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Debt in the UK: Faith–Based and Secular Responses

Debt in the UK: Faith–Based and Secular Responses

What common ground do religious and secular civil society organisations have in identifying the challenges of debt and providing solutions? This public panel talk will discuss the intersection of faith–based and secular analyses of personal debt in the UK today, and how they may enter into dialogue with one another.

Date and Time: Mon 10 December 2018 (18:30 – 20:00) 

Since the financial crisis, the roles of the state and religious organisations in British public life are changing. Faith–based organisations are key providers of relief to those in debt, often while criticising the debt economy as an underlying cause of poverty and inequality. Campaigns around international debt saw new coalitions between faith–based and secular organisations.

We ask if similar alliances could be built to confront the harms of personal debt. What common ground do religious and secular civil society organisations have in identifying the challenges of debt and providing solutions? How far do faith–based and secular analyses of personal debt in the UK today converge and intersect? What are their differences?

We start from a common recognition that debt is not just a numerical, contractual or technical issue, but also a deeply moral one involving human social relations. Our talks will explore the moral implications of debt as a social issue.

This public panel talk will be held in partnership with LSE Anthropology and St Paul’s Institute.

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Ryan Davey, Research Fellow in Policy Studies, University of Bristol and Visiting Fellow in Anthropology, LSE
  • Mohammed Abdel–Haq, Director of the Centre for Islamic Finance, University of Bolton
  • Sarah–Jane Clifton, Director, Jubilee Debt Campaign
  • Barbara Ridpath, Former Director, St Paul’s Institute
  • Nathan Mladin, Researcher, Theos Think Tank
  • Deborah James, Professor of Anthropology, LSE (Chair)

Tickets and Venue 

Tickets are free of charge. Register on our eventbrite page.

The Wolfson Theatre is easily accessible by public transport. A map of the venue’s location can be found at the bottom of our eventbrite page

There is step free access into the lecture theatre, but if you have any accessibilitiy needs please email institute@stpaulscathedral.org.uk

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Contact us

For more information, contact Theos on hello@theosthinktank.co.uk.

Image by zimmytws available under a shutterstock licence. 

Nathan Mladin

Nathan Mladin

Nathan joined Theos in 2016. He holds a PhD in Systematic Theology from Queen’s University Belfast and is the author of several publications, including the Theos reports Data and Dignity: Why Privacy Matters in the Digital Age, Religious London: Faith in a Global City (with Paul Bickley), and ‘Forgive Us Our Debts’: lending and borrowing as if relationships matter (with Barbara Ridpath).

Watch, listen to or read more from Nathan Mladin

Wolfson Theatre
New Academic Building, LSE
54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London
WC2A 3LJ
London WC2A 3LJ

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