In this latest interview in our Big Society Challenge series, Hilary Wainwright, co-editor of Red Pepper, contrasts the coalition's Big Society with ideas of self-organisation that took root in the '60s and '70s. She advocates an unofficial "big society" where communities occupy Big Society rhetor
Can the government's Big Society idea foster genuine community empowerment, or is it merely a smokescreen for cutting back the size of the state? OurKingdom authors provide top debate and analysis of the Coalition's plans for a renewal of civic life.
The Burkean appeal to the organic 'little platoon' implicit in the Big Society idea rests uneasily with the Coalition's aims even if it undermines Labour's claims to represent communities
All three UK political parties talk of "localism", but this is meaningless so long as local government lacks proper constitutional power and independence.
As Ed Miliband shapes his opposition strategy, he will have to respond to the Conservatives' Big Society. In a contribution to OK's debate on the Big Society Challenge, Niki Seth-Smith discusses how Labour's new leader might shape a convincing alternative to Cameron's 'big idea'.
Instead of rejecting the Conservatives' Big Society outright, the left should endorse its values but argue that the state has an important role to play in fostering them.
How will the left respond to the clear challenge of the Conservatives' Big Society project? In the latest in our series, Rachael Maskell, of Unite, argues that the Big Society idea is simply a smoke-screen for the privatisation of public services.
How will the left respond to the clear challenge of the Conservatives' Big Society project? Tessa Jowell MP, former Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, gives her view.
How will the left respond to the clear challenge of the Conservatives' Big Society project? Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), gives his view.
How will the left respond to the clear challenge of the Conservatives' Big Society project? Will Straw, editor of Left Foot Forward, argues that social enterprise works best in partnership with the state, and cannot be expected to replace it.
The government has been very clear in its vision that a smaller state is needed to liberate society. But how should local government adapt in order to interact with the Big Society?
The "Big Society" idea is a phony PR invention dreamt up by people with little experience in civil society. Government cuts will destroy the culture of volunteering that Labour helped create.
