Category Archives: Sociology

What is 'free' about the web?

Perversely, Web 2.0 has become synonymous with an American mythology of freedom. But information technology works best in small well-organised political units with high levels of social protection. So there is every reason to believe that the net works best with another notion of freedom – the security of knowing that failure will not have [...]

Time to junk the broken economics

Neoclassical econometricians with their mad scientist dreams have debased economics. That is why, even though many of its specific mechanical and behavioural insights remain valid, the metatheory of neoclassical economics should be consigned to the scrapheap, argues Thus counter cultural anti-economist Chris Gilchrist. Now pay attention . . . . .  Most of us suspect that [...]

Random facts about funhouse Britain from Thus

In no particular order, and with no special weighting, here are a few facts gleaned from the media with help from friends of Thus at Ten. Please feel free to send in your own facts. We need them in this era of spin and errant fantasy: 68% of Britons believe that MP’s salaries are ‘too [...]

Emigrate to Leicester: you could do a lot worse

Leicester is now officially one of the most diverse towns in the UK, forecast to be the first to have a majority non-white population by 2011. Good news for everyone, argues John Keyes. My memories of being brought up in Leicester are in most ways fairly typical of anybody of my age and class. Regiments of [...]

Throw away your crutches and limp down to the McJobCentre, says PM

By John J Kelly In yet another demonstration of the sort of lateral thinking that has made Gordon Brown not only saviour of the banks but saviour of the world, Work and Pensions Minister James Purnell announced a government pledge to force long term sickness benefits claimants and some single mothers back to work. The Welfare Reform White [...]

Forcing teen mothers to work could be Labour's worst social policy idea yet

By Julia Margo, Demos One of the themes to emerge from debates last week about the Karen Matthews/Baby P/shocking state of social services scandals was the ongoing saga of Britain’s teenage birth rate, or more precisely the so-called benefit claiming class of teenage single mothers who suck up state resources and services, do not work, [...]

Cruel parenting is not a class issue

By Julia Margo, Demos I expect that my fascination with Karen Matthews is predictably middle class. Her crime may be heinous, but she has captured our imagination in her role as working class anti-hero: a reminder of how some people (the ‘other half’) live in today’s Britain. The weekend coverage of sink estates – the [...]