Recordings of lectures and discussion from the boi charity
Trigger warnings and microaggression policies have become increasingly familiar on campus. But while we can snigger at ‘de-stressing parties' with colouring books, are students any different from the rest of society? After all, many people believe we face an unprecedented range of threats. Anxiety allied to yearning for safety is evident in warnings over formula milk and processed foods, panics over drink-spiking and catcalling, and paranoid parenting that is creating a generation of ‘cotton wool' kids. What happened to resilience and how do we explain our existential insecurity? What is the balance between safety and freedom, and how do we successfully argue for taking risks? In the face of society-wide preoccupation with safety, what are the arguments we need today to renew the case for liberty? SPEAKERS Ella Whelan, journalist; co-convenor of the Battle of Ideas Festival READ ON Letter on Liberty: The case for women's freedom Ella Whelan, Academy of Ideas, July 2022 https://academyofideas.org.uk/letters-on-liberty-the-case-for-womens-freedom/ Letter on Liberty: Beyond the Harm Principle Rob Lyons, Academy of Ideas https://academyofideas.org.uk/letters-on-liberty-beyond-the-harm-principle/ The danger of safetyism Matthew Crawford, UnHerd, 15 May 2021 https://unherd.com/2020/05/the-hypocrisy-of-safetyism/ LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See https://livingfreedom.org.uk/ and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk
Features the discussion ‘The ‘stolen years': understanding the lockdowns' recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. It's not surprising lockdown was experienced as an era of loneliness, anxiety and fear. In every arena, freedom, autonomy and social life were restricted in favour of Zoom calls, family bubbles, and vaccine passports. Some say we are seeing a permanent shift in the experience of growing up. But to what extent has Covid given rise to a distinct generational outlook? Have habits of fraternity and solidarity been damaged irreparably or can we rescue the idea of freedom from widespread fatalism? LECTURER Dr Jennie Bristow sociologist, co-author, The Corona Generation READ ON Why do young people still support lockdowns? Max Mitchell, UnHerd, 25 March 2023 Generation CUB – how the events of Covid, Ukraine and Brexit will shape our teenagers' lives forever Jennie Bristow, Telegraph, 10 March 2022 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk
Features the discussion ‘What does it mean to be human in a world of generative AI?' recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. People are fascinated, amused and alarmed – often all three at once, at the generative AI tools that have taken the internet by storm over the last year. Some people welcome the new possibilities that these tools seem to offer for human creativity and flourishing. Others fear the consequences – from students getting AI to write their homework, to artists and journalists losing their livelihood to AI, to reputations being ruined and public discourse polluted by AI-generated scams and 'deepfakes'. What 20th-century events and philosophies originally shaped the invention of AI? What 21st-century phenomena are shaping the way we understand AI now? Will generative AI add to, or detract from, the meaning in our lives? LECTURER Sandy Starr deputy director, Progress Educational Trust, author of the Letter on Liberty AI: Separating Man from Machine READ ON Computing machinery and intelligence Alan Turing, Mind, Volume LIX, Issue 236, October 1950, Pages 433–460 The cynical hysteria around AI Timandra Harkness, UnHerd, 2 June 2023 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk
Features the discussion ‘The dangers of progress?' recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. Historically, the quest for freedom was often understood to be bound up with the ideal of progress, but today, society seems less certain of the benefits of progress. Key features of modernity such as urbanisation, mobility, secularism and affluence are often deemed counterproductive to liberty. How should we define ‘progress' and how do we account for collapsing belief in its benefits? Are progress and tradition necessarily in direct and bloody competition or can we make the case for a creative tension worth celebrating for social benefits? From industry to the internet, cars to contraceptive pills, has progress gone too far and become a threat to contemporary freedoms? LECTURERS Nina Power writer and philosopher; senior editor, Compact Ralph Schoellhammer political theorist, Webster Vienna Private University READ ON Socialism or Barbie-ism, Nina Power, Compact, 24 July 2023 Degrowth is a suicidal ideology, Ralph Schoellhammer, 30 May 2023 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk
Features the lecture ‘‘Dystopian or dysfunctional? The 21st-century state' recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. In recent years, governments have appeared directionless and often incompetent. Institutions riven with disputes over cultural values seem unsure of what they stand for. Crisis seems to be the word of the year - energy crisis, cost-of-living crisis, climate crisis, housing crisis – meaning a ‘state of emergency' is now ubiquitous. What is distinct about today's elites and their attempts to exercise authority? How should we understand the relationship between authority and authoritarian? For those keen to make the case for freedom, what should we be concerned about today and how do we make the case for renewing liberty? LECTURER Josie Appleton director, Manifesto Club; author, Officious: Rise of the Busybody state. READ ON The emergency addiction Josie Appleton, Notes on Freedom, 21 May 2023 Officious: Rise of the busybody state, Zer0 Books, 2016 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk
Features the lecture ‘Freedom in the age of identity politics' recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. Loved or loathed, identity politics is inescapable in contemporary battles over freedom. To some, the political embrace of the personal is a vital tool in the struggle against oppressive institutions and practices. To others, identitarian politics is a divisive force in society and represents the antithesis of liberal ideals. In making the case for the free individual, how do we avoid reducing freedom to a lifestyle or consumer choice? Beyond the culture war of identity politics, how should we seek to construct a sense of ourselves and of freedom today? LECTURER Dr Joanna Williams, director, Cieo, columnist, spiked, and author of How Woke Won: The Elitist Movement That Threatens Democracy, Tolerance and Reason READ ON Freedom in the age of identity politics, Joanna Williams, CIEO, 2023 How identity politics destroys freedom, Roger Scruton, Acton Institute, September 2021 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk
Features the lecture ‘Freedom of conscience: 21st century challenges' recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. For many centuries, in religious and secular times alike, societies have wrestled with dilemmas as to how we should live in accordance with our inner-most thoughts and beliefs. What should we understand by the term freedom of conscience, how did it emerge and why is it so important? What are the main threats to conscience-based freedoms today? LECTURER Professor Frank Furedi, sociologist and social commentator; author, 100 years of identity crisis and How Fear Works: culture of fear in the 21st century. READ ON On Tolerance: A Defence of Moral Independence, Frank Furedi, Continuum, 2011 There is nothing wrong with unconscious bias Don't let them control your thoughts! Frank Furedi, Roots and Wings, 29 August 2022 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk
