Madeleine Bunting

Goto to this commentator's articles for the years: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 View social media for this commentator



Profile:


Full name: Madeleine Bunting

Area of interest: Politics, Work, Islam, Science and ethics, Development, Women’s issues, Social change, Religious issues, Channel Islands in World War Two

Journals: The Guardian

Email: [mailto:m.bunting@guardian.co.uk m.bunting@guardian.co.uk]

Website: Guardian.co / Madeleine Bunting (profile)

Blog: Comment is free...

Representation: AP Watt

Networks:



Biography:
Education: Corpus Christi College, Cambridge: History BA (Hons); Harvard University: Politics (Knox fellowship postgraduate student)

Career: Worked for Brooks Productions, 1988/89; The Guardian: news reporter, leader writer, religious affairs editor, associate editor and columnist
 * appointed Director of Demos think tank, 2006 - returned to The Guardian as associate editor and columnist same year
 * 1) Demos press release: Madeleine Bunting Resigns as Director of Demos
 * 2) Stephen Brook: Bunting returns to the Guardian The Guardian, 19th October 2006

Current position/role: Associate Editor and Columnist


 * also writes/has written for:

Other roles:

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

TV/Radio:

Video:
 * BBC News 24: The death of feminism?, 31st March 2004
 * BBC Radio 4: Thought for the day 10th October 2007 (transcript)

Controversy/Criticism: Heavily criticised Richard Dawkins TV documentary The Root of All Evil?, see: critical reception
 * 1) No wonder atheists are angry: they seem ready to believe anything The Guardian, 7th January 2007
 * 2) The New Atheists loathe religion far too much to plausibly challenge it The Guardian, 7th May 2007

Awards/Honours: The Muslim News, Awards for Excellence: Special Award for covering Muslim issues with objectivity and balance, 2002

Scoops:

Other:



Books & Debate:

 * The model occupation: the Channel Islands under German rule 1940-1945 OCLC 32016882, 1995
 * Willing slaves: how the overwork culture is ruling our lives OCLC 56095301, 2004
 * Islam, race and being British OCLC137312537, 2005

Latest work: Currently writing a book on the countryside and North Yorkshire, 'The Plot', to be published by Granta

Speaking/Appearances: Oliver James' Selfish Capitalism seminars, with Will Self and Stewart Wallis, January 2008

Current debate: 

The Guardian:
Column remit: Politics, Work, Islam, Science and ethics, Development, Women’s issues, Social change, Religious issues
 * also contributes to blogs: Comment is free...; bloggingthequr'an and Katine A Guardian/Observer aid project in Uganda

Section: Comment & Debate pages

Role: Associate editor / Columnist

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:m.bunting@guardian.co.uk m.bunting@guardian.co.uk]

Website: Guardian.co / Madeleine Bunting

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Monday, sometimes Tuesday or Thursday in addition

Regularity: Fortnightly on Monday

Column format:

