Auguste Rodin’s sculpture, ‘The Thinker’, struck a popular chord in early twentieth century Paris – so much so, it was bought by the city and placed in front of the Pantheon. The bronze statue depicts a man bent deep in thought, yet his is a practical kind of thinking. It seems that he will soon rise and act on his resolutions.

It is in something of this spirit that we are launching Manifesto Club Thinkpieces. These are proposals, written by Manifesto Club members, for how to do things better in a particular area of a life – be it education policy or the management of a local school, arts practice, immigration or health policy.

The aim of this initiative is to start to look beyond the managerial, short-termist thinking that dominates political discussion today. We’re starting from the view that it is possible for the human imagination to conceive of different, better ways of organising social and cultural life. Surely current ‘best practice’ is not the be all and end all.

Thinkpieces are personal proposals, drawing freely on both practical experience and theoretical knowledge in coming at a question. As a club, we’ll use these proposals as starting points for new conversations, about alternative ways forward in public policy and social life.

This series – and accompanying online and offline discussions – will run over 2007 and 2008. No doubt there will be many disagreements and disputes, but we hope that this will prove an enlightening experiment.

See the Thinkpiece series. If you are interested in writing a Thinkpiece, email Josie.Appleton@manifestoclub.com