Living Freedom Forum in London in April explored Artificial Intelligence and the implications for freedom. Generative AI like ChatGPT and Midjourney have captured the public imagination and barely a day now passes without claim and counter-claim as to benefits or threats posed by artificial intelligence. But what actually is generative technology? How have we come to realise this new technology? And what are the potential benefits and threats? Speaker: Sandy Starr, deputy director of the Progress Educational Trust To find out more about Living Freedom visit livingfreedom.org.uk/
Initiated in 2015, Debating Matters Beyond Bars is a project which takes DM's schools-debating format inside prisons. Using our acclaimed substance-over-style format, teams of prisoners engage in debate with one another on a whole range of contemporary social, political and cultural topics. The programme aims to inspire them to think about issues beyond their current situation and to look forward to their life ahead – in other words, beyond bars! In this podcast, Mo Lovatt - DM's national coordinator - and Geoff Kidder sat down with former Beyond Bars competitor Jon Floyd to discuss the impact the programme had on him when he took part in 2015 while he was serving his sentence. We were also joined by Heather Phillips, the chief executive of Beating Time, which runs, amongst other things, Inside Job – an employment programme she set up with Jon in 2020. For Jon, taking part in Beyond Bars was the catalyst for starting that programme with Heather as well as a whole range of initiatives he's been involved with since 2015. As he says in the podcast, Beyond Bars gave him a purposeful activity, helped him change direction and kickstarted his journey of rehabilitation.
The theme of this year's The Academy, the weekend residential summer school, is ‘Old Roots of the New Disorder'. The event takes place on 16/17 July. In this special podcast, The Academy convenor Jacob Reynolds talks to Professor Frank Furedi, keynote lecturer, about why at a time when the global geo-political and economic crisis afflicts all dimensions of human existence, The Academy represents an opportunity to gain clarity about our predicament. With the shake-up in geopolitics, we put current events in context through a weekend of lectures and discussions. We'll look to history, literature and philosophy and feature plenary discussions on the origins and breakdown of the post-Cold War era and fatalism and the challenges to agency today. There will also be discussions on history and literature from the Battle of Marathon and the Hungarian Revolution to Ulysses and the modernist solution to Houellebecq and the misery of post-Modernism. Bringing together people of all ages and backgrounds, this is an unmissable event for all those who want to get to grips with a changing world. If you'd like to join us for a weekend of stimulating debate in a beautiful location, book your tickets here
From the series ‘The elite: old and new', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in November 2021. The term ‘professional managerial class' was coined in 1977. Thinkers on both left and right have drawn attention to the rise (and rise) of a seemingly new group in society who neither labour in traditional occupations nor own significant amounts of capital. This group of salaried professionals – in the civil service, education, management, public relations, public health etc. – not only increasingly manage the key institutions of society. They are also said to exert a social and ideological influence, promoting ‘progressive' campaigns around gender, sexual, racial, and other identity causes. But who are this group? Can it really be said to be a ‘class', and how do they differ from more familiar elites? Lecture by Catherine Liu, professor of film and media studies, University of California Irvine, and the author of ‘Virtue Hoarders: the case against the professional managerial class' THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and new To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- READ: Barbara and John Ehrenreich, The Professional Managerial Class in Radical America, Vol 11, No. 2, 1977 (pdf) https://library.brown.edu/pdfs/1125403552886481.pdf READ: Catherine Liu, Virtue Hoarders: the case against the professional managerial class, 2021 https://amzn.to/3ehMCDS THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the series ‘The elite: old and new', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in November 2021. Published in the weeks after VE day in 1945, just as British voters swept a Labour Government into power, Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited was a surprise bestseller in both the UK and America, and captured the imagination of generations of readers. The story follows the life of Captain Charles Ryder and his fateful obsession with the aristocratic Flyte family as they slowly fall from grace and fortune during the interwar years. So how does Waugh make sense of the decline of the British establishment? Is the destruction of the old order, as one character has it, ‘all on account of the war'? What drove Waugh's attacks on modernism? And what can the decline of the old elite tell us about the elite of today? Lecture by Helen Searls, chief operating officer, Feature Story News (FSN); founder, Washington Hyenas' Book Club THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and new To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- READ: Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited, 1945 https://amzn.to/3pjY4VY READ: Frank Furedi, First World War: Still No End in Sight, 2013 https://amzn.to/3JaMqV9 THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the series ‘The elite: old and new', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in November 2021. In recent years, populist movements have thrived on a sense of anger at global elites who have distanced themselves from political control by their own national populations. The coronavirus pandemic has further served to suggest that the global system is extremely fragile. Yet, as betrayed by the likes of COP26 conference on climate change, the appetite for supranational decision-making is as strong as ever. This lecture examines the ‘globalist' elite and their political culture of supranationalism, and asks what are its prospects are in a post-populist and post-pandemic world. Lecture by Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent, The Times THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and new To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING / LISTENING For this lecture you may wish to read:- READ: Phil Mullan, Beyond Confrontation: Globalists, Nationalists and Their Discontents https://amzn.to/3dCspbF READ: Hannah Arendt, Truth and Politics, The New Yorker, 1967 https://bit.ly/3GADGpd THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the series ‘The elite: old and new', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in November 2021. From arguments in museums about the status of colonial-era collections to the proliferation of ever more expansive diversity policies in public service organisations, major institutions are at the forefront of the culture wars. What can controversies such as Stonewall's involvement at the BBC, and the new elite activism of organisations such as the National