Bryan Magee in context

I’ve been captivated these last couple of days by the autobiographies of Bryan Magee (1930-2019) who is remembered here and celebrated on this video. Unusually. two of the autobiographies cover his early years; a third (published in 2018) starts as he makes his way in the world and a fourth is effectively an intellectual biography – “Confessions of a Philosopher” (1997). All are powerfully written – doubts and conflicts evoked almost from the opening pages and a start intellectual honesty pervades the pages

He was a household name from his television broadcasts about philosophy which were captured in the book of his interviews with such thinkers as Bernard Williams, Martha Nussbaum, Peter Singer, AJ Ayer and JP Stern which came out in 1987 The Great Philosophers – an intro to Western Philosophers 

I need writing which makes me look at the world in a different way. Rather slowly I’ve grown to understand that clarity and elegance of language is needed for this task. Essayist Tom Wolfe was a favourite of mine ever since I first read his Mau Mauing the flak catchers in 1970. James Meek is exceptional for his ability to reduce economic complexities to 5 or 10 thousand word essays – ditto Jonathan Meades for his forensic analyses of cultural issues.

But it was Arthur Koestler who first stunned me (in my late teens) with memorable writing – hardly surprising given his amazing background. Only Victor Serge could rival the enormity of the events which shaped him. How can those who have known only a quiet bourgeois English life possibly give us insights into other worlds? And yet a few writers manage to do it. 

Somehow academic specialists are rarely able to produce prose which grips…Is it the unrealistic restriction of the scope of their inquiries vision which causes the deadness of their prose – or perhaps the ultra security of their institutional base??

It’s this question which led me to offer this matrix of good journalistic writers dividing them according to their focus on people, ideas, events or places – but also according to their source of income, testing if you like a thesis about the rigidities of the academic base.

I wanted to include examples from countries beyond the UK and managed 20 – whose nationalities are clearly designated in the table. 

Good “Journalistic” writers – by focus, base and nationality

Source of income	People	Ideas	Events	Places	Mixed genres
freelance	Biographers	Peter Watson Naomi Klein  (Can) Charles Handy Bryan Magee	Victor Serge (Be) Kenneth Roy Masha Gessen (RU)	John Ardagh Dervla Murphy Jan Morris Neal Ascherson Philip Marsden Giles Milton	George Orwell Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Ger) Francis Wheen Arundati Roy (India) Joan Didion  US Tariq Ali  (Pak/UK)
Academia	Biographers	Mark Greif  USA Mark Lilla  USA Perry Anderson USA Jill Lepore  USA	Historians Political scientists Economists	Geographers Anthropologists Sociologists	Raymond Aron  (France) Michael Pollan  USA
Journal newspaper             Television	Oriana Fallaci (It)   Joseph Epstein (US)             Clive James	Francois Bondy (Sw) Claude Roy  (Fr) Chris Hitchens Martin Jacques Paul Mason George Monbiot Duncan Campbell Owen Jones  Adam Curtis	Arthur Koestler Hu/UK Vasily Grossman (Ru) Seb Haffner (Ger) Joseph Roth (Ger) Rudolf Augstein (Ger) Paul Foot Patrick Cockburn Simon Jenkins	Luigi Barzini (It) Andrew Sampson Svetlana Alexievich (Belarussia) Robert Kaplan  (US) Geert Mak  (Neth) John Hooper John Pilger (Aust) Robert Fisk Tobias Jones	Anthony Lane James Meek Andrew O Hagen
Think Tank		David Goodhart Susan George (US)

SCOTUS VIATUS

The “Review of Democracy” website continues to offer great material – this time focusing on RW Seton Watson, a Scottish journalist (using the pseudonym “Scotus Viatus – the travelling Scot”) and historian who had studied at Oxford, Berlin, Sorbonne and Vienna Universities and became passionately committed to the struggle of Czech, Yugoslav and Romanian nations for independence from Austro-Hungary.