Average length: Monday = 1200 words



Articles: 2011

 * scandal is an outrage of human decency'' - This story has gone beyond the media and political beltway. It's a question of ethics that could have touched any of us - 14th July
 * San Suu Kyi's idea of freedom offers a radical message for the west'' - The Burmese heroine's Reith lectures expose our patronising attitudes to Buddhism, and injects fresh meaning into a concept we have abused - 27th June
 * as the 'superpower of aid'? Beware the delusions that may bring'' - Cameron's commitment to aid is not just about detoxifying the Tory brand. It is also a way to gain soft power overseas - 13th June
 * at the banks is everywhere, so why aren't there riots on the streets?'' - Anger about bankers from left and right is muddled by the City's mantra that banking is too complex for people like us - 30th May
 * character skills are crucial in early years education'' - James Heckman's research into the benefits of concentrating on character over cognitive skills can help tackle inequality - 20th May
 * Scotland goes, all we'll have left is the Englishness we so despise'' - We must start shaping a progressive English nationalism that we can be proud of – as the Scots did in the 1970s - 16th May
 * Social Animal and the science of human nature'' - David Brooks's new book makes bold claims that the 'scientific revolution' will humanise our culture. I'm not so sure - 4th May
 * humiliated, bullied: how women bear the brunt of flexible labour'' - A new bestseller reveals how the financial downturn has heaped stress on those trapped in insecure, dead-end jobs - 2nd May
 * US swallowed these cups of tea to justify its imperial aims'' - Greg Mortenson's wild Pakistan tale exposes more than one fantasist – it reveals Americans' delusion about their 'civilising' mission - 22nd April
 * endgames of our empire never quite finished – just look at Bahrain'' - The discovery of the Mau Mau boxes reveal a lot more about the British government than just archival mismanagement - 18th April
 * pursuit of happiness makes me queasy'' - The launch of Action for Happiness offered some important insights, but happiness is a byproduct not a goal in itself - 13th April
 * magic of the midlife mind'' - Never mind the lost keys. When it comes to the big stuff, middle-aged brains outperform the rest - 11th April
 * Labour insisted that the past be left behind. What a mistake that was'' - To win back support the party must rediscover the value of nostalgia, and understand people's yearning for security - 4th April
 * about development aid'' - Despite some gaps in his argument, Charles Kenny's cheerful polemic counters the current development pessimism on aid - 31st March
 * 2011: Guardian columnists' verdict'' - 24th March
 * Saudi intervention in Bahrain will fuel sectarianism, not stifle it'' - In Bahrain as elsewhere the uprising began in a spirit of hopeful nationalism. But now religious divides are being exploited - 21st March
 * Cameron fell out of love with his citizen organisers'' - Citizens UK was a shoo-in for a 'big society' contract – until the urge to control overtook the coalition - 15th February
 * consumer capitalism, not multiculturalism'' - David Cameron's analysis is flawed; it's individualism and globalisation that are undermining a strong national identity - 7th February
 * must learn to decline gracefully'' - Politicians may be too nervous to address Britain's increasing irrelevance on the world stage, but they must - 24th January
 * is proving that a feminist foreign policy is possible – and works'' - The secretary of state has explicitly placed women's needs at the heart of US thinking about long-term security - 17th January



