CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(born 1947), is "a social thinker, social entrepreneur and founder of Britain's Relationships Foundation." After his Ph.D. from Cornell University (USA), he worked as an applied economist with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and in assignments for the World Bank. With colleagues, he has founded many different organisations in different fields of endeavour. He is currently President and CEO of Relational Peacebuilding Initiatives. In recognition of his public service, he was appointed
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
by the Queen in the New Year Honours List 2009.
A Post-Capitalist and Post-Socialist Approach to Public Policy
Schluter’s approach to public policy was first articulated at book length in ''The R Factor''(1993), co-authored with the writer, David Lee.
The central argument of the book is that social, economic and political problems in society arise from a lack of prioritization of relationships – not only personal, but organisational, national and international. All legislation, government and corporate policies and organisational structures impact on the way people relate, but this impact is generally not considered by those making policy decisions.
Improvement in the quality of relationships is not only necessary but also possible – and if we can enable relational restoration to happen, the quality of life globally can be significantly enhanced. The overall approach can be considered as a critique of Capitalism as well as Socialism, and provides an alternative framework for public policy. Its followers are sometimes called ‘Relationists’ and, the idea is commonly referred to as Relational Thinking.
''The R Factor'' was received by many people as a call to action. Even though Schluter has co-authored other books and reports since then (e.g. ''The Jubilee Manifesto'', ''The Relational Manager, Transforming Capitalism from Within, The Relational Lens,'' and ''Confederal Europe''), few publications by any author in the last few decades have had its range of impact on individuals, on families, on organisations, and on structures.
Relational Thinking
Schluter has founded two organizations which research relationships, Relationships Foundation and Relational Research. A number of practical and more specific initiatives based on the relational approach have developed out of his work. These include Credit Action to help tackle the effects of consumer debt, which subsequently became part of the Money Charity; Allia which tackles unemployment and funding of social enterprise through encouraging the use of capital to achieve social outcomes; and Relational Schools which seeks to reform the culture and values in schools. Another initiative which has grown out of this approach has been the Marriage Foundation, which promotes long-term committed relationship through the institution of marriage.
''The R Factor'' sets out the five essential dimensions of any and every relationship (personal, organisational or international). Those dimensions are collectively referred to as the Relational Proximity Framework. Schluter recognised that measurement of quality of relationships was crucial if relational assessment was to be used in public decision making. In an organisational context, any relationship measurement must be two-sided, because, to state the obvious, no relationship is one-sided. The measurement process and tools are referred to as “relational analytics”. Given the tens of thousands of measurements that have been carried out already across schools, companies, the health sector, prisons, elderly care, and the non-profit sector, it has been possible to have the relational analytics tools statistically validated.
International Peace Work
In 1987 Schluter with colleagues initiated a peace process under the name Newick Park Initiative (NPI) in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, which held deliberately low-profile conferences between 1987 and 1997, bringing together the leaders of the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
(ANC) and the White political leadership to discuss key issues so as to ease the path to a political settlement. NPI’s director facilitated Inkatha joining the South African election just three weeks before the first free elections in 1994.
The work in South Africa led on to a peace initiative in Rwanda after the
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
there, followed by a peace process between North and South Sudan. These initiatives were followed by the establishment in 2005 of
Concordis International
Concordis International is a non-profit organization (UK Charity Commission Number 1105697) that works alongside and in support of official peace processes, where they exist, to improve the potential for lasting peace.Jubilee Centre to explore the shared heritage of Jewish and Christian understanding of the Torah as a part of the Hebrew/Old Testament Scriptures. Ten years later, this led to the publication of ''The 'R' Factor'' in 1993. The intellectual work initiated by ''The ‘R’ Factor'' continues in research undertaken by the Jubilee Centre, and through the ''Cambridge Papers'', over 120 of which have now been published. The Jubilee Centre connects what is now referred to as Relational Thinking to the life of churches; it can also be connected to synagogues, mosques, gurudwaras and temples, but that awaits initiative from concerned individuals and groups.
In 1985, the Jubilee Centre brought together a coalition of retailers, trade unions and church-related organizations to fight Prime Minister Thatcher’sbill to deregulate Sunday trading. This was in recognition that the Sabbath in the Torah in one simple law protected community and family relationships because time is an essential precondition to build and maintain any relationship. The “ Keep Sunday Special Campaign” overturned a large government majority. In 1994, the government passed a
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
which allows large shops to open for six hours on Sunday while small shops can open when they like; this remains the law to this day. Schluter has continued to speak out against Sunday Trading, arguing that a new law needs to be brought in to give everyone a shared day off and to ensure parents are able to spend time with their children. Dr. Schluter argued that Sunday shopping in the United States was ''a fairly major contributing factor damaging to family life and stability there,'' and said he was fighting the battle against it here ''on grounds of Christian principle.''
Books (authored or co-authored)
*''The “R” Factor'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993)
*''The Jubilee Manifesto'' (IVP, 2005)
*''The Relational Manager'' (Lion Hudson, 2009)
*''Transforming Capitalism from Within'' (2011)
*''After Capitalism'' (2013)
*''The Relational Lens (CUP, 2017)''
*''Confederal Europe Parts 1 and 2 (Sallux and Jubilee Centre, 2018 and 2019)''
*''Relational Rights (Relational Research, 2021)''
*''Is Corporate Capitalism the best we've got to offer? (Relational Research, 2022)''
*''No Other Way to Peace in Korea? A practical path to reunification (Relational Peacebuilding Initiatives, 2022)''