Upcoming Fabian Events in Auckland

Dr Sue Bradford - A left think-tank for New Zealand?
Sue Bradford’s PhD thesis, 'A major left wing think tank in Aotearoa — an impossible dream or a call to action?' looked at why no major left wing think tank has developed in Aotearoa and whether the left in 2010-2013 was fertile for such a development or not. She interviewed 51 academics and activists from across the country and from many parts of the left, and considered the experience of a number of organisations she termed ‘nascent’ left wing think tanks, including the Fabian Society. In this presentation she will outline her key findings on the state of the left and the think tank question before welcoming questions and discussion on the issues raised.
12.08.2014; Register here.

Alan Johnson - What might social housing become?
Social housing has been on the back foot since the emergence in the early 1950’s of housing policies which preferred to support home ownership. Today social housing remains of residual interest even to left wing governments – it is too important to those who depend on it to dismantle but not important enough in terms of votes to do much else but coax it along to an uncertain future The present Government’s social housing reform agenda is long overdue. It is however by no means clear whether the true intention is to develop a more effective social housing system or to quietly privatise it. Alan Johnson's presentation will provide some analysis on the current progress on the Government’s social housing reforms and speculate on where these might lead us. An alternative vision for social housing will also be presented.
26.08.2014; Register here.

Dr Geoff Bertram - Piketty for Dummies
Thomas Piketty's book "Capital in the 21st century" has become an international best-seller, unusual for a treatise on economics.Dr Geoff Bertram summarises it as follows - The economic logic of a capitalist market system with private wealth plus inheritance leads to a highly unequal, but stable, social order with a patrimonial rentier class at the top. Whether this social order is compatible with democracy depends on what a democratic society is prepared to tolerate. If the capitalist distributional equilibrium does not lie within the boundaries of democratic tolerance, one or the other has to give. Geoff will expand on this summary and explain why he thinks the work will earn Piketty a Nobel Prize.
01.09.2014; Register here.

ENDS

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