A number of CTC Fellows are involved in an upcoming seminar on Blue Labour.  Details, including how to RSVP to attend, are below.  The event organisers write..

The Primacy of the Social and Ethical – How Blue Labour speaks to the social, political and economic situation in the UK in 2012.

6 July 2012, 9.30am to 17.00pm at the Centre of Theology and Philosophy, University of Nottingham

Out of what materials can Labour fashion a compelling vision of the type of country we wish to govern and offer an effective orientation for assured political action?

The Labour tradition is not best understood as the living embodiment of the liberal/communitarian debate, or as a variant of the European Marxist/Social Democratic tension.  Labour is robustly national and international, conservative and reforming, Christian and secular, republican and monarchical, democratic and elitist, radical and traditional,and it is most transformative and effective when it defies the status quo in the name of ancient as well as modern values.

(‘Labour as a Radical Tradition’, Maurice Glasman, 2011)

The aim of this seminar is to gather Blue Labour thinkers, supporters and activists to explore and discuss substantive Blue Labour themes. The aim would be to deepen, enrich and expand upon the themes that constitute the emerging Blue Labour narrative.

Professor John Milbank (who is also a Fellow of the Contextual Theology Centre) will give the opening address and Lord Glasman will close the conference. Our panel discussions will cover a broad and critical range of concerns such as political economy, regional and national identity and post-liberal politics.

We will meet, reflect, discuss, agree and possibly disagree yet commit to act to meet the needs of this hour. Needs that require a radical response rooted in all that is inherently good within Labour’s formative tradition.  If you are interested in attending please contact Ian Geary at idtommyg@hotmail.co.uk. The cost is £15 for those in employment and £5 for students and the unemployed. These tariffs are merely to cover the events costs.