Do People Need Community Anymore?

14th Jul 2009; 18:00

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Download a transcript of this event with Amitai Etzioni and Liam Byrne MP. (PDF)

Modern Britain is characterised by real advances in personal cpacity and greater heterogeneity in society. With this backdrop, public services are being delivered as personalised entitelments and people increasingly find connections in networks rather than neighbourhoods.

What, therefore, is the role of community in today's society? And does it have to be 'physical' community to count?

Speaker: Amitai Etzioni, University Professor at The George Washington University, former President of the American Sociological Association, and founder of the Communitarian Network. He is the author of several books including The Active Society, Genetic Fix, The Moral Dimension and Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy.

Respondent: Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Chair: Steve Broome, director of research, RSA

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