At the Midland Hotel, Bradford,
today for Big Society: The Good,The Bad &
The Unequal. This national conference is hosted by JUSTWest Yorkshire and is jointly sponsored
by them, Runnymede Trust, Joseph
Rowntree Charitable Trust and Joseph
Rowntree Foundation.
We're welcomed by Ratna Lachman, Chief
Exec of JUST West Yorkshire and Maureen Grant from Joseph Rowntree
charitable Trust, who set the tone for the rest of the day. The conference
focuses on four main areas:
- What does "fairness" mean in the context of Big Society?
- Can Big Society deliver racial justice?
- Does Big Society privilege the South over the North?
- Is Big Society a cover for big cuts?
This
event also marks the publication of a new book (with the same title as the conference), to help inform discourse
regarding Big Society, to interrogate Big Society agenda, particularly as it
affects VCS organisations, practitioners and service users. The
book provides systematic, intelligent critique, provides an alternate
narrative rather than one of grudging acquiescence and makes no bones about the
necessity of speaking truth to power.
There
are three plenary presentations (all of which you can access, faithful reader,
by clicking on the title below):
- Anna Coote (New Economics Foundation): Fairness and Equality in the Big
Society
- Ed Cox (Institute
of Public Policy Research): Two Geographies Divided by One
Big Society
- Rob Berkeley (Runnymede Trust): The Colour of Big Society
After lunch, we also see a young
people's video presentation on Big Society.
This is a very different affair from
the conference I attended in London a month ago (see blog, Monday 30 January). That
one was led by organisations who've obtained contracts and funding to deliver
Big Society initiatives and projects, with speakers addressing many in the
audience from organisations threatened by the Coalition's austerity regime - as
well as by the plain and simple fact that those making decisions about
development of the Voluntary and Community Sector just don't "get
it". There was an undercurrent of anger and resentment at that event. It
would be true to say that here, there's no undercurrent. Quite the opposite:
it's more of a rallying cry. From a straw poll, I
reckon I'm the only one who attended both conferences - and take it from me, there's quite a difference between the two!
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