Trust and Civil Service tell us about the changing face of major institutions and how power operates today? Lecture by Claire Fox, director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and new To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING / LISTENING READ: Christopher Lasch, The Revolt of the Elite and the Betrayal of the Democracy https://amzn.to/3otpVmk LISTEN: Nolan Investigates: Stonewall – BBC Sounds https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09yjp0d THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the series ‘The elite: old and new', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in November 2021. Political discourse revolves around questions of power relations. Yet defining who really has power over society seems harder than ever. How do we understand the ‘elite' and what gives them power? Has the elite changed its character, and if so how, and from when? This lecture examines the role of culture in elite self-understanding and self-definition and looks at how culture became a key battleground in challenges to their authority. Lecture by Professor Frank Furedi, sociologist and social commentator; author, 100 Years of Identity Crisis: culture war over socialisation THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and new To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- ‘The Power Elite' by C. Wright Mills, 1956 https://amzn.to/2ZpC1TB ‘100 years of the culture war', Frank Furedi, spiked, 17 September 2021 https://bit.ly/3E0Tscg THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Introduction to the series ‘The elite: old and new', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in November 2021. Politics has always been inseparable from the question: who has power? In previous eras, the answer to that question was to examine the issue of social class. Today, it is harder to offer such easy answers. Many speak of multiple ‘elites' including business, educational, cultural and media. If traditional elites are in retreat, or anxious to broadcast their support for a new set of ‘progressive' values around race, sex and gender, does this mean that they no longer play such a central role in the management of society? Or is this simply an age-old cycle of elites seeking to mystify their social position? Introduction by Jacob Reynolds, external affairs manager, boi; author, Letters on Liberty: Beyond the Culture Wars THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and new To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- Hannah Arendt, Truth and Politics, in Between Past and Future, https://amzn.to/3rbtbV2 Peter Mair, Ruling the Void: The hollowing of Western democracy, https://amzn.to/2Zs4SXr THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Fifth podcast in the series ‘The use and abuse of history', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in April 2021. The founding ideals of the United States of America are increasingly called into question. Rather than an experiment in democratic self-government and throwing off the shackles of British imperialism, America is seen as a racist creation devoted to the institution of slavery. This episode assesses the contrast between the lofty ideals of the American founding fathers and the ‘original sin' of slavery. Was its foundation marked by a distinctive attempt to take control of history? And what are the consequences of today's impulse to tar the past as irredeemably corrupt? Lecturers: Dr Cheryl Hudson, lecturer in US Political History, University of Liverpool and Professor Francis Buckley, Foundation Professor, George Mason University; political commentator; author, The Way Back: Restoring the Promise of America THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORY A half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- • ‘American Slavery, American Freedom' by Edmund S. Morgan (2003) https://tinyurl.com/up4hmf69 • ‘American Secession: The Looming Threat of a National Breakup' by F.H. Buckley (2020) https://tinyurl.com/5buevvtm THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the series ‘The use and abuse of history', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in April 2021. The most common historical comparison in contemporary debates is to fascism. From the pro-trump riot at the Capitol to laws requiring the wearing of masks, every political event is compared to the fascism of Nazi Germany. Undoubtedly, and for good reason, the horrors of the early 20th Century loom large over the political imagination of the West. But by comparing every contemporary event to fascism, many are left unable to explain the real causes and consequences of contemporary debates. This episode places fascism in its historical context, and ask what, if anything, can be learnt from it today. Lecture by Professor Aristotle Kallis, University of Keele THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORY A half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- ‘Fascist Ideology: Territory and Expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922-1945' by Aristotle Kallis https://tinyurl.com/32v73e9d ‘Fascism: What it is and how to fight it' by Leon Trotsky (1944) https://tinyurl.com/x533ukzj THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the series ‘The use and abuse of history', theme of the boi charity's event The Academy, held online in April 2021. The term ‘cultural Marxism' has long proved controversial. Some insist that it helps explain a shift in left-wing thought from a materialist focus on economic transformation to a concern for cultural issues and identity politics. Others dismiss it as an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory with its origins in Nazi attacks on ‘cultural Bolshevism'. Nevertheless, many accept that the Frankfurt School – the term given to the group of mainly German émigré intellectuals including the likes of Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse – did indeed launch a distinctive critique of post-war capitalism that put cultural issues front and centre. This talk assesses the emergence and the legacy of those critiques. Lecture by Dr Tim Black, books and essays editor at Spiked THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORY A half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- Dialectic of Enlightenment, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, 1947 https://amzn.to/3vDk3qL ‘Who's afraid of Cultural Marxism?', Tim Black, spiked, 1 April 2019 https://bit.ly/3q4QnBU THE ACADEMY In the context of today's instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the series ‘The use and abuse of history’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in April 2021. From discussions about reparations to the descendants of slaves to the battles over public monuments, the legacy of the past is bitterly contested in today’s culture wars. Many insist that contemporary societies need to do much more to come to terms with, and atone for, the evils committed in the past. If the past actions of a country – such as military victories, the collection of vast treasures or the foundation or independence of a country – were once the source of national pride, today they are widely seen as a source of shame. How did our relationship to the past become so fraught? What are the consequences of this widespread estrangement from the past? If it is no longer possible to see the past as a reservoir of achievements and positive values, by what is the present to be guided? Is there a barely-concealed war on the past, or are societies merely finally facing up to their history? Lecture by