This isn't the sort of thing society grows out of. It's the sort of thing that society grows into
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ecology & placeThe relationship between people, home, and place shifts, as landscape, culture, and technology fluctuates. Here, we examine the ebb and flow of people, places, and culture.
Gandhi's vision of a non-violent social order remains the template for ecology, peace and social justice
The author of "Waterlog" and the forthcoming "Wildwood" explored the natural landscape in fresh, surprising and influential ways. Ken Worpole pays tribute to Roger Deakin, and introduces his openDemocracy "swimmer's journey" article from July 2001. Read the rest of this post...
John Davies' beautiful panoramic photographs of the British landscape capture an industrial world now lost and a modernity running away from its past, says Ken Worpole. Read the rest of this post...
The London International Festival of Theatre wants your vote in its architecture competition to design the Lift New Parliament, a travelling performance and meeting space – preview the designs and cast your vote. Read the rest of this post...
Can architecture be democratic? Jeremy Till warns against empty gestures and sticking handwritten notes on technical drawings, and welcomes Lift's mold-breaking project to design a New Parliament. Read the rest of this post...
Jane Jacobs's book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" changed the way people thought about urban planning, the street and the character of cities. Roger Scruton reflects on the relevance of its message today. Read the rest of this post...
The landscape artist Ian Hamilton Finlay created an extraordinary fusion of sculpture, inscription and philosophy in his Little Sparta garden. Ken Worpole considers a complex figure. Read the rest of this post...
"When we get down to swimming, we get down to democracy." Ken Worpole finds a political challenge in the revival of a public arena where sensuous and spiritual pleasures combine: the lido and open-air swimming pool. Read the rest of this post...
A journey through the coastal landscape of Essex, eastern England, convinces Ken Worpole that human beings in the 21st century must relearn how to live with water. Read the rest of this post...
The battle over fox-hunting in England has led to a crisis of authority in the state itself. Anthony Barnett asks John Jackson, a key figure in the case and chairman of a leading law firm, Mishcon de Reya, to comment on the significance of the latest decision by a high-level panel of judges. Read the rest of this post...
The unchallengeable heart of the case against fox-hunting is that it inflicts cruelty on its quarry, says a prominent figure in Britain’s animal protection movement. Read the rest of this post...
A former leading official with Britain’s League Against Cruel Sports describes how he came to change his mind about banning hunting with dogs. Read the rest of this post...
Even before the British government of Tony Blair first proposed to ban hunting with dogs in England and Wales two years ago, thus provoking massive protest demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people, openDemocracy realised that this polarising issue required discussion and dialogue between voices on different sides of the argument. The result was our debate of June–December 2002, “Hunting culture – is there a place for hunting in the modern world?”
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Unequal power relationships in the world economic system mean that hungry Africans often have no choice but to eat genetically-modified food. Patrick Mulvany argues that food aid policies can be driven by the commercial policies interests of rich nations rather than the interests of the most vulnerable people. Read the rest of this post...
Can a 73-year old Canadian farmer’s legal challenge to biotechnology giants succeed in altering global rules on patent law? Read the rest of this post...
The litmus test of a healthy, civilised life, the convivial route to harmony between people and nations: Frank Ward glimpses a better world in the mirror of a wine glass. Read the rest of this post...
When alcohol is imagined as evil, absinthe, the legendary 19th century French drink of the mad and bad, plays the role of the devil. Why its links with social unrest and sexual deviance? Read the rest of this post...
Britain’s city and town centres float on a sea of alcoholic excess. After years of promoting the benefits of the “leisure economy”, can its public policy help restore alcohol to its truer place as a lubricant of life and laughter? Read the rest of this post...
A combination of pagan roots, national traditions, and modern attitudes has shaped the Scottish New Year celebration called Hogmanay. Without the myths, is it any more than an inebriated street party? Read the rest of this post...
Irish people’s high alcohol consumption has been transformed in the public mind from a cultural trait into a major medical and social problem. How did the country’s drinking culture acquire its harder, violent edge? Read the rest of this post...
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