Progressive radical politics often face a tension between supporting a free, liberatory culture and fighting for political correctness in the media.
George Lakey researched looks at Scandinavian countries to show that their so-called ‘Nordic model’ reached the highest achievement in the history of nations for equality, individual freedom, and democracy. In “Viking Economics” he describes not only how the model works, but also how popular movements waged open struggle to get there.
However, Nordic societies are not utopian. Racial and ethnic diversity challenges them. Women have not fully broken the “glass ceiling,” although they have 40% of corporate board seats and give significant political leadership. For brief periods Swedes, Icelanders, and Norwegians did de-regulate their financial sectors, with disastrous consequences that forced them back to their Nordic model.
In his talk, George Lakey will show that they offer lessons for others to learn as they are at the top of the international ratings for justice and environmental progress.
Viking Economics is published by Melville House, London & Brooklyn, paperback edition 2017 and was declared “Book of the Week” by the Times Higher Education.
About the speaker
George Lakey is a former Professor for Issues in Social Change at Swarthmore College, USA, where he created and managed the Global Nonviolent Action Database research project. Lakey has held teaching posts at Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania and was a visiting lecturer at Woodbrooke College in Birmingham, UK. He has led over 1500 social change workshops on five continents, and founded and for fifteen years directed Training for Change. In 2010 he was named “Peace Educator of the Year” and published his authoritative text on adult education “Facilitating Group Learning” (Jossey-Bass). Each of his nine books has been about change and how to get it.
How to attend
The event is free to attend, but please register using eventbrite.