I first came across Seton Watson’s trail 30 years ago in Slovakia where I was working and was proud that a fellow-Scot had basically introduced the UK middle-class reading public to the importance of Central and East European nations – initially through the pages of “The Spectator”. Until then, the terrain was known largely through Victorian travelogues and wasn’t taken seriously. He was a friend of Masaryk’s before he became its first modern-day President. And in Bucharest, a few years later, I found a copy of his writings in the library of the British Council. So I was pleased that he’s not forgotten. 

In this episode, historians of the Habsburg Empire and the First World War analyse the fascinating story of Robert William Seton-Watson’s propaganda for the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of a ‘New Europe.’ They explore ideas concerning the ‘balance of power’, European integration, anti-imperialist liberal internationalism, and the making of the post-Habsburg nation-states in Central Europe. The panel argues that while Seton-Watson’s campaign was progressive in its ambition to reconcile ethnic diversity and democracy, it was also rooted in a primordial view of nationhood.  

 For me, the discussion was a bit too academic – but I did enjoy this video presentation one of its participants had done of the man. And this extended article by another discussant  suggests, correctly, that his Scottish background gave him a greater sensitivity than that of English historians. It also offers a critical analysis of what Seton-Watson meant by “nation-building”. He was very much the Timothy Garton-Ash of an earlier generation.   

Seton-Watson’s two sons also became historians and edited this book of their father’s writings The Making of a New Europe; RWS and the last years of Austro-Hungary; by Christopher and Hugh Seton-Watson (1981) 

Further Reading

The Habsburg Empire – a new History; Pieter Judson (2016)

The Habsburg Empire – 1790 -1918; CA Macartney (1968)

https://fivebooks.com/best-books/the-austrian-empire-jonathan-kwan/

The final insightful texts on Change

I recently drew attention to the fact that books on change divide into four very different typologies – the individual, the technological/commercial. the organisational and the societal – although a fifth field which tried to straddle all 3 fields (limited so far in principle rather than reality to capacity development) was evident in some recent titles such as The World We Create Tomas Bjorkman  2019; and Unlearn – a compass for radical transformation by Hans Burmeister (2021).

Until now, the only book I knew about which had tried to do justice to all 3 levels was Life and How to Survive it by Robin Skynner and John Cleese (1993) – a marvellous dialogue between a psychologist and the famous comedian. 

Only activists will have had experience of all three fields – and only central and Eastern Europeans have had the experience of the “transition” from communism to capitalism whose full effects have still to play themselves out. I’m fairly unusual in being a western European who has immersed himself in the transitology and development/modernisation literature which offers many insights into the process of change.

When you google “change” you tend to be offered either the material on “self-help” (which, intriguingly, now includes “resilience”) or that on “managing change”. To get the important material on mobilising “social change” you have to type that phrase in.

Such are the problems of labelling. But, as far as I’m concerned, they are all part and parcel of a process which needs to be treated as a whole

 

Key Texts about change – in ascending order. A lot of the titles can be read in full.

