18th Feb 2014 6:30pm
The Old Courtroom
The Old Courtroom, 118 Church Street, Brighton, BN1 1UD
Abstract:
Although the period since 2008 is often seen as a crisis of capitalism it has in fact become a crisis of social democracy. The form of social democracy that has dominated Western politics since the 1960s is now in serious trouble and is unlikely to survive. Given the likely realignment of politics, which we can already see under way, people who support many of the goals of that kind of social democracy (including egalitarianism) should be looking towards a more small state and market oriented political economy.
Biography:
Steve Davies is Education Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, which he joined from the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University in Virginia. From 1979 until 2009 he was Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green.
A historian, he graduated from St Andrews University in Scotland in 1976 and gained his PhD from the same institution in 1984. He was co-editor with Nigel Ashford of The Dictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought (Routledge, 1991) and wrote several entries for The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism edited by Ronald Hamowy (Sage, 2008), including the general introduction. He is also the author of Empiricism and History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) and of several articles and essays on topics including the private provision of public goods and the history of crime and criminal justice. He has recently completed a book on the history of the world since 1250 and the origins of modernity. Among his other interests are science fiction and the fortunes of Manchester City.