Professor Frank Furedi, sociologist; public intellectual; author, ‘Why Borders Matter’ THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORY A half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- ‘The Death of the Past’ by JH Plumb, 1969 https://amzn.to/3i2UqNb ‘The culture war against the past’, Frank Furedi, spiked, 30 July 2020 https://bit.ly/3fovXQl THE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Introductory podcast to the series ‘The use and abuse of history’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in April 2021. Our politics is suffused with historical comparisons, and the meaning of key historical events is bitterly contested. How do we relate to history today? How can we learn from the past without reducing it to a series of moral parables? When are historical comparisons useful, and when do they obstruct understanding the present? What stands in the way of us seizing the present and making our own history? Introduction by Dr James Panton, teacher and lecturer in politics, associate professor of philosophy, Open University; co-convenor, The Academy THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORY A half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- What is History by EH Carr, https://amzn.to/3fmUoOm THE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Seventh and final podcast in the series on Race and Racism, theme of BoI charity’s event The Academy, held online in late 2020. In this episode we feature two talks that reflect on the emergence of a new elite and the institutionalisation of identity. Lecturers: Inaya Folarin Iman, founder, Equiano Project and presenter, GB News Frank Furedi, a sociologist, public intellectual and author including ‘Democracy Under Siege’ and ‘Why Borders Matter’ THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: RACE AND RACISM The Academy II was a half day online event via zoom that took place in November 2020. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-ii-race-and-racism For this lecture you may wish to read:- ‘The Silent War: Imperialism and the Changing Perception of Race’ by Frank Furedi, Pluto Press, 1998 https://amzn.to/3v0REev ‘We need to abolish race’ by Inaya Folarin Iman; Spiked, 4 August 2020, https://bit.ly/2P4KPt3 THE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Sixth podcast in the series on Race and Racism, theme of BoI charity’s event The Academy, held online in late 2020. In this episode we feature the talk ‘The Birth of a Nation’. ‘The Birth of a Nation’, the controversial film by DW Griffith from 1915 is renowned for its racist portrayal of black people and celebration of the Klu Klux Klan. More than a century after its release it continues to excite huge controversy. But how has the interpretation and imputed meaning of the film shifted and changed over that period. Lecturer: Kunle Olulode, director, Voice4Change England; former creative director, Rebop Productions; member, African Odyssey programming board, BFI THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: RACE AND RACISM The Academy II was a half day online event via zoom that took place in November 2020. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-ii-race-and-racism For this lecture on civil rights, we you may wish to read:- ‘No place for the real Hollywood story’ by Kunle Olulode, Index on Censorship, 12 October 2015 https://bit.ly/2NTtORG ‘D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time’ by Melvyn Stokes; Oxford University Press (2008) https://amzn.to/2NwFDxg THE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Fifth podcast in the series on Race and Racism, theme of BoI charity’s event The Academy, held online in late 2020.In this episode we feature the talk: The troubled universalism of ‘The Souls of Black Folk’.‘The Souls of Black Folk’ was published in 1903 by W.E.B. Du Bois, the American sociologist, historian, author and campaigner. Today, identity politics and campaigns such as decolonising the curriculum emphasise racial difference rather than common humanity. At a time when universalism has fallen distinctly out of fashion, what can we learn from revisiting this seminal work from Du Bois?Lecturer: Brendan O’Neill; editor, spiked; writer for The Sun, The Spectator and The Australian; broadcast commentator, Sky News and the BBC; host, The Brendan O’Neill Show podcast.THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: RACE AND RACISMThe Academy II was a half day online event via zoom that took place in November 2020. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-ii-race-and-racismFor this lecture on civil rights, we you may wish to read:-‘The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois (1903). Purchase this book at http://amzn.to/3jQG15y‘Black privilege:Why white liberals venerate Ta-Nehisi Coates’ by Brendan O’Neill, spiked http://bit.ly/3daTzayTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Fourth podcast in the series on Race and Racism, theme of BoI charity’s event The Academy, held online in late 2020.In this episode we feature the lecture ‘The use and abuse of the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement’.The emergence of Black Lives Matter has been accompanied by renewed interest in the American civil rights movement that made such an impact in the 1960s. But what are the key attributes of that movement, and how should we assess today’s interpretation of its history and legacy?Lecturer: Nicolas Kinloch, history teacher specialising in American history, former deputy president of the Historical Association and a Teacher Fellow of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: RACE AND RACISMThe Academy II was a half day online event via zoom that took place in November 2020. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-ii-race-and-racismFor this lecture on civil rights, we you may wish to read:-‘The Fire Next Time’ by James Baldwin (1963). Purchase this book at https://amzn.to/39PTJlA‘The March on Washington: A legacy lost’ by Robert L. Woodson in The Hill http://bit.ly/39POxygTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Third podcast in the series on Race and Racism, theme of BoI charity’s event The Academy, held online in late 2020.In this episode, we feature the lecture ‘Race Riots 1919 – 1992: from the First World War to Culture War’.The summer of 2020 was marked by Black Lives Matters protests and also by an explosion of violence that spread through American cities such as Minneapolis, Atlanta and many more. This talk explores a century of race riots in America and the shifting political and cultural terrain that shaped them.Lecturer: Dr Cheryl Hudson, lecturer in US Political History, University of Liverpool; researching histories of race, reform and political culture in the United States; co-editor, ‘Why Academic Freedom Matters’ (Civitas, 2016).THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: RACE AND RACISMThe Academy II was a half day online event via zoom that took place in November 2020. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-ii-race-and-racismFor this lecture on race riots, we you may wish to read:-‘Race Riot: Chicago and the Red Summer of 1919’ by William M. Tuttle (1996). Purchase this book http://amzn.to/3rgaQmL‘Separate and Unequal: The Kerner Commission and the Unravelling of American Liberalism’ by Steven M. Gillon (2018). https://amzn.to/2MCxp61‘2020 is not 1968: To understand today’s protests, you must look further back’ by Thomas J. Sugrue in National Geographic http://on.natgeo.com/2MzmYQwTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Second podcast in our series on Race and Racism, the theme of BoI charity’s event The Academy, held online in late 2020. In this episode, we feature the lecture ‘Historical racism and the new language of racialisation’. At a time when questions related to race have very much come to the forefront of political discussion, this talk examines what the new antiracism stands for - and argues that it represents a break from the anti-racism of the recent past, and that the time has come to instead adopt a universalist, humanist perspective.Lecturer: Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, founding signatory, Don’t Divide Us; educator, researcher and writer; author, ‘What should schools teach? Disciplines, subjects and the pursuit of truth’.THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: RACE AND RACISMThe Academy II was a half day online event via zoom that took place in November 2020. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-ii-race-and-racism For this introductory lecture, we you may wish to read:- • 'Nationalism' by Rabindranath Tagore (1917). Purchase this Penguin Classics book http://amzn.to/2LPfpFw • 'Learning to Read and Write' by Frederick Douglass (1845) (pdf). https://bit.ly/39ViHin THE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
This is the first podcast in our new series on Race and Racism, the theme of BoI charity’s event The Academy held online in late 2020.In this episode, we feature Jacob Reynolds, who along with Dr James Panton, was the co-convenor of the event.Jacob reflects briefly on the return of race to the forefront of politics, and sets the scene for the series of podcasted talks that will follow this, each of which will explore an aspect of the intellectual history and latest cultural trends that inform the new discussion on race and racism.Jacob Reynolds is external affairs manager at the boi charity and was co-convenor of The Academy Online II. He is author of the Letters on Liberty pamphlet Beyond the Culture WarsTHE ACADEMY ONLINE II: RACE AND RACISMThe Academy II was a half day online event via zoom that took place in November 2020. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-ii-race-and-racismFor this introductory lecture, we you may wish to read:-‘Notes of a Native Son’ by James Baldwin (1955). Purchase this book http://amzn.to/390PkvO ‘Beyond the Culture Wars’ by Jacob Reynolds (2020). Purchase this pamphlet http://bit.ly/3bVnmTYTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Eighth and final lecture in series Psychology and Democracy from The Academy 2020 organised by Battle of Ideas (boi) charity.In this episode, the lecture ‘Scientism and the Manufacture of Consent: then and now’ draws together themes explored earlier in the series. It looks at how, in an age without a clear set of authoritative political ideas, an ideology - as yet without a name - has taken root. This ‘invisible’ ideology represents the coalescence of two separate strands of thinking over the past century - on the one hand an orientation towards social engineering and expert led technocracy, and on the other the emergence and eventual thriving of identity politics.Lecturer: Professor Frank Furedi, sociologist and social commentator; author of more than 20 books, including most recently, ‘Why Borders Matter: why humanity must relearn the art of drawing boundaries’THE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACYThe Academy Online was a mixture of lectures and seminars offering an opportunity to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context. The full programme and some background reading can be found at theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online…logy-and-democracyTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large.Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Seventh lecture in series Psychology and Democracy from The Academy 2020 organised by Battle of Ideas (boi) charity.Our focus in this episode is The Hidden Persuaders, the 1957 study by Vance Packard, American journalist, social critic and best-selling author. The Hidden Persuaders is Packard’s foray into the role of our unconscious desires and how psychological methods are exploited by arenas such as advertising. This talk explores Packard’s background and work, and reflects on what he pioneered and also his legacy.Lecturer: James Woudhuysen, visiting professor of forecasting and innovation at London South Bank University, a regular broadcaster, writer and author including co-author of Energise! A future for energy innovationTHE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACYThe Academy Online was a mixture of lectures and seminars offering an opportunity to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context. The full programme and some background reading can be found at theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online…logy-and-democracyTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large.Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Sixth lecture in series Psychology and Democracy from The Academy 2020 organised by Battle of Ideas (boi) charity.Our focus in this podcast is Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence. The novel was published in 1928, the period just after the First World War when anticipation of future possibilities coexisted with feelings of dread over the world to come. Against a backdrop of fears over mass society, and intense interest in conflicting dynamics of modernisation and tradition, industrialisation and nature, we look at what Lawrence tells us about inner turmoil in a shifting world.Lecturer: Ella Whelan, co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; journalist, broadcaster and commentator; writer and presenter, ‘Girl Power RIP’, Radio 4THE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACY The Academy Online was a mixture of lectures and seminars offering an opportunity to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context. The full programme and some background reading can be found at theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online…logy-and-democracyTHE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
On 20 June 2020, Battle of Ideas Charity hosted The Academy Online, a series of talks and book discussions exploring the theme Psychology and Democracy.This podcast features the introductory talk to a discussion on the 1948 novel ‘Walden Two’ by BF Skinner, an American psychologist, author, inventor and social philosopher. Skinner liked to describe his own philosophy as 'radical behaviorism' and the novel has gained renewed attention alongside interest in social psychology and behavioural science at a time of a pandemic, when many are keen to understand the factors that shape our decisions and the extent to which we can say we are we conscious agents who determine our own actions.The lecturer is Dr Helene Guldberg, a lecturer in psychology at the Open University and author of two books; ‘Reclaiming Childhood: freedom and play in an age of fear’ and ‘Just Another Ape?’.THE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACY The Academy Online was a mixture of lectures and seminars offering an opportunity to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context. The full programme and some background reading can be found at theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online…logy-and-democracyTHE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