Title	Focus – and readership	Notes
Occupy Theory; Michael Albert (2012)	Activists	the first volume of a 3 volume series written to mark the Occupy movement, the others being Occupy Vision and Occupy Strategy
Can Democracy be Saved?  - participation, deliberation and social movements; Donatella Della Porta (2013)	Title self-explanatory   Academic	Useful to get an Italian approach on what is too often an anglo-saxon field
Waves of Democracy – social movements and political change; John Markoff (2013/1996)	Academic	More perhaps about the democratisation process than social change per se, its  geographical and historical spread is suitably wide
The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement; David Graeber (2014)	Activists, historians	One of the founders of Occupy Wall St who happens to be an anarchist and anthropologist recounts the fascinating story of the movement
Against Power Inequalities Henry Tam (2015)	General  reader	Inspiring romp through history for critical turning points
A Guide to Change and Change Management for Rule of Law Practitioners (2015)	Transition countries	rare attempt to bring the insights of change management to those trying to build “rule of law” in transition and developing countries
A Development Practitioners’ Notebook (OECD 2015)	Consultants	Marvellous insights into the practice of development work
Blueprint for Revolution S Popovic (2015)	???	A very strange book I wouldn’t recommend and include as an example of a How Not to Do Change!
How Change Happens Duncan Green (2016)	Community groups and officials	Great overview – if from a development experience perspective
Building State Capability – evidence, analysis, action; ed Matt Andrews et al (2017)	Academics, donors	Reflects the latest rethink about how to take proper account of the politics of “developing countries”
How to Resist; turn protest into power; Matt Bolton (2017)	Trade unionists, activists	A short manual for the British market – with overtones of Saul Alinsky’s “Reveille for Radicals” (see second entry in part !)
Can we know better? Reflections for Development; Robert Chambers (2017)	Experienced development activists	A rare book of wisdom from the 90-year-old guru of development studies
How Change Happens – why some social movements succeed while others don’t ; Leslie Crutchfield (2018)	Change agents	Very accessible – if a bit US-focused
Change – how to make big things happen; Damon Centola (2021)	General	Since Covid, we have become more aware of contagion. This US sociologist rather milks that to offer an all-encompassing theory
Unlearn – a compass for radical transformation Hans Burmeister (2021)	general	A rare attempt to cover all 3 levels – the individual, organisational and societal

 

 

Why don’t we ask more interesting Questions?

Last year I bought “The Daily Stoic Journal – 366 days of writing and reflection on the art of living” which I promptly placed on a pile on my desk and forgot about

Until, that is, returning to my Carpathian mountain house this week - where it had been lying.

It’s a diary of a rather special sort which starts each week with a one-page statement of the theme for that week – the first week’s challenges us to explore the distinction between the things we can control and those we can’t. What follows are lined pages with a question for each day to encourage your thoughts to run free eg (for that first week)

·       What things are truly in my control?

·       What am I learning and studying for?

·       What can I say no to – so that I can say yes to what matters?

·       Am I seeing clearly? Acting generously? Accepting what I can’t change?

·       What is my purpose in life?

·       What do I stand for?

·       How do I keep my mind clear from pollution?

 Who could resist such questions? Well I could when I brought the book home – it’s lain around for a year. But I seem to be in the mood to deal with it now – and I have started to scribble my immediate responses. It is indeed a useful discipline!

When you change location, there is often a joyful serendipity in the rediscovery of a forgotten book. It’s one of the reasons why I’m so fond of the little libraries or bookshops you sometimes come across in the odd café or bar

And the questions very much remind me of Dave Pollard’s blogposts which synthesise material brilliantly and often pose great questions such as “what exactly is it that makes for a great question?” to which he suggests - 

       1.      elicits honest, thoughtful answers rather than clever, safe, automatic or socially acceptable ones

2.     is not so personal, so complicated, or so distressing to think about that it makes people hesitant to answer, but is personal enough, challenging enough, and provocative enough to elicit sufficient consideration, focus and passion to produce interesting, revelatory and possibly ‘useful’ responses

3.     encourages follow-up questions and deeper explorations into the answers and reasons for them.

4.     achieves one or more of the following benefits:

·       knowledge, ideas, perspectives, deeper understanding, and/or insights that otherwise wouldn’t have been achieved, that helps move things forward and provides a better understanding of the situation (Why are things this way and not that way; what’s actually happening here and why; who else should we talk with; what’s working and not working?)

·       appreciation of what we don’t know, need to know, and/or can’t hope to know (What are we trying to achieve, and why, and why do we care; what do we need to find out?)

·       surfacing novel ideas and alternatives (What if we…; how might we…; and imagine if..?)

·       helping us learn important and/or interesting things about ourselves and others (How do you feel about…; what do you think/believe about…; what do you wish…; what would you do if…; what if you could…?) 

