The Chesterton Institute is actively engaged in several important projects whose purpose is to promote Chestertonian thinking in all its range and depth.

Chesterton and the Economy

Building on the Sane Economy Project, an earlier initiative of the Institute under the direction of the British economist Russell Sparkes, we examine the contemporary economic order in the light of the principles of solidarity and subsidiary. Chesterton argued strongly for the widespread ownership of productive property, the best guarantee, he thought, of a social order that was both free and fair. This “distributist” philosophy has much to offer us today. In particular, it grounds our economic thinking in a rich Christian anthropology that sees the human person not as a discrete set of appetites – a mere producer or consumer – but as a being made in the image and likeness of God. Chesterton developed his ideas in a classic text, The Outline of Sanity, and in the pages of his newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly. Building on this legacy, the Institute has sponsored conferences on the topic of his economic thought in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Lithuania, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Chesterton and History

Chesterton was not an historian in any formal sense but he wrote widely on historical topics. His book The Everlasting Man may be read as a brilliant refutation of H.G. Wells’s Outline of History. His Short History of England is in the Bellocian tradition of anti-Whig radicalism. His William Cobbett offers a passionately felt account of English history from the point of view of the rural poor. Building on this legacy, the Chesterton Institute is equally committed to dialogue with history and historians. In particular, it has sponsored conferences and special issues of The Chesterton Review devoted to Christopher Dawson, the most important English Catholic historian of the twentieth century.

Chesterton and Science

Chesterton was an important if under-appreciated philosopher of science. As Father Stanley Jaki demonstrates in his book Chesterton: Seer of Science, the key to Chesterton’s scientific thought lies in a recognition of the world as pure gift (and thus an object of wonder and gratitude) and at the same time a provisionally knowable field of human inquiry yielding some of its mysteries to the exercise of human intelligence. The Institute has promoted Chesterton’s scientific ideas (in special issues of The Chesterton Review, for example) and has sponsored online conferences devoted to the ideas of Father Jaki. Additionally, it continues to draw attention to Chesterton’s strong condemnation of eugenics, especially in his book Eugenics and Other Evils.  Chesterton anticipated many of the assaults on human life which Pope St. John Paul II characterized as our modern "culture of death." He was one of the first to speak out against Hitlerian anti-Semitism. The Chesterton Institute has sponsored conferences on Chesterton and Eugenics in Chile, Malta, and Spain.

Chesterton and Ireland
Chesterton visited Ireland twice and considered it a model Christian nation. His two “Irish” books – Irish Impressions and Christendom in Dublin – are rich expressions of one of his core convictions: the possibility of a Christian “resurrection” in Europe. Equally convinced of that idea, indeed convinced of its urgent necessity, the Institute has organized major conferences in Ireland and devoted special issues of The Chesterton Review to it. As Ireland seems to embrace a secular future, the Institute hopes to remind it of its richer, sacred past. 

Chesterton and Poland
Chesterton's visit to Poland in 1927 convinced him of the importance of that country's long and valiant Christian history. The Institute seeks to explore that legacy and draw some lessons from it for contemporary Europe. The Chesterton Review published a Special Polish Issue in Spring/Summer 2008. In addition, the Institute has sponsored conferences in Warsaw and Krakow in 2012, 2014, and 2017.

Chesterton and South America

The Chesterton Institute has opened vast new fields of conversation by sponsoring conferences in South America. Although Chesterton has long been admired in Argentina (he was a key influence on Jorge Luis Borges, for instance), it is only in recent years, and thanks to the Institute, that Chestertonians in Chile and Brazil have been able to seek each other out. The Institute hopes to build on the success of major conferences in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, and elsewhere to encourage renewed attention to Chesterton’s thought in South America. In addition, The Chesterton Review is now published not only in English but also in Spanish and Portuguese, with content specific to those languages. The Institute seeks financial support to enable the continuation of this important work.

Christian Reunion and Jewish-Christian Dialogue
In conjunction with the Judeo-Christian Institute at Seton Hall University, the Institute has begun to explore Chesterton's insight that the deepest truths are those expressed through fable, story-telling, and religious imagination.