On 20 June 2020, Battle of Ideas charity hosted The Academy Online, a series of talks and book discussions exploring the theme Psychology and Democracy.In this podcast we feature the opening lecture The frightful crowd: the psychology of ‘the masses’.Today, discussion of crowds, the demos and by implication democracy itself, is pervasive, for example in the debates on how to influence collective actions of the public in the context of coronavirus, or in the Black Lives Matter protests and counter protests and the mobs said to inhabit and fuel the Culture Wars. But the crowd and mass society were objects of study in psychological terms well before the arrival of today’s behavioural scientists and social psychologists. This lecture explores the intellectual history and evolving ideas that have shaped concerns over the frightful crowd.The lecturer is Jacob Reynolds, external affairs manager at the Battle of ideas charity, a convenor of The Academy 2020 and a writer and commentator who specialises in political philosophy.THE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACYThe Academy Online was a mixture of lectures and seminars offering an opportunity to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context. The full programme and some background reading can be found at theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online…logy-and-democracyTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large.Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
On 20 June 2020, Battle of Ideas Charity hosts The Academy Online, a series of talks and book discussions exploring the theme Psychology and Democracy.An important text on the reading list is Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In this podcast we feature a short talk that reflects on how Huxley’s renowned work encapsulated emerging ideas in the inter war period and proved prescient to future trends. The talk opened a discussion that was organised by the Living Freedom book club in June 2020. The lecturer is Luke Gittos, a criminal lawyer, legal editor at the magazine spiked and author of the recent book Human Rights - Illusory freedom.THE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACYDue to the coronavirus pandemic measures, this year The Academy will take place as half day online event via zoom. The programme for The Academy Online: Psychology and Democracy - a mixture of lectures and seminars –offers an opportunity to all those who attend to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context.To register and view the full programme and some suggested background reading, please visit theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online…logy-and-democracyTHE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large.Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the archives of The Academy, this lecture ‘Freud: The unconscious and the repressive society’ is a taster and some useful context for this year’s Academy Online event ‘Psychology and Democracy’ on 20 June 2020 (details below).Lecturer, Dr Michael Fitzpatrick reflects on the work of Sigmund Freud, including ‘Civilisation and its Discontents’ which was published in 1929 and signals a shift in Freuds work from a focus on the individual psyche to how some of those ideas could be applied at the wider level of society and culture. THE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACY Due to the coronavirus pandemic measures, this year The Academy will take place as half day online event via zoom. The programme for The Academy Online: Psychology and Democracy - a mixture of lectures and seminars –offers an opportunity to all those who attend to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context. To register and view the full programme and some suggested background reading, please visit theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online…logy-and-democracyTHE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY The BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: theboi.co.uk/donateIDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
From the archives of The Academy, this lecture ‘Man’s inner nature: self reflection and being psychological’ is a taster and some useful context for this year’s Academy Online event ‘Psychology and Democracy’ on 20 June 2020 (details below).Lecturer, Dr Tim Black, spotlights shifting artistic sensibilities in the early 20th century and explores the journey away from society and material reality towards introspection. As remarked by Virginia Wolf, one of the writers featured here, this was the period when a sense emerged in some parts of society that future concerns lay ‘very likely in the dark places of psychology”.THE ACADEMY 2020: PSYCHOLOGY AND DEMOCRACYDue to the coronavirus pandemic measures, this year The Academy will take place as half day online event via zoom. The programme for The Academy Online: Psychology and Democracy - a mixture of lectures and seminars –offers an opportunity to all those who attend to place contemporary events in a historical and philosophical context. To register and view the full programme and some suggested background reading, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-online-psychology-and-democracy THE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: www.theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).
Professor Frank Furedi discusses the cultural turn that emerged in the 1970s and its subsequent development in the decades that followed. The talk explores the reaction to the 60s counterculture, the rise of post-material values and the contemporary politicisation of culture.LECTURERProfessor Frank Furedi, sociologist and social commentator; author, How Fear Works: culture of fear in the 21st century and Populism and the European Culture Wars.TALKING POINTS IN THIS PODCAST• The role of environmental issues in the intellectual elite’s adoption of post-material values in the 1970s• The erosion of meaning and dissolving of long established physical and cultural boundaries of Western civilisation• The demise of the traditional authority of the liberal ideal of autonomy• The depoliticization of public life and the new marriage of cultural and technocratic politics.FURTHER READING• The Hidden History of Identity Politics by Frank Furedi, 1 December 2017 www.frankfuredi.com/article/the_hid…entity_politics• Icarus Fallen: The Search for Meaning in an Uncertain World by Chantal Delsol, ISI Books, 2010THE ACADEMY 2019• In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCAST• Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.• You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean or SoundCloud.• For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website• Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter podcast and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk)and on Facebook (@battleofideas).• Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
This talk examines the assumption that today’s ‘progressive left’ is a continuation of the left-wing politics of the 1960s. It's the 11th in our series Culture Wars:then and now, recorded at the Academy 2019 summer school that was organised by the Battle of Ideas (boi) charity. LECTURERDr Greg Scorzo, director and editor, Culture on the Offensive website and host of The Art of Thinking eventsTALKING POINTS IN THIS PODCAST• The Sixties civil-rights movement and Sixties counterculture are broadly at odds with the core political values of today’s progressivism.• The differences between the Sixties movements and modern progressives summed up in four ways: equality of treatment vs equality of power; universalism vs anti-universalism; risk-taking vs regulating the private sphere; and pluralistic free speech vs anti-pluralistic free speech.ADDITIONAL READINGThe Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism by Daniel Bell, Basic Books, 1978The Culture Industry by Theodor Adorno, Routledge, 2001THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook or visiting www.theboi.co.uk.Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