A casual use of google-search unearthed a useful-looking primer https://www.sparc.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/the-art-of-powerful-questions.pdf. But the greatest person at asking questions (in full public view) was the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci – celebrated here by Chris Hitchens (no slouch himself). Fallaci did revealing interview with figures such as Robert Kennedy, Kissinger, Arafat, Khomenei, Gadafietc – on the basis of intensive research evident in her “Interviews with History and Power” (2011) 

Biggest waste of my time were the questions asked in the interviews we used to have for the top jobs in the Region – “we” being the 6 or 7 senior councillors who formed the panel. We may have been supplied with a specification of what were considered the personality traits required in the job – although I have no recollection of being given an indication of how the candidates had fared in the screening which will have gone on before they reached the interviews with the politicians. It meant having to devote a day to the interviews – with an hour for each candidate each of whom will have tried to guess in advance the questions and prepare accordingly eg Why do you think you are well-suited for this job?

CVs are suspect – they’re for PR. Noone will admit any failures. And first impressions count

Let me finish on a more personal note. Today’s entry for “The Daily Stoic Journal” asks “What mentors do I follow - dead or alive”? Good question = although I might quibble and suggest that’s not really an appropriate question for someone my age who has been out of the job market for a decade.

Mentors are people you look(ed) up to – who remain sufficiently important in your life to make you wonder how they might have dealt with a question.  As I reflect, I realise that most of the names I come up with are dead eg Bertrand Russell although Charles Handy has always been an inspiration.

Another twelve Insights into Change

After 1990, work in ex-communist countries required an extension of my reading into such fields as transitology, change management, european systems of government and lessons from "developing countries". Nobody, after all, has been expecting communist regimes to collapse in eastern Europe. And too many of the consultants let loose on the governments of eastern Europe (and Central Asia) knew only one system of one country and were insensitive to the local context.

The titles in the tables of the current series are therefore perhaps a bit unusual for a reading list on change - but all the better for that. Those who could be helped by the texts include change agents and activists in all sectors not least environmentalists and trade unionists; consultants and, of course, academics.

The list includes both reports and books.

 

Key Texts about change – in ascending order. A lot of the titles can be read in full.

Title	Focus and readership	Notes
Blessed Unrest – how the largest movement in the world came into being and why no one saw it coming; Paul Hawken (2007)	Environment General readers and activists	reviewed here. This is the field which has probably seen the most action – but the least results!
How change happens – interdisciplinary perspectives for human development; Roman Krznaric (Oxfam 2007)	Academic	Quite brilliant analysis of the very different approaches the various academic disciplines use to think about this issue. No wonder we’re confused!
Live Working, Die Fighting – how the working class went global; Paul Mason (2007)	trade unionists	A story that needed telling in a media and political world which is now so hostile to working people organising to improve their lot
Governance Reform under Real-World Conditions – citizens, stakeholders and Voice (World Bank 2008)	Public sector reform	More than a decade on, it still offers one of the clearest frameworks for making government systems work for people
Wicked Problems and clumsy solutions – the role of leadership; Keith Grint (2008)	academic Leaders	A must-read short article which introduced many people to frame analysis - helps us adopt a more holistic approach
Power and Love – a theory and practice of social change Adam Kahane (2010)	reconciliation agents	Some useful case studies of political reconciliation
Indignez-vous; Stephane Hessel (2010)	Social justice campaigners	Inspiring pamphlet from the Frenchman whose whole life was an inspiration to us all
Common Case – the case for working with our cultural values (2010)	Activists for global concerns	One of the most important 100 pages any social activist could read….Campaigners tend to be self-indulgent
Power in movement – social movement and contentious politics; Sydney Tarrow (2011 edition)	Academics	One of the classics
People, Politics and Change - building communications strategy for governance reform (World Bank 2011)	Public sector reform	One of the best – straddling the various worlds of action, academia and officialdom – with the focus on fashioning an appropriate message and constituency for change
Finding Frames – new ways to engage the UK public in global poverty (2011)	Charities	A great example of frame analysis – showing the importance of trying to identify the link between social values and politics
The next American Revolution; sustainable activism for the 21st Century (2011) Grace Lee-Boggs	Activists	a fascinating interview with this Chinese-American philosopher who mobilized alongside various freedom struggles from civil rights to climate change campaigns

A Commentary - and annotated bibliography - about Change (2022) a 50 page guide