Civil Society

An OurKingdom conversation [History: Jeremy Gilbert > Rosemary Bechler > this post > Rosemary Bechler (part one; part two) > Jeremy Gilbert]

Anthony Barnett (London, OK): The great Sunny Hundal of Pickled Politics has just emailed to say he has "teased" me in his latest CiF post. It's called "Bloggers of the Left Unite!". I hope we don't. "Unite", that is. Such an obligation will demand a correct line etc, etc. Sunny is preparing the ground for a new initiative, that I will warmly support when it is suitably launched on Guy Fawks night. Now, by way of early stimulation no doubt, he suggests I was wrong to ask some time back why Britain's rightwing blogland is so much more lively than the left's. Wrong, because, he says,

Anthony Barnett (London, OK): Today's Guardian is fascinating for anyone interested in democracy. Start with the good news. A campaign to rid the Kingdom of plastic bags is underway, "a revolution which began in Modbury Devon" is now taking the country by storm. An editorial nervously praises the "direct action": "What is striking is that things often start off with just a handful of people... Their success reflects the appeal of tackling a global problem by action that benefits the immediate neighbourhood... Politicians might rue another missed bus, and most of the rest of us may wish they offered more determined leadership on the environment. But at least civil society, which sometimes seems to be dying a lingering death, still has the capacity to flare into life..."