We work to restore the cultural inheritance of English-speaking countries with a focus on their Judeo-Christian roots, renewing ties with allies, and equipping future leaders to defend a shared civilisation.
The name 878 alludes to this work, referring to a pivotal year at the beginnings of the English-speaking tradition.
Ours is a tradition of freedom of speech, belief, inquiry and association; of limited and sovereign government in the Judeo-Christian heritage, the parliamentary democracy that springs from it, and the historical empiricism of the English-speaking tradition. Above all, this legacy has kept us safe from the disastrous utopianism to which other philosophical traditions have led.
Likewise, the rise in antisemitism across the West is now a growing emergency. At the heart of 878 is the knowledge of the deep roots of English-speaking civilisation, including in Judaic civilisation and tradition. 878 studies the threats to this inheritance. As the nation-state returns to centre-stage, we seek renewal based on these understandings, not the “new paganism” of ignorance and ethno-nationalist tribalism.
Our culture and the flourishing it has created will be restored and defended above all by functioning borders and limited migration. A nation is not simply an organisation that anyone can join by signing a contract: it is a shared sense of culture, belonging and obligation.
The English-speaking constitutional tradition has been uniquely conducive to decent government: its rediscovery can be a bulwark against contemporary threats including liberal supranationalism and Islamist imperialism.
A constitutional tradition can only be preserved through a sense of shared culture. Should this be lost, government is liable to descend into tyranny, oppressing and controlling incompatible claims to power. On this neglected cornerstone of shared culture, all else depends.