If the twentieth was the Mass Century, Timandra Harkness argues that the twenty-first is the Personalised Century – a time when mass production, mass media, and mass politics are giving way to customised manufacture, social media and identity politics. But what are the implications? Is the irony of the turn to a personalised world that the person is disappearing?LECTURERTimandra Harkness, journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter of Radio 4’s FutureProofing; author, Big Data: does size matter?TALKING POINTS IN THIS PODCAST• Understanding the Mass Century and the Personalised Century• Unprecedented choice, both material and social, and the role of technology in making the personalised century possible, by profiling each of us through the data we sweat at every turn.• The role of identity in driving this turn to a personalised world from which the person is, ironically, disappearing.ADDITIONAL READING AND LISTENINGBig Data: Does Size Matter? by Timandra Harkness, Bloomsbury Sigma, 2016Identity by Timandra Harkness and Leo Johnson, Futureproofing episode, Radio 4, 2015, 2001THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
Ben Cobley discusses his book, The Tribe, explaining how the progressive liberal-left and its associated ‘system of diversity’ have come to dominate society. In this lecture, he talks about the intellectual inspirations behind The Tribe, exploring how Chantal Mouffe, Karl Popper and Martin Heidegger helped him to illuminate the fraught world of identity politics today.LECTURERBen Cobley, author, The Tribe: the liberal-left and the system of diversity.TALKING POINTS ON THIS PODCAST• The emergence of the ‘tribe’ of the progressive liberal left as an identity group that has overseen a domination of institutions and public discourse• The hypocrisy of the politics of diversity which uses the language of inclusivity and overcoming prejudice but in practice is exclusionary in itself• By furthering the politicisation and moralisation of identity, the progressive liberal left has been able to avoid discourse and even legitimate the removal of political opponents beyond the frame of public life.BIBLIOGRAPHYThe Tribe: the liberal-left and the system of diversity, Ben Cobley, Societas, 2018On the Political (Thinking in Action) by Chantal Mouffe, Routledge, 2005THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
In 1992, conservative Republican Pat Buchanan declared the launch of a ‘culture war’ for the heart of the US. In the late 2000s, following the rise of the Tea Party movement, Andrew Breitbart suggested that politics is downstream from culture, and his young protégés like Milo Yiannopoulos and Ben Shapiro created turmoil in university campuses. Trump rode the bandwagon of conservative anti-establishment sentiment to the White House, whereas his opponents linked him to the racism of the Alt-Right. Meanwhile, figures like Jordan Peterson made popular and edgy ideas around ‘sorting yourself out’ and traditional masculine values. Are conservative ideas now the ‘counter’ to a ‘progressive’ establishment?LECTURERDr Nikos Sotirakopoulos, a lecturer in sociology and criminology at the University of York and the author of the book The Rise of Lifestyle Activism: from New Left to Occupy.TALKING POINTS IN THIS PODCAST• Right wing reactionary movements have often been, in their essence, counter-cultural.• Lacking a coherent economic and political plan, modern conservatism has found a new existential mission in the culture wars • The new reactionary Right is less a revival of all bigotry and racism, or a conservative resurgence, and more a product of the current zeitgeist: obsessed with identity, and seeing humans as vulnerable subjects conditioned by their environment • Right and left wing tribalism are both movements opposing the same Enlightenment values: liberalism, reason, and individual agency.BIBLIOGRAPHYKill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right by Angela Nagle, Zero Books, 2017Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the New Threat to Liberal Democracy edited by Mark Sedwick, Oxford University Press, 2019The Prehistory of the Alt Right, by Jeffrey Tucker, Foundation for Economic Education, 2017. See https://fee.org/articles/the-prehistory-of-the-alt-right/THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook. Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
Under the seemingly all-encompassing umbrella of ‘mental health’, the public sphere appears saturated with claims about emotional damage. This lecture explores such claims of emotional harm and analyses the conversation-stopping effect of dismissing the rational human subject and the degeneration of public debate into never-ending culture wars.LECTURERDr Ashley Frawley – senior lecturer in public health, policy, and social sciences at the University of Swansea; author, Semiotics of Happiness: rhetorical beginnings of a public problemTALKING POINTS IN THIS PODCAST• The rise of new emotional problems and emotional solutions to existing problems.• Underlying their rise and fall is a belief that human subjectivity, conceived of as defective psychology, ultimately underlies most social problems.• Diminished views of subjectivity are partially rooted in a perceived gap between Enlightenment beliefs in the rational, free-willing subject and the apparent failure of these ideals to exist in practice.• Human nature is conditioned by the real possibilities of a given time period and social formation. It is not that human beings are by their nature irrational, but the possibility of a society governed by human rationality emerged at a time when the conditions for the full exercise of that rationality did not exist. • Instead of trying to understand social conditions and their constraints on human freedom and rationality, we have jettisoned freedom and rationality altogether.BIBLIOGRAPHYResilience: The Governance of Complexity by David Chandler, Routledge, 2014The Death of the Subject Explained by James Heartfield, School of Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University, 2006The Meaning of Race by Kenan Malik, Palgrave, 1996THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
Adorno and Horkheimer’s critique of the culture industry argued that movies and mass-produced entertainment represented the ‘de-artification’ or commodification of art by capitalism: an inauthentic and formulaic regurgitation of reality that deceived its audiences. The real thing was difficult and hard to understand: modernism separated itself off from mass culture in order to try and save high culture. Heidegger, too, argued that we had become enchanted with technology and needed to find a way back to beauty. Postmodernism took up the debate the other way – looking to debunk the authority of high culture with the irony of kitsch and the elevation of the everyday – moving from abstraction to art as a construct glorifying the role of the artist. Either way, the disenchantment of culture has left us with an ongoing war between low and high, new and old.LECTURERAngus Kennedy, author, Being Cultured: in defence of discrimination; co-editor (with James Panton), From Self to Selfie: a critique of contemporary alienation.BIBLIOGRAPHY‘The crisis in culture: it’s social and political significance’ in Between Past and Future by Hannah Arendt, Penguin Books (1977)‘The origin of the work of art’ in Basic Writings by Martin Heidegger, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook. Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
