Have smart people become too powerful? Nesta talks to David Goodhart (26 Jan 2021 12:00 – 13:00 London Time)

Full Text Sharing
Submitted by Simone Galimberti 26Jan

https://www.nesta.org.uk/event/struggle-status-dignity-nesta-talks-david...

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of a truth that seems to have been forgotten until now: the work of carers, cleaners and supermarket staff is crucial to the functioning of our society. But why has it taken so long to acknowledge the importance of these kinds of jobs?

In his recent book Head Hand Heart, David Goodhart splits human aptitudes into categories of the cognitive (Head), the manual or craft (Hand) and the emotional (Heart). All three are essential components of a healthy society, but in recent years the influence attributed to cognitive ability has far outweighed the power and status given to any other type of skill. Goodhart explores how the cognitive class has gradually shaped systems in its own interests by prioritising the ‘knowledge economy’ and reimagining the concept of success.


In this conversation with Nesta Chief Executive Ravi Gurumurthy, David will examine how we can use the learnings from the pandemic to redefine our understanding of ‘skilled work’ and give long-overdue recognition to those who work with their hands and hearts.

Speakers

David Goodhart

David Goodhart is the founding editor of Prospect magazine and one of the most distinctive voices on politics today. His book The Road to Somewhere was a Sunday Times bestseller and lauded as the book 'likely to inform what a post-Brexit Britain might look like' (Economist). He is currently head of the Demography Unit at the think tank Policy Exchange, and was previously director of the centre-left think tank Demos. David’s latest publication Head Hand Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century is available now. @David_Goodhart

Ravi Gurumurthy

Ravi Gurumurthy joined Nesta as Chief Executive in December 2019. Ravi was previously responsible for the International Rescue Committee’s work in designing, testing and scaling products and services for people affected by crisis in over 40 countries - from reducing acute malnutrition and intimate partner violence, to expanding employment for Syrian refugees. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee in 2013, Ravi held a number of roles in the UK Government, including Director of Strategy at the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and as a strategic advisor to the Foreign Secretary. Across many departments, Ravi led a number of major social and environmental reforms including the development of the world’s first legally-binding carbon emissions targets and the integration of children’s services. Ravi has also worked as a researcher at the think-tank Demos and in local government in London. @RGurumurthy

 

Share on
  • 1060 reads
Simone Galimberti
Position: Co -Founder of ENGAGE,a new social venture for the promotion of volunteerism and service and Ideator of Sharing4Good

Add new comment

More information about text formats

Filtered HTML

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Latest article

Popular article

About Us

The idea is simple: creating an open “Portal” where engaged and committed citizens who feel to share their ideas and offer their opinions on development related issues have the opportunity to do...

Read More

Contact

Please fell free to contact us. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

Empowered by ENGAGE,
Toward the Volunteering Inspired Society.