Articles: 2010

 * each of us write our own history in 100 objects'' - In this ever more virtual world, our enchantment with things we can touch and use to express ourselves intensifies - 27th December
 * true cost of your new Christmas laptop? Ask the eastern Congolese'' - A campaign to clean up electronic companies' mineral supply chains may ameliorate the chaos of ungovernable mining - 13th December
 * happiness and cutting welfare: what a devious combination'' - Bentham's 'architecture of choice' is echoed by Cameron's initiative, but the reality is that many have no choice at all - 29th November
 * welfare belongs at the heart of international policy'' - The goal of eliminating violence against women affects all aspects of security, peacekeeping and conflict resolution - 26th November
 * truth about sex difference is that if men are from Mars, so are women'' - Grasping after certainty about gender roles has fostered some bad science and sterotyping that harms both sexes - 15th November
 * Duncan Smith's remark about sin on the Today programme'' - Sinful? Who do you mean exactly? IDS revealed the faith underpinning his politics - 12th November
 * this remote town in Mali, climate change takes on a sinister reality'' - The debate around Africa and aid will shift from charity and post-imperial responsibility to seeking environmental justice - 1st November
 * deprivation in Britain: how a writer's life turned to tragedy'' - A film about Andrea Dunbar and her daughter calls for a better understanding of the devastating effects of social change - 17th October
 * a piece of paper? Ed Miliband's private life goes public'' - What's at stake here is an accumulation of characteristics that speak to the cliche of a metropolitan liberal elite - 1st October
 * Hillary Clinton's clean stoves will help African women'' - Poorly ventilated small fires are claiming millions of lives – as wood for them wrecks the environment - 22nd September
 * is the one item nobody wants on the UN agenda next week'' - For all the progress on the millennium development goals, it seems countries are growing richer leaving their poor behind - 14th September
 * Catholic church is in crisis, but it is still able to influence and inspire'' - The pope's visit to Britain will prompt some noisy protests, but despite that opposition he deserves to be heard - 6th September
 * warriors have a point. But go easy on the old'' - Political short-termism has failed the young. Yet attacking the elderly and sick instead of inequality will only help Osborne - 23rd August
 * they call it a holiday'' - This bizarre, expensive practice of upping sticks and heading somewhere strange – why bother? - 21st August
 * quintessential Cameroonia over aid first bemused, now baffles and enrages'' - The expanded aid budget is facing a backlash, and requires serious defence, but the coalition doesn't seem to know why - 26th July
 * veiled as liberation'' - Whose 'way of life' is France's lower house protecting? Not the women who wear niqabs - 14th July
 * BP to the banks, Britain's delusions of grandeur have been cruelly exposed'' - We used to believe our nation punched above its weight. But now it's become clear that once-great Britain is a second-class state - 12th July
 * new model of welfare would work with the grain of our relationships'' - Labour missed its chance to redesign the welfare state. Now it's the coalition that is talking about mutualism and civic participation - 28th June
 * MCB's Wonderland election'' - The vote for a new leader of the Muslim Council of Britain points up worrying fissures - 18th June
 * the 21st-century Enlightenment. Ideas don't come much bigger'' - We need to live very differently, argues a bold new text. And that calls for nothing less than a revolution of the mind - 14th June
 * can be no short-circuiting Labour's essential backroom stocktake'' - New Labour's contempt for its own party's history now makes the central task of opposition all the more difficult - 31st May
 * all progressives now'' - It's a mark of Labour's success that David Cameron called himself progressive as part of his rebranding of the Tories - 23rd May
 * Cleggeron liberalism works if you're winning. But it's callous if not'' - The deal-cutting men at the top may like a small state and autonomy. Yet others' lives are shaped by care and dependence - 17th May
 * Brown: a politician for a bygone age'' - Brown's flaws and strengths were both writ large at a time the public and media wanted the likeability of a smooth salesman - 13th May
 * is responsible for this savage new era. But it's off the electoral agenda'' - The economic future will be painful, yet the public and their leaders show no appetite for wrestling the financial leviathan responsible - 3rd May
 * stitches in the fabric of time'' - I confess to loving quilts. The astonishing craft and the stories they hold are a rebuke to our era of churn - 28th April
 * is attracting more debate than ever'' - The New Atheists did not manage to dent the growth of religion across the world. Instead, they only fed our interest in it - 5th April
 * Cameron bigs up society'' - The new Conservative tactic of talking up community activism is welcome, if strange to hear - 31st March
 * Baby P. But Labour's response will cause more children to suffer'' - We have to manage the expectations of child protection, and not turn social workers into figures of public contempt - 21st March
 * inquiry is vital, but the church's moral authority is lost for ever'' - The suppression of truth at the heart of the abuse scandal will bewilder the Catholic faithful. And it could spell wider tragedy - 19th March
 * rhetoric won't boost Labour hopes'' - This is territory long colonised by Thatcherite Tories, and would really draw blood among women and the low-paid - 8th March
 * tackle the last decades' myths, we must dust off the big moral questions'' -Citizen ethics: A robust debate on ethics is crucial to the pursuit of a good society in which individuals are more than mere economic units - 22nd February
 * trial was horrific but necessary to retain a vital principle'' - It is dangerous, especially for the vulnerable, to think that assisted dying is the only way to take control of death - 8th February
 * battle against global poverty risks being twisted into a tool of war'' - Our work in Afghanistan suggests a dangerous trend, in which aid is militarised, subsumed to western strategic interests - 25th January
 * the rarest experience in family life is undivided attention'' - The capacity to listen, and other crucial human attributes, are being diminished by relentless technological expansion - 11th January



