The Fair Society series

What does society owe each of us? And what do we owe in return?Our answer to these inescapable questions – known as the social contract – shapes our politics, economic systems and every stage of life, from raising children and going to school to finding work and growing old. Yet today, many believe that this contract is not working for them.In What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract, leading economist and Director of the LSE, Minouche Shafik, examines societies across the world and demonstrates that the urgent challenges of technology, demography and climate require a major shift in priorities – a social contract fit for the 21st century.Our panel discussed these issues and more at this event in our Fair Society series with the Policy Institute at King’s College London.Panel Minouche Shafik, Director of the London School of EconomicsDiane Coyle, Co-Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of CambridgeDaniel Susskind, Fellow in Economics, University of Oxford, and Visiting Professor at the Policy InstituteRyan Shorthouse, Director, Bright Blue, and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Policy InstituteBobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute, King’s College London (chair) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Travelling up or down the social ladder has been a British obsession for over a century, but can political leaders continue to claim that social mobility is a real and just reward for hard work?In her book Snakes and Ladders: The Great British Social Mobility Myth, Professor Selina Todd draws on hundreds of personal stories to reveal the hidden history of how people have really experienced social mobility, as well as how unsung heroes – among them, feminists and trade unionists – were able to unleash the hidden talents of thousands and create more room at the top.In this event in our  Fair Society series  with the Policy Institute at King's College London, Selina and our panel discussed class and social mobility in modern Britain and how we can create greater opportunities for all.PanelSelina Todd, Professor of Modern History at St. Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, and author of Snakes and Ladders: The Great British Social Mobility MythLee Elliot Major, Professor of Social Mobility, University of ExeterHalima Begum, Chief Executive and Director, Runnymede TrustAdam Swift, Professor of Political Theory, University College LondonBobby Duffy, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute, King’s College London (chair) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dramatic differences in health are not a simple matter of rich and poor – poverty alone doesn't drive ill health, but inequality does. Indeed, suicide, heart disease, lung disease, obesity, and diabetes are all linked to social disadvantage.In his book The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal World, Professor Sir Michael Marmot argues that in every country, people at relative social disadvantage suffer health disadvantage and shorter lives – a key reason why we need to address societal imbalances in power, money and resources.Since the book was published in 2015, Marmot's work has gone on to reveal how the health gap has grown between wealthy and deprived areas of the UK, and how inequalities in social and economic conditions before the pandemic contributed to the high and unequal death toll from Covid-19.In this event, Sir Michael and the other panellists discussed why it is more urgent than ever that we tackle inequalities in order to improve health, why more progress has not been made in the last decade, and how we can rectify this failure in the era of levelling up.Panel Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity, former President of the World Medical Association, and author of The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal WorldJo Bibby, Director of Health at the Health FoundationChris Thomas, Senior Research Fellow (Health) at the Institute for Public Policy Research, and author of The Five Health Frontiers: A New Radical BlueprintJabeer Butt, Chief Executive of the Race Equality FoundationProfessor Richard Trembath, Senior Vice President (Health & Life Sciences), King's College London, and Executive Director of King’s Health PartnersWill Snell, Chief Executive of the Fairness Foundation (chair) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What accounts for our polarised public life, and how can we begin to heal it? Political philosopher Michael Sandel offers a surprising answer: those who have flourished need to look in the mirror.In his latest book, The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?, Sandel explores how "meritocratic hubris" leads many to believe their success is their own doing and to look down on those who haven't made it, provoking resentment and inflaming the divide between "winners" and "losers" in the new economy.Speakers:Michael Sandel, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University and author of The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?Jo Littler, Professor of Social Analysis and Cultural Politics at City, University London, and author of Against Meritocracy: Culture, Power and Myths of MobilityAdrian Wooldridge, Political Editor of the Economist and author of The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern WorldMaria Alvarez, Professor of Philosophy and Head of the Department of Philosophy at King's College LondonBobby Duffy, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute at King's College London (chair) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.