Alan Finlayson is Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East Anglia. His research is particularly concerned with the theory and practice of democratic politics, the study of political ideologies and also with political rhetoric. As part of a project supported by The Leverhulme Trust he has developed the website www.britishpoliticalspeech.org and is working to promote the theory, analysis and improved practice of political speech, oratory and argument in the UK.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKWhat is Blue Labour? An Interview with Marc StearsIn the first of a series of interviews on "Blue Labour", Marc Stears argues that the UK Labour party must recover a democratic culture, connecting with progressive social movements outside the Party to forge a politics of the common good.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKShould the left go Blue? Making sense of Maurice GlasmanAs the figurehead of 'Blue Labour', Maurice Glasman is being hailed as an intellectual guru for the Labour Party. In this Friday Essay, Alan Finlayson engages with Glasman's vision of the common good
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Published in: openDemocracyUKCompass' vote on opening out its membership is a sign of the pluralist timesCompass is deciding whether or not to open itself to members of any political party - rather than, as at present, only those who are members of the Labour party or of none. The decision feeds into a wider debate of the moment around the shifting distribution of power in British politics and the extent to which the left can and should co-ordinate efforts.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKThe philosophical significance of UKUncut
When activists under the banner of UK Uncut protest outside high-street shops on Saturday 18th December they will be doing something of great political importance. But they will also be demonstrating and articulating something of immense philosophical significance.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKDavid Willetts is trying to conjure away the dangers of higher education reform with the magic word 'choice'
There are many different kinds of magic trick, but for all of them, one technique is the most important: misdirection. Of the many practitioners of such magic, David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, is one of the best.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKBritain, greet the age of privatised Higher Education
Let’s be clear about what has happened. The House of Commons has not voted only for a rise in tuition fees in English universities. It has voted for the privatisation of British Higher education.