Articles: 2009

 * and celebrity: from Chris Evans to Katie Price, this is the ideal antidote to the complexity of modern living'' - Memoirs of the famous dominate the bestsellers' lists. They don't provide much of a story, but do offer a parable-like clarity - 28th December
 * in Seattle warned us what was coming, but we didn't listen'' - Copenhagen must face up to the decade lost in curbing volatile finances, corporate power and the pillage of resources - 14th December
 * is David Cameron? Many things. But an ordinary kinda guy he's not'' - For all the Tory leader's efforts at empathy, he is naive to think he can ever really understand how most people live - 30th November
 * epitaph for our TB generation'' - This oldest of diseases, which killed the poet portrayed in Bright Star, still kills millions – consumption belongs in our history - 25th November
 * mothers. While dads push buggies, the revolution still rolls on'' - 'Having it all' can still prove messy and tough, but working life is easier for my generation of women than any before - 16th November
 * Aga saga, part 2'' - Fifteen grand to green my home, Adair? Yeah, right: a new boiler blew half that. Beating climate change is complex and costly - 12th November
 * fearful to publicise peak oil reality'' - The economic establishment accepts the world soon won't be able to meet energy demands, but wants to keep quiet about it - 11th November
 * years on, Katine offers much to celebrate – and much to feel frustrated about'' - The scale of poverty in rural Africa remains hard to grasp, yet the human connection, so elusive at home, is palpable - 2nd November
 * thinking'' - The booming interest in archaeology suggests a new quest for identity in a time of rapid change - 27th October
 * speechless outrage demands a new language of the common good'' - Market theory closed down public discourse about injustice. But we urgently need to describe what we should value - 19th October
 * From the archive: The dark side of liberalism on Afghanistan - originally published 8th October 2001 - 8th October 2009
 * What would the Conservatives do for equality? - The Tories want to 'make Britain the most family-friendly country in the world', but will their commitment to marriage hamper their attempts to reform maternity leave and childcare? - 8th October
 * my father's death, I went back to the moors, and deep into the politics of home'' - A range of ideas are feeding into a new focus on the geography of our lives. Try asking friends: where are you from? - 5th October
 * defence of Gordon Brown'' - It's not a fashionable view, and I'm not saying he is faultless, but much of the criticism being heaped on Gordon Brown is unfair - 30th September
 * 'clients' and 'users' – public services are about people'' - The big challenge is to put compassion and attentiveness back at the centre of public services - 30th September (Series: A new public services)
 * the shrewd'' - We should be proud of Lady Vadera's appointment to a G20 role, but rats and sinking ships do come to mind - 25th September
 * maternal mortality on the agenda'' - UN attention and financial pledges are welcome, but in Africa the roots of the problem are deep and depressing - 23rd September
 * for victory again'' - In an era of profound anxiety, the great claims made for home-grown veg are more convincing - 11th September
 * battle to cut carbon: a baffling, frustrating path to a more honest life'' - It was harder and cost more than I'd thought – but in the end, reducing our household's footprint gave me a sense of hope - 7th September
 * control? Think again. Our ideas of brain and human nature are myths'' - The notion of individual autonomy underpins our society, yet new research suggests this guiding principle is an illusion - 24th August
 * will deepen inequality'' - Only now is the true cost of the economic downturn on the low paid becoming clear, their vulnerability starkly exposed - 12th August
 * narcissism of consumer society has left women unhappier than ever'' - The demands of a highly individualistic, intensely competitive world are at odds with the identities of a mother, sister, friend - 27th July
 * Can an artist's wheatfield in Hackney switch the mood on climate change? - Curators are searching for an iconic image that can smash indifference and succeed where science and statistics fall short - 13th July
 * on morals - but big on moralising too'' - The pope's 'shopping list' encyclical bundles together workers' rights, inequality and reproduction - 7th July
