THE WILBERFORCE SOCIETY

The oldest student think tank in the UK, based at the University of Cambridge

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ABOUT US

The Wilberforce Society was founded in 2009 as an independent student think-tank with the mission of promoting constructive and intelligent debate in Cambridge.

TWS prides itself on producing rigorously researched, non-partisan policy papers on pertinent issues, which have included ‘The Brexit Report’, a comprehensive analysis of the impact of Brexit on Cambridge, which was presented at the European Parliament.

TWS also holds regular events with leading academics and experts on policy issues and current affairs. The highlight of our speaker events is The Wilberforce Society’s Annual Conference, held in Lent Term.

About us

HISTORY

It is from William Wilberforce, MP and abolitionist, that we take our name. While a student at St John’s College, Cambridge from 1776 to 1781, he became close friend to future Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger. With other great men including William Grenville, they formed a circle of friends that proved to be a powerful force in British politics between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Though he never became Prime Minister, as the two aforementioned men did, Wilberforce established a formidable reputation in his early parliamentary career as a great independent member and a leading orator of his day. The first of these qualities is our foremost reason for adopting his name. But we take it also to honour his extraordinary achievement in leading the work towards the abolition of Britain’s slave trade, the first of any major slave-trading nation to make such a reform.

While we are not constrained by the often very conservative positions that Wilberforce was to adopt in his later career, we strive to devise proposals that encompass compassion and understanding akin to that which he espoused.

History

PROJECTS

Research

A Retreating America in a Post-Brexit Setting: How Should the UK Manage its Trade Relationship with the EU?

Full Paper

Rethinking Debt Sustainability: Lessons from the Austerity Era

Full Paper

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Digital Journal

Development as Burial: The Case of East Jerusalem

Written by Ben Lubitsh Edited by Amane Tanaka In 2018, the Israeli cabinet approved a five-year investment plan for East Jerusalem (Government Decision 3790) worth roughly NIS 2.2 billion. This was the first government decision for investment of such magnitude in the 51 years since Israel’s de facto annexation of East Jerusalem, named after its explicitly stated aim: “for the reduction of socio-economic gaps and economic development in East Jerusalem”. [1] The investment even

Sizing Up Small Modular Reactors

Written by Juno Chowla-Song Edited by Shreya Devani Interest in nuclear energy is rebounding after a long decline, and small modular reactors (SMRs) have stolen the spotlight.[1] There are more than 120 SMR designs at different stages of development, with most being targeted for the early 2030s.[2] These modern nuclear generators are intended to be compact, factory-built and scalable, allowing them to decarbonise energy systems and build energy resilience while meeting rapidl

Guinea's Great Game

Written by Benjamin Wishart Edited by Camilo Pallasco-Prophette Resource nationalism, Sino-American rivalry and the limits of sovereign statecraft between resource curse and resource imperialism Guinea-Conakry presents one of the starkest paradoxes in African political economy. It sits atop some vastly valuable resource endowments: the world's largest bauxite reserves, and the highest-grade untapped iron ore in the Simandou mountains - and yet it remains tethered to the botto

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