism (the objectification of non-human animals) predicts more racist attitudes; we know that when people self-objectify their bodies, their intention to engage in pro-environmental behaviours is diminished; we know that […]
The Activist, and why we must consider the cultural footprint of our work
Have you ever had that feeling where real life begins to take on the semblance of a Black Mirror episode? Or when you’re reading a news article and have to triple check it’s not been published on The Onion and is in fact reporting something that has actually happened? Well, that’s how I felt when I first heard about The Activist – a […]
Instrumental use erodes sacred values
An increasingly popular narrative in the corporate and third sectors is the “business case” for social values. Businesses are increasingly aligning themselves with important social values, such as sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and community development, while many charities choose to highlight the economic case for social or environmental action. For companies, this is a win-win: […]
Football: A Narrow Escape
That the owners of these clubs should be forced into retreating from their plans is testimony to the persistence, in football, of other values than those of the market. It’s striking that those other values still persist in football, because in many respects the sport has become a vehicle for promulgating neoliberal values more widely. […]
What Is a Migrant Worth?
In early February, a study was published that claims that UK towns with more immigrants do much better economically. Commissioned by anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate, the study attempts to challenge negative perceptions of immigration and concludes that “growing diversity is an inevitable part of increasing prosperity—and, potentially, a contributor to it.” The claim that […]