Many people I encounter these days remark on the evacuation of the middle-ground in political views. Polarisation is the order of the day, and those who have seen themselves near the centre, whether leaning left or right, have found themselves wondering where everyone went, and why their own moderation is sometimes perceived as extremism fromContinue reading “Confessions of a conservative liberal”
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Glory Days: where the left went wrong
‘Glory Days’ is more than just a great song by Bruce Springsteen. The image is of aging men remembering the great days and achievements of their youth, and living in the past, and not facing the routine mediocrity into which their lives have settled. I think this image can give us some insight into theContinue reading “Glory Days: where the left went wrong”
The Moral Muscle
I co-teach a course called Sociology of Freedom with a colleague. Lecturing about freedom of speech and academic freedom, I have tried to introduce the idea that speech can be regulated either ‘morally’, through the informal sanctions of expressions of approval and disapproval, or ‘legally’ through enforceable policies, rules, regulations, and laws. ‘Hate crime’ laws,Continue reading “The Moral Muscle”
Rebalancing Consensus and Conflict
When I was a student in the 1980s and 1990s, it was conventional to characterise the social sciences, especially sociology, anthropology and political science, as divided into two wings, those emphasising ‘consensus’ and those emphasising ‘conflict’. This framing goes back to the 1960s, and was well established as I was becoming an academic. The primeContinue reading “Rebalancing Consensus and Conflict”
A Crisis of Faith?
It has become common in some circles to refer to the complex of ideas and beliefs generally labelled as ‘woke’, as a kind of religion, or at least vey like a religion (see, e.g., John McWhorter’s Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, 2021, Portfolio/Penguin). The term ‘woke’ has become for someContinue reading “A Crisis of Faith?”
On Two Systems of Knowledge
Humans rely on two distinct systems of knowledge, that are both parts of our evolutionary heritage. The one concerns our perception and processing of the reality around us, our physical environment. We need to accurately map the opportunities and risks, and judge our capacity to operate in that environment, locating food sources, avoiding predators, judgingContinue reading “On Two Systems of Knowledge”
On the Boundaries of Academic and Administrative Practice
In an earlier blog I raised questions about the idea of ‘decolonisation’ in academia, arguing that ‘western thought’ is a kind of ‘tradition’ with an internal integrity and logic that needs to be respected, even while it evolves and modifies. Here I add to that argument, focussing on decolonising the curriculum as a practical agendaContinue reading “On the Boundaries of Academic and Administrative Practice”
The Domestication of Competition
My new book (title above) is now out with Cambridge University Press. See: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/domestication-of-competition/8ABCFA88546A8CE13907FFEC3E4351B1#fndtn-information I reproduce the description from that webpage: Book description Competition is deeply built into the structures of modern life. It can improve policies, products and services, but is also seen as a divisive burden that pits people against one another. ThisContinue reading “The Domestication of Competition”
Conservatism, tradition, and ‘the canon’
Increasingly in these disorienting times labels of left and right, liberal and conservative, don’t seem to mean what they used to. I see myself as fairly tradition social democrat, supporting liberal democracy from a ‘left’ vantage point, and believing in a need for a balance between public and private power in society. But when encounteringContinue reading “Conservatism, tradition, and ‘the canon’”
On Respect
We talk a lot about ‘dignity and respect’ these days, and large organisations usually have ‘dignity and respect’ policies that seek to regulate conduct among staff in regard to things such as harassment and bullying. For instance, the University of Edinburgh Dignity and Respect Policy states: Integrity, collegiality and inclusivity are central to the University’sContinue reading “On Respect”
Uneasy Essays 