Charles Leadbeater

Last updated

Leadbeater signing copies of We-think in 2008 Charles Leadbeater author of WeThink 2008-09-17.JPG
Leadbeater signing copies of We-think in 2008

Charles Leadbeater, also known as Charlie Leadbeater, is a British author and former advisor to Tony Blair. [1]

Contents

Biography

A graduate of Balliol College, Oxford, he first came to widespread notice in the 1980s as a regular contributor to the magazine Marxism Today . [2] Later he was Industrial Editor and Tokyo Bureau Chief at the Financial Times . While working at The Independent in the 1990s, he devised Bridget Jones's Diary (originally a column) with Helen Fielding. [3] He worked on social entrepreneurship, publishing The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur in 1997. [4] He advised the British government on matters of the Internet and the knowledge-driven economy. [5]

His book, We-think, explores the new phenomenon of mass creativity exemplified by web sites such as YouTube, Wikipedia and MySpace. The book, which in a preliminary version is open to public criticism and revision, argues that participation and sharing, rather than consumption or production, will be the key organizing idea of future society. [6]

In September 2010 Leadbeater opened the Incubate (festival), in Tilburg, The Netherlands. In a 2014 report for the think tank Centre for London, Leadbeater coined the term 'Endies' (short for 'Employed but with No Disposable Income or Savings'), to refer to the growing number of households in London struggling on modest incomes in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. [7]

In 2015, Leadbeater was working as an innovation consultant [8] and was described as "leading authority on innovation and creativity" in 2020 [9]

Works

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Brown</span> Prime Minister of the UK from 2007 to 2010

James Gordon Brown is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005, and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2005 to 2015. As of June 2024, Brown is the most recent Labour Party prime minister and the most recent not to be from England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thatcherism</span> British conservative ideology from the 1980s onward

Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and style of management while in office. Proponents of Thatcherism are referred to as Thatcherites. The term has been used to describe the principles of the British government under Thatcher from the 1979 general election to her resignation in 1990, but it also receives use in describing administrative efforts continuing into the Conservative governments under John Major and David Cameron throughout the 1990s and 2010s. In international terms, Thatcherites have been described as a part of the general socio-economic movement known as neoliberalism, with different countries besides the United Kingdom sharing similar policies around expansionary capitalism.

The Third Way, also known as Modernised Social Democracy, is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by synthesising a combination of economically liberal and social democratic economic policies along with centre-left social policies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blairism</span> Political ideology of Tony Blair

In British politics, Blairism is the social democratic political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the New Penguin English Dictionary in 2000. Elements of the ideology include investment in public services, expansionary efforts in education to encourage social mobility, and increased actions in terms of mass surveillance alongside a ramping up of law enforcement powers, both of these latter changes advocated in the context of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Blairites have additionally been known for their contrast with the traditional support for socialism by those believing in left-wing politics, with Blair himself and others speaking out against the nationalisation of major industries and against also heavy regulations of business operations. On foreign policy, Blairism is supportive of close relations with the United States and liberal interventionism, including advocacy for both the Iraq war and the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute for Public Policy Research</span> Progressive think tank based in London

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Lord Hollick and Lord Eatwell, and is an independent registered charity. The think tank aims to maintain the momentum of progressive thought in the United Kingdom through well-researched and clearly argued policy analysis, reports, and publications; as well as a high media profile.

Clause IV is part of the Labour Party Rule Book, which sets out the aims and values of the British Labour Party. The original clause, adopted in 1918, called for common ownership of industry, and proved controversial in later years; Hugh Gaitskell attempted to remove the clause following Labour's loss in the 1959 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Mulgan</span> British political advisor

Sir Geoffrey John Mulgan CBE is Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at University College London (UCL). From 2011 to 2019 he was chief executive of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and visiting professor at University College London, the London School of Economics, and the University of Melbourne.

Amateur professionalism or professional amateurism is a blurring of the distinction between professional and amateur within any endeavour or attainable skill that could be labelled professional in fields such as writing, computer programming, music or film. The idea was used by Demos, a British think tank, in the 2004 book The Pro-Am Revolution co-authored by writer Charles Leadbeater. Leadbeater has evangelized the idea by presenting it at TEDGlobal 2005. The idea is distinct from the sports term "pro–am" (professional–amateur), though derived from it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Blair</span> Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007

Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997 and held various shadow cabinet posts from 1987 to 1994. Blair was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007. He is the second-longest-serving prime minister in post-war British history after Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Labour politician to have held the office, and the first and only person to date to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories.

