3. The Future of Solidarity

The Reith Lectures

BBC

Society & Culture, Science, Government, Technology

4.2 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This year's BBC Reith Lecturer is Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, Oxford University and the author of "Why Politics Fails." He will deliver four lectures in a series called “Our Democratic Future.” The series asks how we can build a politics that works for all of us with systems which are robust to the challenges of the twenty first century, from climate change to artificial intelligence. In this third lecture, recorded in Sunderland, Professor Ansell explores whether we can develop a shared sense of belonging in today's polarised societies. How can we ensure that we look after the less fortunate in an economy that seems only to reward the 'already haves'? Ansell addresses the challenges posed by technologies that enrich a small elite and privatise solidarity with bespoke healthcare and benefits that might undermine collective solidarity. And he assesses how policy reform - from universal basic income to civic nationalism - might help renew our communities.

The Reith Lectures are chaired by Anita Anand and produced by Jim Frank. The Editor is China Collins, and the co-ordinator is Brenda Brown. The series is mixed by Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Nicola Cocklin.
0:02.8	Young people have been making history for years, but we don't often hear about them.
0:06.6	My brand new series on BBC Sounds sets out to put this right.
0:10.6	In history's youngest heroes, I'll be revealing the fascinating stories of 12 young people
0:16.0	who've played a major role in history and who've helped shape our world.
0:19.8	Like Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela, Louis Braille and Lady Jane Grey,
0:24.8	history's youngest heroes with me, Nicola Cochlin. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:31.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Hi, I'm Ben Ansel and thank you for downloading my BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures on
0:40.5	our democratic future.
0:42.4	In this third lecture on the future of solidarity, I ask how, in times of increased
0:47.4	polarization, we can best come together.
0:50.8	Welcome to the third of this year's Reith Lectures.
0:56.4	We're in Sunderland at the beautifully renovated fire station, now a highly impressive live performance music venue site located in
1:02.7	the centre of this famous city in the northeast of England. It's symbolic of the renewal
1:08.6	that is happening here, part of a work in progress, a clear effort
1:13.5	to say the best days for this city can lie ahead rather than in the past. And that really
1:19.7	chimes with the core themes of this year's series, which looks at how we might navigate
1:24.7	our democratic future after the turbulence of recent years.
1:30.1	Our lecturer is a politics professor from Nuffield College, Oxford University, and in this,
1:35.7	his third lecture called the Future of Solidarity, he's going to be asking how we can develop
1:41.8	a shared sense of belonging in today's polarised culture. No doubt there are going to be asking how we can develop a shared sense of belonging in today's polarised culture.
1:46.6	No doubt there are going to be lots of questions about how exactly we do that.
	...

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