Events

Fixing British Politics

13.00-14.30
ippr, 30-32 Southampton Street, London, WC2E 7RA

Recent turmoil in parliament, from the expenses scandal to the electoral success of fringe parties, has raised a number of questions about how the British political system works. All the major political parties have added their voice to calls for reform of the political system. Current debates have revived some long-standing questions about the way we are governed and the nature of the British constitution.

To discuss these issues, ippr will be joined by:

• Tony Wright MP, newly appointed chair of the all-party parliamentary reform committee
• Vernon Bogdanor, Britain’s leading constitutional expert and author of the newly published volume, The New British Constitution
• Dominic Grieve QC MP, Shadow Justice Secretary and Shadow Attorney General

Questions the seminar will cover include:

• What should be the priorities for any reform of the political system? 
• What impact will the government’s recent proposals for reform have on the British political system?
• Can political reform address the decline of the moral authority of parliament and MPs engendered by the expenses scandal?

This seminar is part of ippr’s Thinking for Tomorrow series, which presents big-picture thinking on a range of policy questions. Thinking for Tomorrow offers reflections from leading thinkers on some of the major challenges that will face policymakers in decades to come.

This event is open to an invited audience of academics, journalists and policy-makers. To reserve a place please email events@ippr.org or phone 0207 4706100.

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A Moving Story: Is There a Case for a Major Museum of Migration in the UK?

3:00pm-5:00pm
Royal Commonwealth Society
25 Northumberland Avenue
London WC2N 5AP

This event sees the launch of a report by the Migration Museum Working Group, which was set up to explore how the story of migration to the UK could be best represented in the museums and heritage sector. The group will present its findings and recommendations, which present a challenge to those working in museums and migration.
 
The conversation will be led by Barbara Roche, former Immigration Minister and Chair of the Migration Museum Working Group. There will also be input by Dr Mary Stevens, who led the research on migration in museums for the working group, and the event will be hosted by Dr Danny Sriskandarjah, Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society.
 
If you would like further details, or to confirm your attendance, please contact events@ippr.org or telephone 020 7 470 6100.

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Does Class Matter Anymore?

1:00pm-2:30pm
At the ippr, 30- 32 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7RA

In recent years, class has become increasingly seen as irrelevant to key social faultlines, while policy debates have been dominated by a concept of social exclusion based on deprived minorities on the one hand and a large mainstream on the other. In academic debates, influential theorists such as Ulrich Beck, Zygmunt Bauman and Anthony Giddens argue that class is increasingly less salient in our daily routines, beliefs and practices. Beck famously coined the phrase that class is a ‘zombie category’, one which has ceased to perform useful work for sociology.

So does class matter anymore, for culture or for politics? Drawing on new research, Professor Mike Savage challenges the current orthodoxy, arguing that class does, in fact, matter for our social and cultural identities.

Places at this event are limited. To reserve a place please email events@ippr.org.

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