Demos is a cross party think tank based in the United Kingdom with a cross-party political viewpoint. Founded in 1993, Demos works with a number of partners including government departments, public sector agencies and charities. It specialises in public policymaking in a range of areas - from education and skills to health and housing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Bentley</span> British political advisor

Tom Bentley is an author and policy analyst based in Australia. Bentley was born and educated in the United Kingdom, where he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premiership of Gordon Brown</span> Period of the Government of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010

Gordon Brown's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 27 June 2007 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, replacing Tony Blair, and ended on 11 May 2010 upon his resignation. While serving as prime minister, Brown also served as the first lord of the treasury, the minister for the civil service, and the leader of the Labour Party. He and Blair both extensively used the New Labour branding while in office, which was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics, though Brown's style of government differed from that of his predecessor. Brown is the most recent Labour politician as well as the most recent Scottish politician to hold the office of prime minister.

Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and supports a gradualist, reformist and democratic approach towards achieving socialism. In practice, social democracy takes a form of socially managed welfare capitalism, achieved with partial public ownership, economic interventionism, and policies promoting social equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Reeves</span> British politician (born 1979)

Rachel Jane Reeves is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament for Leeds West since 2010.

Democratic socialism is a left-wing set of political philosophies that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a market socialist, decentralised planned, or democratic centrally planned socialist economy. Democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom, equality, and solidarity and that these ideals can only be achieved through the realisation of a socialist society. Although most democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to socialism, democratic socialism can support revolutionary or reformist politics to establish socialism. Democratic socialism was popularised by socialists who opposed the backsliding towards a one-party state in the Soviet Union and other nations during the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Jacques</span> British journalist, editor, academic, political commentator and author

Martin Jacques is a British journalist, editor, academic, political commentator and author.

Ethical socialism is a political philosophy that appeals to socialism on ethical and moral grounds as opposed to consumeristic, economic, and egoistic grounds. It emphasizes the need for a morally conscious economy based upon the principles of altruism, cooperation, and social justice while opposing possessive individualism.

Endies are workers struggling to get by on modest incomes. The term was coined in 2014 by Charles Leadbeater in a report for the think tank Centre for London. The report identified the huge number of households in London struggling to balance rising living costs with falling incomes in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis.

Centre for London is London's dedicated think tank. Based in the UK, it undertakes research and organises events aimed at developing new solutions to the capital's critical challenges. The Centre, which is politically independent, advocates for a fair and prosperous global city.

The Indigo Era is a concept publicized by businessman Mikhail Fridman, describing what he views as an emerging new era of economies and economics based on ideas, innovation, and creativity, replacing those based on the possession of natural resources. Fridman is the co-founder of LetterOne, an international investment business, and first publicized the idea in early 2016. The word "indigo" was initially chosen based on the term indigo children, which has been used to describe people with unusual and innovative abilities.

References

  1. Harris, John (29 September 2015). "Marxism Today: the forgotten visionaries whose ideas could save Labour". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2022. Leadbeater, who worked as a government adviser in the early New Labour period, assisting Mandelson at the Department of Trade and Industry, and writing speeches for Blair.
  2. Whitney, Craig R. (3 December 1991). "The Curse of Marx Kills a Leftist British Journal". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2022. Charles Leadbeater, the industry editor of the newspaper The Financial Times and a frequent contributor to the magazine.
  3. "The True Story of Bridget Jones". The Independent. 13 November 2004. Retrieved 7 January 2022. It was, from the start, fully formed and gloriously funny, as can be seen in the column on the right, a testament to Fielding's skills as a writer and the careful conception of Leadbeater.
  4. Leadbeater, Charles (11 March 1997). The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur (PDF). Demos. ISBN   1898309531.
  5. Diamond, Patrick (19 January 2021). The British Labour Party in Opposition and Power 1979-2019: Forward March Halted?. Routledge. ISBN   9781138817890.
  6. Kane, Pat (21 March 2008). "Here Comes Everybody, by Clay Shirky. We-Think, by Charles Leadbeater". The Independent. Retrieved 7 January 2022. Leadbeater's mantra "we are what we share" could conceivably become "an economy's motive force"...
  7. Leadbeater, Charles; Wilson, Brell; Theseira, Margarethe. "Hollow Promise: How London Fails People On Modest Incomes and What Should Be Done About It" (PDF). Centre for London. Centre for London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  8. "Schools of the future: don't forget, the most powerful computer is the brain". the Guardian. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  9. "Are you creating brands or consumers?". The Times of India. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2021.