Demos, one of the UK’s leading think tanks sees its task as nothing less than “building everyday democracy” within our culture. The staff at Demos believe that …”everyone should be able to make personal choices in their daily lives that contribute to the common good.”
Demos strives to put this democratic ideal into practice by working collaboratively with organisations in ways that make them more effective and legitimate in their planning, consulting and delivery of services to the community. The partners of Demos include policy-makers, companies, public service providers and social entrepreneurs.
It is refreshing that a policymaking research team are making this their central task. Anyone who lived through the more self-serving aspects of the eighties and nineties knows that the merest mention of a term such as “common good” would have had you certified as barking mad. And indeed, the work of an organisation like Demos encourages one to imagine that threads of common decency are being rewoven into the social fabric and policy-speak.
Demos is considered to be one of the best think tanks in the UK and more recently has been dubbed a leading “DO TANK”, which provides consultancy and practical partnership alongside its more familiar forms of research and policy ideas. Demos creates frameworks to improve the way that politicians, professionals and the public engage with each other. The think tank also only accepts funding for projects which are aligned with the public good. As a registered charity, Demos does not become involved in political lobbying.
What people have said about Demos:
“Demos never reads like a scholar along with his books…[it] bursts with new ideas. Until Demos came along, think tanks were dry academic places run by men with pipes.” The Independent on Sunday
“Demos helps us to stay connected with ideas from a diverse, interdisciplinary set of sources. Demos is the think tank which understands how ideas meet practice.” David Jackson, Director, National College for School Leadership
“We came to Demos because we needed an intellectually robust and politically astute perspective.” Emma Gilthorpe, Public Policy for Cable & Wireless
As an independent voice Demos can initiate debate that leads to real change. Demos uses the media, public events, workshops and publications to communicate their ideas. Particularly unique is their open source publishing policy; all Demos books can be downloaded for free.
Demos works in six key areas including public services; science and technology; cities and public space; people and communities; arts and culture;
and global security. And their cultural publications include: Capturing Cultural Value, The Right to Art, Creative Reading, Challenge and Change and How old do you have to be to be an artist?
A regular email newsletter is also available upon registration at the Demos website. It’s also worth checking out the Demos weblog; The Greenhouse. Demos staff and associates regularly post items of interest, points for discussion, useful references and other information. Visitors can also add their own comments. Currently in the spotlight is John Holden, Head of Culture at Demos. Holden was responsible for a groundbreaking paper entitled; Capturing Cultural Value. In the paper Holden argued that culture should be valued for three reasons. Firstly it is appreciated and enjoyed by the public; secondly it plays a role in social policy, especially in learning and the creative economy; and thirdly because cultural organisations can improve our society.
According to Holden…”any arguments for public funding must address all three of these points, but we don’t have a shared and convincing language to discuss the value of culture from the perspective of audiences. Instead, cultural organisations tend to justify their existence in terms related to policy-makers’ concerns, such as economic development…” and social inclusion.
On March 29th, 2006- as a follow up to Capturing Cultural Value, Holden will launch his new book at a Demos event. The new work, entitled; Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy will be sure to add fuel to the already bonfire-like proportions of the current cultural value debate in the UK.
John Holden spoke to Artshub UK about the development of Demos and the upcoming publication of his new book.
Was the invention of Demos inspired out of a particular moment in history?
A response to the political moment of 1995-96? And how would you characterize that?
John Holden: Demos was founded in 1993 by Geoff Mulgan and Martin Jaques. At a time when politics was at a low ebb in the UK, with most of the population cynical and disaffected…the Conservatives had run out of steam and were “mired in sleaze” to use the phrase of the time. New Labour had not emerged. Demos wanted to reinvigorate democracy by:
1) Offering radical new long-term policy thinking to politicians from all parties;
2) Finding ways to reconnect people to politics and;
3) Recognising that the quality of people’s lives is affected not just by what goes on in Westminster but by what happens in their local communities, workplaces, schools and prisons.
This is why Demos has had such an eclectic output – using mainly social science disciplines to examine such varied areas as the built environment, how to network schools together, and children’s art, etc.
Demos is a charity. How was that decision made ? Is this unusual in the world of think-tanks?
John Holden: Yes we are an educational charity. We are politically independent. Many think tanks are charities, but they cannot be charities if they are affiliated to a political party, or if they are political campaigning organisations. We are a charity because a not-for-profit model suits us best. Our purpose is to improve society for everyone. Being a charity also encourages people to become involved in what we do, knowing that we don’t exist simply to make money.
What makes Demos different ? What sets it apart?
John Holden: It is independent; it is as open as possible ( we publish everything we do for free on the web and we were very early in setting up a weblog); it uses mainly social science disciplines rather than econometrics; it has a very wide range of interest…such as Glasgow 2020, the Atlas of Ideas, etc.
In terms of your involvement in Demos, how has working in this area changed you ? Professionally, politically, personally?
John Holden: It’s made me realise that beneficial change is complex and slow. Change happens through what people do for themselves, not just through politics, legislation and policy change. It is therefore important to work directly with organisations and practitioners, and not to think in terms of traditional think-tank “influence”. I also really believe that ideas are important; they change things.
In terms of the valuing of culture what are some of the political, philosophical, attitudinal shifts you would like to see?
John Holden: I would like to see everyone (especially in the Treasury) understanding that culture matters to people, that it is infinitely expandable, and valuable for three reasons:
1) For the instrumental benefits it produces;
2) For the good that cultural organisations can do in creating public life and the public sphere;
3) And above all for its intrinsic value – the emotional, intellectual and spiritual properties that lie at the heart of why people value culture, but which have virtually disappeared from our political discourse in the last thirty years.
I would like to see cultural professionals making their case directly to the public rather than trying to provide “good stories” and pretty unconvincing statistics to politicians.
What are some of your proudest achievements in the world of consciousness-raising, policy-changing and working toward a clearer sense of the public good?
John Holden: I think the conference that Demos held in June 2003, called Valuing Culture (which we did with AeA Consulting, the National Gallery and the National Theatre) really started to shift attitudes away from a reductive, instrumental approach to culture towards one that recognised not only the multiplicity of values that culture generates, but also the rich way in which culture can enhance all our lives.
I am also proud of my involvement in setting up the Clore Leadership Programme…there was nothing at all dedicated to cultural leadership before it happened.
What are your hopes for the future of your work at Demos?
John Holden: I have new book out on March 29th called Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy. I hope this will change attitudes and practices in government, in the funding system and in organisations. The pamphlet will contain many recommendations for change – so visit the website.
Follow the link: www.Demos.co.uk/events/culturallegitimacyevent/ for more information.
With kind permission from John Holden, a brief but pithy quote from his new book Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy follows:
Politics has struggled to understand culture and failed to engage with it effectively…The relationships between public, politicians and…(arts)… professionals have become dysfunctional…while the news pages of the media play a destructive role between politics and the public.
To mal-appropriate Shakespeare, we are now flailing about in an artistical-political-cultural-tragical-philosophical-historical-pastoral mire. Hardly a surprising or cheery diagnosis, but being a Demos endeavour John Holden does not simply describe the problem and then leave us there. Holden goes on to analyse and untangle the complex of issues that have led to this current state of affairs. Holden also offers a number of possible solutions to open up this critical area of debate, but it comes at a price:
“The challenge…is to create a different alignment between culture, politics and the public – one that would require courage, confidence and radicalism on the part of professionals in finding new ways to build greater legitimacy directly with citizens.”
For more information, to read the abstract or to reserve a place at the launch of John Holden’s paper, Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy email: culturalvalue@Demos.co.uk
