The RSA Blog

Technology makes politicians and parties redundant but they won't go without a big push into the dustbin

Blog

02 Jul 2014

A quick post to highlight a good piece today by Daniel Finkelstein. Behind The Times paywall unfortunately but his core argument is that the rationale for politicians and parties is losing its resonance. The opinion aggregation that is their main raison d'etre no longer makes much sense in a world where new technologies are far better at fulfilling this task.  He also predicts the decline of political parties for, as he says, "if it is possible to contact voters without a party machine, the power of the machine will decline".

Inspire + Innovate: Celebrating the next generation of designers

Blog

02 Jul 2014

Rebecca Ford

Sir Jonathan Ive RDI

Who are the true radicals and who are the conservatives?

Blog

02 Jul 2014

Anthony Painter

There has been a quiet re-orientation of politics with some interesting and paradoxical unseen alliances forming. Increasingly, the framing of political statecraft is around your attitude towards institutions. On one side are the technocrats who include the Thatcherite Right and Fabian left*. These creeds espouse a technology of government, labour or business. Standing in opposition to the technocratic outlook are the institutionalists. This outlook prioritises the way people are, the way they come together, how they can pursue common goals, and how to perpetuate these relationships over time.

Religion and politics - the great unifiers?

Blog

30 Jun 2014

Matthew Taylor

What can we do about divisive and damaging attitudes to the poor? Knowing more people from other classes would be a good start.

Our response to climate change needs to bottom up, top-down, side to side, well regulated & collaborative

Blog

27 Jun 2014

Mark Hall

In yesterday’s Guardian article Lord Chris Smith, Outgoing Environment Agency Chair, said reduced funds and rising risks were an “inconvenient truth” and that failing to improve flood protection in the face of more frequent and extreme events presents a false economy. Last night he was at the RSA to announce his simple 12 point plan to combat climate change. You can see the full twelve points here but each of these can fit into just three categories; accepting climate change as an issue of global importance; strong leadership; collaborative working.

How gratitude can help your bank balance (and more)

Blog

27 Jun 2014

Nathalie Spencer

Saying “thank you” feels good. And not just for the person on the receiving end (when there is one), but also for the person doing the thanking: it seems that practicing gratitude can help people to focus on the positive and improve wellbeing. While researching aspects of financial capability for one of our upcoming papers, I came across a new study showing that the benefits of gratitude may extend even further.

What does a neuroscientist eat for breakfast?

Blog

26 Jun 2014

Lucy Chamberlin

In its quest for a more ‘circular economy’, the RSA Great Recovery is focusing on the links between design, materials and waste. Last week, I visited the Science Museum’s new installation on rubbish.

Bananas, bacon sandwiches and the quest for authenticity

Blog

25 Jun 2014

Rowan Conway

As Ed Miliband warms up for the campaign trail for 2015 and gets out there to meet the people, a posse of journalists and paparazzi lurk outside every cafe he enters, rubbing their hands in anticipation of the next awkward Kodak moment that will propel the Labour leader into the hands of the Twitter trolls. And boom! That bacon sandwich moment happened. And seconds later every news outlet was heralding a collapse in his poll ratings, providing legitimacy for journalists to persist with the question that refuses to die: "why aren’t you popular Ed?”

Today marks 100 years of Fellowship – what will the next 100 years hold?

Blog

24 Jun 2014

Oliver Reichardt

Exactly 100 years ago today the RSA voted to move from having members to having Fellows. On the surface this might seem like a simple name change, but it symbolized something deeper – that the RSA is a like-minded group of people, a Fellowship, committed to long lasting social change.