Politics is about change and how best to achieve it. As a political movement, Labour campaigns for office not just to change government but to change lives. Yet often we act as if the nature of the state is all that matters - that our role as activists and individuals is simply to vote the right way and then pay the tax bill at the end. Not only does this leave the public susceptible to the siren calls of Conservatives preaching personal liberty and self-determination as cover for cuts in public services. It also means we shy away from advocating the need for each and all of us to play our own part in making our society more just.
A focus on institutions may make sense in economic …