 * anti-aid agenda'' - If Berlusconi sets the tone at next week's G8, it will be a disaster for a cherished Labour goal - 2nd July
 * dogma is exposed as myth. Where is the new vision to unite us?'' - With religion outmoded and society fragmented, it will require a different kind of moral narrative to inspire change - 29th June
 * the green message across'' - Environmentalists struggle to find the right way to promote green values – and it politicians keep passing the buck - 21st June
 * social evils haunt Britain. Do we still have the spirit to thwart them?'' - Opinion is divided on the reasons for this unease. But the scale of the plight could yet spark a revival of community defiance - 15th June
 * go, Gordon'' - The media hounds have scented blood, but Brown must stay the course. No other scenario delivers the political reform we need - 3rd June
 * Westminster's bankrupted practices, a new idealism is emerging'' - A new politics: Progressive politics will take root from the rubble of a Labour defeat. The Transition movement is giving us a glimpse now - 1st June
 * abuse too far by the Catholic church'' - Tales of systematic abuse in Irish Catholic institutions leave me wondering how long I can continue to feel part of this church - 22nd May
 * for candidates'' - A new politics: Parliament is a democratic and demographic anachronism. MPs actually need to look like the people they represent - 20th May
 * Age of Entitlement lies rotting. Its polluted patrons can lead us no more'' - Bankers and MPs are just the most egregious cases of widespread avarice. A new, green life requires a radical break with the past - 18th May
 * all the debate on the worth of aid, we can well afford to pay the price'' - Voguish disaffection with helping Africa is born of false hopes and flawed critiques. The moral case to do more is compelling - 4th May
 * debates about faith are drowned by the New Atheists' foghorn voices'' - More thoughtful sceptics warn that we should fear the consequences of the swift collapse of Britain's major belief system - 6th April
 * recession for the rich...'' - New inflation figures destroy any notion that the pain of recession will be shared fairly as the poor take the heavy hits - 27th March
 * have not shown the courage to explain what the war really means'' - As British soldier deaths in Afghanistan become horribly routine, it grows clearer that no one knows what they are fighting for - 23rd March
 * Expand the education workforce - This recession will be an extraordinary opportunity to attract talent back into the teaching profession - 17th March
 * painful, but desperate times call for desperate measures'' - Short-term working will appeal to some, but for many it will be a serious concern - 13th March
 * bewildering times, Jade's story of sacrifice offers us the ultimate reality'' - Media coverage of the redemption of a dying mother taps into wider anxiety about the world we are all leaving behind - 9th March
 * interest in crops'' - George Mukkath, the director of programmes at Farm-Africa, tells Madeleine Bunting why growing cassava has more long-term benefits for Katine farmers than handing out oxen - 9th March
 * blundering pope'' - The Vatican's lack of concern for the feelings of others has brought shame down on the entire church - 28th February
 * girls don't choose pregnancy'' - The success of Hackney and Blackburn's sex education scheme disproves the link between deprivation and teen mums - 27th February
 * has arrived in Britain, smuggled in with slippery rhetoric'' - This harsh, ineffectual and woefully timed welfare reform is sailing ahead with barely a whisper of debate - 23rd February
 * maverick ideas of red Toryism could give Cameron a potent edge'' - A critique that attacks big business as well as technocratic Labour may seduce voters who feel bossed about by elites - 9th February
 * appetite for vengeance is natural. But better we dine on humble pie'' - Shooting the bankers won't do it. This crisis was born of a wider failure, a capitulation to the tyranny of orthodoxy - 26th January
 * have the power to bring a passion for social justice to politics'' - Liberal secularists who have so far overlooked Obama's belief should brace themselves for an even greater challenge - 12th January 2009
 * is bad for her and bad for us too'' - When people say that what Dati does is entirely her own business and no one else's, they are wrong - 9th January



