9th Oxford Symposium

The 9^th Oxford Symposium – the flagship event of the Next Left Research Initiative – took place in the hospitable premised of St Catherine’s College between 2 and 4 July 2023. The event focused on the topic “Potential, promise and power: how to deliver progressive politics in turbulent times” and was geared by FEPS in cooperation with Renner Institut and Progressive Britain.

Over these two and half days, the Shadow Cabinet members, front bench politicians and renowned high-level academics, alongside pollsters and civic society leaders, discussed the state of social democracy in Europe, and the challenges and choices it has to make. In that sense, much attention was given to defining “social progress for all”, to the framework of polycrisis and its limitations, to the coalition building within the current political landscapes and to the mission to safeguard and promote democracy. An additional background was offered in the shape of the FEPS Next Left Books – volumes 12, 13 and 14 – which all had been promoted on the spot and broadly referred to by speakers. The more detailed programme can be found here.

The success of the symposium can be measured by the richness of the conversations, as also by the connections that have been forged through both panel and informal debates among the 40 stakeholders – who are in their respective roles organizing the progressive communities around the question about the future of the centre-left (both in Europe and across the Atlantic).

Inspired by the many exchanges, the three foundations behind the initiative are now embarking on a mission to encapsulate the outcomes in an edited volume and are already laying fundaments for the 10^th jubilee edition next year.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Director for Research and Training and/or Celine Guedes, FEPS Project Officer.