Tag: Bristol

Participatory inequality and the rise of populist politics

It’s been a fascinating and frustrating few days in politics. On Thursday lunchtime I discovered that Claus Offe, one of the world’s most famous political sociologists, as giving a lecture entitled Participatory inequality in the austerity state about a hundred metres from my office late on Thursday afternoon. […]

Who is social housing for, and who should it be for?

Yesterday I participated in a consultation event organised by Bristol City Council. it was designed to start a debate locally about the revision of social housing allocations policy. My talk, which ranged rather more broadly than simply allocations policy, is a bit too long to include in a […]

Challenging Corporate Coffee

Thursday’s G2 magazine featured an article about the imminent arrival of Costa coffee in Totnes in Devon. John Harris recounts the opposition to the move among local independent coffee retailers and local residents. Totnes has a distinctive culture: people fear that Costa will undermine it. This act of […]

Why an Elected Mayor is a bad idea

On Wednesday 2nd May we are holding a couple of last minute briefings on the arguments for and against a Directly Elected Mayor for Bristol. For the purposes of the debate I am giving arguments against the move to a Mayor. For the avoidance of doubt, that doesn’t […]

Shaping the mayoral debate

The Government has presented Bristol with a decision of profound significance. A choice that has the potential to transform the city’s future. Next May we will be asked to vote on whether we want an elected mayor.  Similar votes will occur in a number of other great British […]