Alcune note sull'idea di Big Society

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to underline the sociological meaning of the political idea of «Big Society»: an idea that was launched on July 2010 by the Prime Minister David Cameron, leader of the British Conservative Party. The genesis of the «Big Society» was the idea, first articulated by Phillip Blond, that the stifling duopoly of a centralised state and a laissez-faire free market had reached the point of diminishing returns - and that nothing less than a radical, coherent platform for reinvigorating civil society would suffice. In this way, the aim was to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building a «Big Society» that will take power away from politicians and give it to people. This is a bottom-up vision, not a government program dictated from the state to citizens. «Big Society» is about a cultural change where people don't always turn to officials, local authorities or central government for answers to the problems they face but instead feel both free and powerful enough to help themselves and their own communities. The paper propose a critical point of view about these problems.