'You can’t use a hierarchy to create a network'

Although we share similar views, Julian Dobson is much more patient and tenacious than I when it comes to analysing big society rhetoric. Last week I was invited to yet another event designed for the prime minister to transfer energy to the sycophanti, but thought it was more honest to spend the time walking with a toddler in the park - investing in the future, I call it.

But while I'm increasingly reluctant to give publicity and credence to the brand, Julian is admirably determined to squeeze some good from it (and indeed is already doing so, over on Our Society). Check out his post on the top-down language and attitudes that underlie it. As I noted recently, that language reveals the ways in which power relations are culturally-embedded. Nothing resembling big society will emerge until the people who talk about doing things to 'communities' either get the point or get out of the way.