let's get together and feel all right

Well that was the NACVA conference then. An interesting couple of days catching up with the more national picture. Interesting contribution from Iain Duncan Smith - former Tory leader - who has been spending his time looking at issues of social exclusion and ways of tackling it. Having spent most of his political career either creating or supporting the conditions that made for so much social exclusion and community alienation it is, at least pleasing to see that he has a commitment to clearing up some of the mess he had such a hand in creating during the 1980's/1990's. Anyway the "quiet man" seems to have had a bit of a road to Damascus revelation and feels that small community groups, civic activism and reaching out the excluded is now the way ahead. IDS put his case well but missed a huge point which I raised at the end of the session. The whole existence of an underclass won't be sorted out by a little more reaching out and much of the writing in the US has examined the way in which the inner city underclass have effectively abandoned the idea of being embraced by the mainstream - given that it shafted them in the first place. There was no mention of the informal economy or the way in which many communities in poverty are topping up their income and finding their own way of surviving. It was also really nice to see people at the conference who - wait for it - had actually read this blog. Paul from the ICT Hub was met face to face which was good and others were very encouraging.

Anyway here is the thrust of what IDS is saying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmp5VN9kulg