Abbreviation SAU Director Michael Mosbacher | Headquarters London, United Kingdom | |
Formation 1980; 37 years ago (1980) Type Social policy think tank Website www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk | ||
The Social Affairs Unit is a right-leaning think tank in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1980 as an offshoot of the Institute of Economic Affairs, it publishes books on a variety of social issues. Its website notes that "many SAU supporters are inclined to believe that the generation which fought the Second World War were rather too keen on social engineering over the goals of personal responsibility".
Contents
The Unit publishes Standpoint (since 2008), a monthly cultural and political newsstand magazine edited by Daniel Johnson, and formerly sponsored various websites: direct-action.info, which became an archive on 10 April 2008, Chernobyl Legacy, which was last archived on 12 January 2010, the Black History Museum which was last archived on 13 February 2012 and livingissues.com, which was last archived on 7 July 2012.
History
The Social Affairs Unit was established in December 1980 as an offshoot of the Institute of Economic Affairs, in order to carry the IEA's economic ideas onto the battleground of sociology. "Within a few years the Social Affairs Unit became independent from the IEA, acquiring its own premises." Founded in 1980 as a registered charity, its founder Chairman was Professor Julius Gould, and its founder Director, Dr. Digby Anderson. Anderson often contributed leading articles to UK national newspapers, was Director from 1980 to 2004, when he retired and was succeeded by Michael Mosbacher.
Funding
Documents released as part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement showed that the Unit accepted funding from British American Tobacco in the 1980s.