In his recent book Head Hand Heart, David Goodhart splits human aptitudes into categories of the cognitive (Head), the manual or craft (Hand) and the emotional (Heart). All three are essential components of a healthy society, but in recent years the influence attributed to cognitive ability has far outweighed the power and status given to any other type of skill. Goodhart explores how the cognitive class has gradually shaped systems in its own interests by prioritising the ‘knowledge economy’ and reimagining the concept of success.
In this conversation with Nesta Chief Executive Ravi Gurumurthy, David will examine how we can use the learnings from the pandemic to redefine our understanding of ‘skilled work’ and give long-overdue recognition to those who work with their hands and hearts.
David Goodhart
David Goodhart is the founding editor of Prospect magazine and one of the most distinctive voices on politics today. His book The Road to Somewhere was a Sunday Times bestseller and lauded as the book 'likely to inform what a post-Brexit Britain might look like' (Economist). He is currently head of the Demography Unit at the think tank Policy Exchange, and was previously director of the centre-left think tank Demos. David’s latest publication Head Hand Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century is available now.
This is a www.nesta.org.uk event which has been listed on Cambridge Network by The Crane Event.
