The 10th Oxford Symposium

We were at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, from 15 to 17 December 2024, for the 10th Oxford Symposium, co-organised by FEPS, Progressive Britain, and the Karl Renner Institut.

The Symposium kicked off with a special dinner on Sunday 15 December, where we honoured the founders of this initiative and presented the book “The Politics of Polycrisis”.

From Sunday evening until lunchtime on Tuesday, December 17, the agenda included a series of plenary sessions featuring high-level politicians and academics. Over these 48 hours, we aimed to build a small, engaged community that reflected on selected themes and contributed to progressive thinking.

Conceived amidst ideological challenges and electoral setbacks for the centre-left, the Symposium has become a vital platform for academics, politicians, and thought leaders for a decade. Featuring cutting-edge analysis, it addresses critical issues like the rise of the radical right, polycrises, and strategies for progressive resurgence in the face of digital, environmental, and demographic transitions.

For this jubilee anniversary, we launched the book “The Politics of Polycrisis”. Drawing on insights from key contributors from the EU and the UK, it presented new ideas for restoring social democracy, tackling topics including the green transition, the rise of platform work, industrial policy, and artificial intelligence.

Rising challenges of insecurity and inequality that plagued advanced capitalist countries in recent years —from climate change to the rise of the far right, economic crisis, and the creation of new types of jobs that do not protect workers—have reinstated the need for social democratic parties to strategise for success.

Authored by prominent researchers and policy-makers and edited by Patrick Diamond and Ania Skrzypek, this book is a powerful intellectual statement that presents new ideas for restoring social democracy. 

• Introduction by Patrick DIAMOND and Ania SKRZYPEK
• Governing in turbulent times: challenges for the centre-left by Andrew GAMBLE
• The polycrisis diagnosis and its problems by Colm MURPHY
• Democracy and empowerment by Daphne HALIKIOPOULOU and Tim VLANDAS
• A new industrial policy for the EU by MEP Matthias ECKE
• Artificial intelligence: the role of the state and the progressive narrative by Florian RANFT, Sebastian PIEPER and Jonah SCHWOPE
• Managing technological transformation – from the perspective of a European lawmaker by Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI
• The path towards a just green transition by Dan JØRGENSEN Commissioner
• To take that one step forward by MEP Andreas SCHIEDER and Ania SKRZYPEK
• A new global deal to help developing countries thrive: rethinking development aid from a progressive perspective by MEP Hana JALLOUL MURO

This book not only reflects the Symposium’s rich legacy but also provides a platform for future discussions about the viability and ambition of progressive politics. 

For more information, please contact Céline Guedes, FEPS Project Officer (celine.guedes@feps-europe.eu)