Articles: 2008

 * shouldn't be hijacked by New Atheists - he is an ethical inspiration'' - Next year's anniversaries of this great British scientist must explore beyond the usual squabbling over faith - 29th December 2008
 * modern parent trap'' - This painful television depiction of family life stops thankfully short of the whole truth - 18th December 2008
 * anger is justified as bad times bite. But the targets are all wrong'' - People feel swindled and witch-hunts result. To stem the outrage, leaders need to show the pain of recession is shared - 15th December 2008 (series: Hard times: Public services and the financial crisis)
 * telling reminder of our enduring captivity to myth'' - From all the stories of Babylon, our culture fixed on the idea that diversity of people and language can bring only disaster - 26th November 2008
 * crisis sparked by the world's rich will have the poor paying the highest price'' - Our worries about jobs or pensions pale beside the fallout Africa and Asia now face in this absurdly skewed global system - 20th October 2008
 * Belief. Trust. This economic orthodoxy was built on superstition'' - There is no alternative, went the mantra. Now this corrupt mythology lies in tatters, the crisis of conviction is profound - 6th October 2008
 * the history and the investment. Even Sunderland is tempted by Tories'' - Memories of Thatcher are receding here in the north-east, and the idea of a spectacular Labour defeat is all too plausible - 22nd September 2008
 * schools can best generate the common purpose that pupils need'' - Secular establishments struggle to find shared values, but religious ones must avoid being holy huddles of the faithful - 8th September 2008
 * have all the top girls gone?'' - No wonder women don't get top jobs: Britain's overwork culture makes demands that destroy family life unless they opt out - 5th September 2008
 * are masters of zombie politics: full of concern and bereft of policies'' - Cameron and co have hit upon the Labour jugular, but on these crucial social issues they offer emoting instead of substance - 25th August 2008
 * may admire the Nordic way, but don't try to import it'' - It's easy to romanticise the welfare priority and democratic values, but it's all built on very un-British restrictions of freedom - 15th August 2008
 * If they did it over transubstantiation, they can find a way over gay priests - Anglicanism is built on ability to forge a middle road, and the shamefully vilified Rowan Williams is the man to do it today - 14th July 2008
 * Lord Phillips: talking sense on sharia - The lord chief justice's comments were, like Rowan Williams', eminently sensible. But how to take the public with him? - 4th July 2008
 * Pregnancy should be a cause for cheer, not a reason to fear for your life  - 30th June 2008
 * The legacy of the pitmen - A new play reminds us of the noble tradition of working class ambition and intellectualism - 7th June 2008
 * Katine and constructive engagement - The work of making aid count and changing lives for the better is not glamorous, but it definitely beats indifference masquerading as cynicism - 23rd May 2008
 * Soroti town gets a new bank - Madeleine Bunting is present as Barclays opens its first branch in Soroti, near Katine, since leaving the area 35 years ago during Idi Amin's rule - 20th May 2008
 * The best chance in a generation to get a community back on its feet - Among these people whom history has served badly, lives are being transformed. But where is the Ugandan state? - 19th May 2008
 * Open those gates, Ma'am - London's greatest green space is hidden behind royal walls - 10th May 2008
 * Fair wages are a fantasy in the brutal underside of Cowboy Boss Britain - While the government has dithered, low-paid, insecure employment has flourished like some rapacious mould - 5th May 2008
 * At last, Africa is starting to see a green revolution. Let's hope it's not too late - After decades of ruinous western meddling, donors now realise the key to feeding this starving continent is small farmers - 21st April 2008
 * Rivers of blood? No. Just a divided idea of what Britishness means - Britain has a vibrant tradition of racism, and the quest to define our nationality is beginning to go seriously awry - 7th April 2008
 * It is unscientific to pour wholescale scorn on complimentary medicine - 24th March
 * Mothers and monsters -In the media's hands Fiona MacKeown has become a scapegoat for the middle classes - 14th March 2008
 * Labour's handling of legal aid makes a mockery of it's rhetoric on fairness - It's the poorest who suffer as new crimes, terrorism cases, and clampdowns on lawyers' fees eat into our legal budget - 10th March 2008
 * Secularists have nothing to fear from women wearing headscarves - 25th February 2008
 * A noble, reckless rebellion - there is a good reason to have a debate about sharia law in Britain. But Rowan Williams need not have begun it like this - 9th February 2008
 * Sense and incivility -Our interaction with strangers is increasingly edged with aggression - and that's a legitimate cause for concern - 1st February 2008
 * From buses to blogs, a pathological individualism is poisoning public life - Our shared spaces have become a bear pit. This ever-crumbling civility risks our wellbeing and points to a bleak future - 28th January 2008
 * The violence in Kenya may be awful, but it is not senseless 'savagery' - The west's exotic fantasy of Africa means we fail to understand the real reasons for conflict in developing countries - 14th January 2008



