Publications

Silke Breimaier, Megan Corton Scott and Andrew Robertson (Edt., July 2017): Following our joint “Reimagining the Existing Economic Model” conference in April 2017, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung London and the Fabian Women’s Network launched a pamphlet on new economic thinking with contributions from experts across a variety of sectors. In the pamphlet, leading female thinkers discuss their ideas for a renewal of our economies and the arising challenges for the modern Left.

Carys Roberts (May 2017): Politics in most countries are still very much dominated by men, which leads to a democratic deficit, as half of the population is not properly represented in local, regional or federal governments. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung London and the Institute for Policy Research (IPPR) published a report that compares the representation of women in the various governments in the UK and Germany. It does not only compare figures but highlights helpful examples from which countries could learn from each other. The research shows that political parties have a crucial gate keeper role in ensuring gender equality in the political arena.

In November 2016 FES London and the New Economics Foundation (NEF) jointly hosted a workshop in London to discuss and debate new technological trends and how they impact inequality on society. The workshop was attended by representatives from industry, civil society and government, and discussion was stimulated by contributions from Professor Daniel Buhr from the Universität Tübingen, based on research conducted by himself and colleagues, and Annie Quick and Stephen Devlin from NEF. This paper summarises the key points that emerged from the workshop and serves as a basis for further discussion.

Brendan Donelly (December 2016): For many, the momentum behind Brexit has seemed unstoppable since the referendum. A re-united conservative Party will support May's desire to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of March. However, it would be premature to argue that British withdrawal is a foregone conclusion. May and her colleagues would do well to remember that "normality" has been a poor guide to the course of British politics over the past 12 months. In this paper Brendan Donelly explores the potential stumbling blocks on the way towards Brexit. Cumulatively, they illuminate the political and practical contradictions within the entire project and point towards a potential combination of circumstances in which the proclaimed divorce between the UK and the EU may not take place after all.

Wolfgang Schroeder (November 2016): The debate about the digitalisation of production has been given fresh stimulus around the world. No other growth discourse has been so strongly pushed by state technology and research policies and at the same time so closely linked to the entrepreneurial and union players in Germany in recent years as the Industry 4.0 discourse. This paper discusses the conditions, potentials, players and prospects associated with the Industry 4.0 strate­gies. The aim is not merely to generate and use new technical options, but also to examine whether and how the German production model, which, contrary to the disruptive US model for instance, relies on incrementally evolutionary changes, can compete in light of the new challenges.

Hartmut Hirsch-Kreinsen (2016): In 2013 the low-skilled accounted for 23 percent of the German workforce. Low-skilled work, generally done by workers with few qualifications, is thus clearly an integral component of modern industrial production. In the current “Industry 4.0” discussions about mechanising, automating and digitalising the entire world of work, low-skilled work and repetitive tasks are treated as increasingly anachronistic relics from the early industrial era. It is suggested that within just a few years there will be no industrial jobs left for the unskilled and semi-skilled, leaving many workers facing social exclusion and loss of status. In fact, talk of a general erosion of low-skilled work is premature. Over the past fifteen years this type of work has actually stabilised, after industrial rationalisation processes…