A low ebb Those of us working for social justice and human rights have faced strong headwinds in recent decades. A world obsessed with economic growth has led to environmental degradation, the removal of social safety nets, deregulation of planning controls, fragmented communities and increased conflict. Ever-growing inequality has fuelled political extremism and the emergence…
I have suppressed the memory of this until now. It is New Orleans in 2010. I am working with the wonderful Dr Albert Ruesga, President of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. The issue is racial justice. We want to make the principle of equality the main priority for the Foundation. There are many hurdles, but…
In this post Barry Knight takes a look at failed approaches to poverty in the UK, things worsening with the pandemic and ‘making life next to impossible for people towards the bottom of the income distribution, with minorities and women most affected’. He points out how politicians are ill-informed about poverty. As a result, mistakes…
To follow up his article, #BuildBackBetter, Barry Knight is researching practical ways to make this happen. In the first of a series of articles, he examines the role of the individual, and concludes that a necessary condition of rebuilding society is to face the ‘shadow’ we all have within ourselves. The air is thick with chickens…
Looking at the history of poverty, there appears to be one certainty: poverty has been a feature of every human society since time immemorial. As the Bible says: ‘The poor you will always have with you’ (Matthew 26:11). A breakthrough In the 19th century, philanthropy worked hard to overcome this, and by 1909 there was a…
Coronavirus has changed our world forever. Plans made a few weeks ago seem outdated at best or undoable at worst. The speed of this has been remarkable. In a recent article, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown quotes Lenin: ‘There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.’ Those of us…
In the 19th century, Victor LeGrand created an orderly, geometric railway system for France which was designed to bring about the full integration of the country. This was reckoned to be far superior to the Prussian rail system, which was a hodgepodge of lines run by 50 different companies. The French system, known as the…
New promise Thirty years ago, European philanthropy stood on the brink of new promise. The formation of the European Foundation Centre (EFC) on 9 November 1989 – the same day that the Berlin Wall fell – ushered in a new era for philanthropy as part of a vision for a new Europe. There was hope…
Candid (formerly the Foundation Center) and Centris (Rethinking Poverty) are conducting a study on the role of philanthropy in producing safe, healthy and just societies. At a time when many people are questioning the value of philanthropy, the study aims to clarify its role in creating peaceful and inclusive societies that provide access to justice for all…
By Barry Knight and Colin Greer I dream’d in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the Attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth; I dream’d that was the new City of Friends. Walt Whitman The unseen driver of our troubles causes no pain. But it is quietly destroying you…