Articles: 2007

 * The EU is bullying the world's poor to rush into a dubious deal on trade - Millions of jobs and thousands of companies in the developing world are under threat for the quick fix the WTO wants - 19th December 2007
 * Our tendency to persecute othersis as alive today as in medieval times - The cultural fascination with the middle ages rarely acknowledges that power is still won and abused in the same way - 17th December 2007
 * The policing of the artist -powers to take DNA samples are one part of a new assault on rights - 11th December 2007
 * Eat, drink and be miserable: the true cost of our addiction to shopping - Today it seems politically unpalatable, but soon the state will have to turn to rationing to halt hyper-frantic consumerism - 3rd December 2007
 * The Iraq war has become a disaster that we have chosen to forget - 5th November 2007
 * Beyond the shrill polemic - it is not anti-choice to want a more thoughtful debate on why women have so many abortions - 30th October 2007
 * Scientists have a new way to reshape nature, but none can predict the cost - Synthetic biologists say their technology could tackle climate change and feed the hungry, but its dangers are terrifying - 22nd October 2007
 * Suburban girdles - Yes, let's modernise the green belt - by turning it into the nature reserve it is wrongly thought to be - 11th October 2007
 * Sorry, Billie, but prostitution is not about champagne and silk negligees - The screen adaptation of The Secret Diary of a Call Girl legitimises a trade that in reality is utterly brutal and misogynistic - 8th October 2007
 * An enlightened politics - can events in Burma help challenge the generalisation that religious belief can never play a positive role in politics - 26th September 2007
 * A curious irrationality grips the British when it comes to migrants - Rapid migration is not a cost-free option, but the public must accept that without it parts of our economy would collapse - 24th September 2007
 * Shocked, awed and uncertain - exploiting crises may not be the only explanation of recent neoliberal sucess, but this extraordinary book should inspire - 14th September 2007
 * Greens need to grasp the nettle: aren't there just too many people? - Reducing consumption is imperative, but it's pointless to cut out meat and cars while having lots of children - 10th September 2007
 * The smallest signs of retreat - Richard Dawkins' normal arrogance and contempt for religious belief faded briefly to conciliation today - 6th September 2007
 * It is appalling that it may take 80 years to achieve equal pay - There is no point waiting for tribunals to narrow the gap. The state must force change through the statute book - 6th September 2007
 * Small is beautiful - Building up an effective national system of early years provision will take a generation, so the critics of government policy should hold their horses - 30th August 2007
 * Yes, we have failed Rhys Jones, but we have also failed his killer - Kids need the chance of a decent life, but for some it's out of reach. Their fury leads them to deprive others of that chance - 27th August 2007
 * We need an attentiveness to nature to understand our own humanity - A new genre of writing is putting centre stage the interconnectedness between human beings and the wild - 30th July 2007
 * This equality road map must now apply to men - The organisation that won women the key victories of the past three decades has plenty to teach its successor - 24th July 2007
 * In this grand family squabble, let us at least agree to put the children first - The state's only concern must be the longterm wellbeing of a couple's offspring - the marriage stuff is a great red herring - 16th July 2007
 * A dialogue of the deaf - Martin Bright and David T have both deliberately chosen to misinterpret my argument for an open dialogue with Muslim groups - 12th July 2007
 * Hearts and minds of young Muslims will be won or lost in the mosques - The new honesty of community leaders must be matched by a strategy from government that is patient and painstaking - 9th July 2007
 * The church may be struggling, but in politics its rhetoric is on the rise - Gordon Brown is one of many using religious shorthand to show moral purpose. Can he square it with his faith in markets? - 2nd July 2007
 * The middle classes have discovered they've been duped by the super-rich - Never have so many of us appeared so well-off yet felt so poor - and we used to believe obscene wealth was victimless - 25th June 2007
 * Immigration is bad for society, but only until a new solidarity is forged - An important US study shows us that the effects of ethnic diversity can be read as a challenge, rather than a threat - 18th June 2007
 * Triumph of the middle class male - the final of "The Apprentice" was a deply depressing spectacle of sexism and class entitlement - 14th June 2007
 * Alien nation? - Ruth Kelly's Commission on Integration is due to report, but will it dispel the myths promoted by ministers about 'segregated' immigrant communities? - 13th June 2007
 * Bob Geldof too has a part to play in the G8's broken promises to Africa - That members have not delivered on Gleneagles is not in doubt. But Make Poverty History made aid delivery seem too simple - 4th June 2007
 * The language of fear - Statistics on migration can be used to tell any story - it all depends on how they are reported, as today's coverage of the new Home Office figures shows - 23rd May 2007
 * Artists are now taking the lead policiticans have failed to give - As professional politics becomes ever more remote, the most fraught controversies of our time are migrating into art - 21st May 2007
 * New Atheism encourages what it disavows - Yelling insults won't reduce the appeal of extremist religious belief. We need to be more shrewd about this peculiarly modern phenomenon - 10th May 2007
 * The New Atheists loathe religion far too much to plausibly challenge it - Anti-faith proselytising is a growth industry. But its increasingly hysterical flag-bearers are heading for a spectacular failure - 7th May 2007
 * Gender olitics - Nicolas Sarkozy's request for Ségolène Royal to 'calm down' is a flashback to an era when women were to be seen but not heard - 3rd May 2007
 * Divided selves - What difference has 10 years of Blair made to our sense of identity? - 1st May 2007
 * Aid expectations - The G8 pledges of 2005 have so far failed miserably, and the tantalising dream of making poverty history has escaped a once-hopeful generation - 25th April 2007
 * Kin outrage - A classic study of working class life, published 50 years ago, continues to arouse strong opinions and heated debate on race, family and community - 25th April 2007
 * The middle class have hijacked the English countryside for themselves - Unless the urban majority has a sense of entitlement to the land, they're hardly going to become the eco-consumers we all need - 23rd April 2007
 * Britain's hour of shame - A massive asylum crisis has developed in the Middle East, but the MoD will not even help Iraqis who served the British forces as interpreters - 20th April 2007
 * Failure for these women could haunt a generation of female politicians - Clinton and Royal have boldly put their sex at the heart of their campaigns. In the face of entrenched sexism, the risks are high - 9th April 2007
 * Group dynamics - The ideas of Britain's greatest anthropologist give fresh insights into how society produces violent 'outsiders' - 4th April 2007
 * Nursery may be harming your child, but don't panic - When researchers keep finding that group care in their early years makes children more aggressive, it's time for a real debate - 4th April 2007
 * Money on the muck heap - As the extent of the rural payments fiasco is revealed, farmers' complaints about Margaret Beckett are finally being echoed in parliament - 29th March 2007
 * Therapy on the cheap - The health service has seized on CBT to treat mental illness - not even with a shrink but via the web. Because it works or because it's low-cost? - 29th March 2007
 * Incredibly, we are about to legalise modern domestic slavery again - To pander to the new plutocracy, the Home Office is planning to remove migrant carers' rights to change employer - 26th March 2007
 * The end of the affair - Anyone who still thought Gordon Brown was further to the left than Tony Blair should think again after yesterday's budget - 22nd April 2007
 * The memory of humankind preserves our global sanity - The British Museum is running a different kind of foreign policy and challenging the myth of the clash of civilisations - 15th March 2007
 * This cynical ideology of individual selfishness is a relic of the cold war - The idea that we are like billiard balls bumping into each other without any common interest has created violent chaos - 12th March 2007
 * The burden of care - The Equalities Review seems to be saying that stay-at-home mothers are a huge cost to the Treasury, but this should not be the focus of the debate - 1st March 2007
 * Baby, this just isn't working for me - Sidelined, overlooked, squeezed out ... the mothers of young children are more discriminated against than any one else in the workplace, according to a new report. Madeleine Bunting on how British women are forced to choose between children and a career - 1st March 2007
 * The nasty country - But are politicians to blame for Britain's social recession and can they put it right? - 19th February 2007
 * The touchy-feely Tories - Cameron's Conservatives are launching themselves with gusto into the wellbeing debate, but it's all a bit incoherent - 16th February 2007
 * Who'd be a child in Britain? - The Unicef report's findings reflect badly on everyone in the UK, not just our politicians - 14th February 2007
 * Trevor Phillips has it all to prove as he takes on this most delicate of tasks - Distrusted by many, the chair of this bold new equality body faces a stern test in one of the toughest jobs in Britain - 12th February 2007
 * Why the minister didn't show - Ivan Lewis wasn't at the launch of the government's new maternity proposals. Maybe he knows the rhetoric doesn't match the reality - 8th February 2007
 * A dangerous ignorance - The widely accepted interpretation of sharia in Britain is wrong and would horrify many young Muslims - 1st February 2007
 * Leap of faith - Steve Chalke wants to help run Britain's schools, hospitals and even prisons - and, as a Christian minister, believes he is perfectly placed to do so - 31st January 2007
 * These US-style culture wars seeping into Britain are an absurd distraction - Hysteria over the gay adoption row, while Iraq is barely debated, reflects a wider insecurity among liberal progressives - 29th January 2007
 * Retreat on adoption and the Equality Act will crumble - The standoff over gay couples' rights is unlikely to be easily resolved. The churches' moral authority is fatally compromised - 25th January 2007
 * The class debate demands to be heard - "The reality is that class still has a strong bearing on people's sense of how they orientate themselves in society" - 24th January 2007
 * Fewer fruit machines, more fruit - British families spend more money on gambling than on fruit and veg - and the government's super casino won't help matters - 19th January 2007
 * Desperation, babies and money make for an uncontrollable combination - IVF is big business, and doctors can get very rich. But there are problems, and its regulation can create huge conflicts - 15th January 2007
 * Don't overlook the impact of empire on our identity - Two anniversaries will feed into our national sense of self-doubt this year, but also offer a chance for a reality check - 1st January 2007



Links:

 * Wikipedia biog.