This lecture on the crisis of bourgeois ideology, from Nietzsche to Heidegger, is a pre-history of today’s culture wars. It explores the broad sweep and trajectory of modernist culture, from the mid nineteenth century through to the interwar years of the 20th century.LECTURERDr Tim Black, books and essays editor, Spiked.TALKING POINTS IN THIS PODCASTWhy growing disillusion of Europe’s bourgeois intellectual elite with the values of progress, liberalism and democracy that had been so important in bringing meaning to society.The crisis of meaning that fed the Great War as a vitalistic renewal of the German state and the disenchanted bourgeois world of the Anglo-French axis.Societal insecurity in Europe after WWI and fatal break by intellectuals with the moralistic guises of the pre-war view of the world and enter a deep mode of self-questioning.BIBLIOGRAPHYRites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age, Modris Eksteins, Houghton Mifflin, 1999The Destruction of Reason, Georg Lukács , 1962 (republished Aakar Books, 2016)Modernism as a Philosophical Problem: On the Dissatisfactions of European High Culture, Robert B Pippin, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our websiteKeep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
For a long time the family has been viewed as the location of all sorts of social and moral problems and are where many of the key discussions in the culture wars have traditionally been played out. But recently the focus seems to have shifted from traditional issues such as marriage, sexual freedom or abortion to the questions of parenting – resulting in more instrumental, and less moral arguments approaches to family life coming to the fore. This lecture traces these developments and clarifies whether and why the family matters.Lecturer Dr Jan Macvarish, visiting research fellow at the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, University of Kent; author of Neuroparenting: the expert invasion of family life.Talking Points in this podcastIs the state necessarily a threat to the family or can it support family life?What are the core values of the nuclear family and are they worth reinvigorating?How does 'The Family' as an ideal and an institution relate to the family as lived?How might parental authority be reconstituted in the context of greater gender equality?BibliographyNeuroparenting: The expert invasion of family life, J. Macvarish, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016Parenting Culture Studies, E. Lee, J. Bristow, C. Faircloth and J Macvarish, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.The War over the Family: Capturing the Middle Ground, B. Berger and P.L. Berger, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1983THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
The debate surrounding Parkfield school in Birmingham and wider discussion on the role of sex and relationship classes within educational programmes, are just the latest incidences of schools becoming a battlefield for the culture wars. Starting with developments in the 1870s when the state intervention in schooling in England & Wales became more pronounced, James Tooley explores the impact of the ethos of state control over education right up to today’s controversies over Relationship and Sex EducationLecturer James Tooley, professor of educational entrepreneurship and policy, University of Buckingham; author, The Beautiful TreeTalking Points in this podcastIn the 1870s, private non-profit and private for-profit schools made up nearly all the educational establishments, educating 95 per cent of children.State intervention in education reflected a desire to push forward a particular set of values, creating an early instance of the education culture wars.Schools were used to also keep the working class in their own station as opposed to increasing their social mobility.An affordable grassroots private school movement that would create schools of high quality at half the cost of state education is possible.BibliographyThe Beautiful Tree: a personal journey into how the world’s poorest people are educating themselves, James Tooley, Cato Institute, 2013Education and the State: A Study in Political Economy, Edwin G West, 3rd revised edition, 1994THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
This is the second podcast to the series Culture Wars: then and now, recorded in 2019 at the summer school The Academy.The series explores the emergence and evolution of the culture wars, and aims to understand the intellectual, cultural, social and political ideas that shape them. In this lecture, Frank Furedi introduces the concept of the culture wars, explores its historical context and outlines how changing conceptions of morality and the status of moral authority distinguish today’s culture wars from those that took place in the past.LECTURERProfessor Frank Furedi, sociologist and social commentator; author, How Fear Works: culture of fear in the 21st century and Populism and the European Culture WarsTalking Points in this podcastThe dominant issues that serve as the focus of the culture wars todayThe emergence of a socio-political impulse to remove ourselves from the pastThe culture wars as catalysed by the corrosion of Western society’s confidence in its own valuesThe importance of autonomy and sovereigntyBIBLIOGRAPHYFirst World War: Still No End in Sight (chapters 6 & 8), Frank Furedi, Bloomsbury Continuum, 2014Beyond Culture: Essays on Literature and Learning (Preface) Lionel Trilling, Penguin, 1965THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. Find out more: https://theboi.co.uk/the-academyIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter podcast takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud.Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/theboi_uk) and on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/battleofideas/)Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
This is the introductory podcast to the series 'Culture Wars: then and now', recorded in 2019 at the summer school The Academy.The series explores the emergence and evolution of the culture wars. Lecturers explore the intellectual, cultural, social and political ideas that shape the culture wars.LECTURER Angus Kennedy, convenor, The Academy; author, Being Cultured: in defence of discrimination; co-editor, From Self to Selfie: a critique of contemporary alienationTalking Points in this podcast• The Academy, and why we should value of scholarship, and the pursuit of truth• What is meant by culture, the role for cultural judgement, and the rise of non-judgmentalism as a ruling principle in society • An overview of lectures within the series Culture Wars: then and nowBIBLIOGRAPHYBeing Cultured: In Defence of Discrimination, Angus Kennedy, Societas, 2014Culture Counts: Faith and Feeling in a World Besieged, Roger Scruton, Brief Encounters, 2007THE ACADEMY 2019In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. Find out more: https://theboi.co.uk/the-academyIDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter podcast takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud.Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/theboi_uk) and on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/battleofideas/)Email us at info@theboi.co.uk
The following conversation between journalist Ella Whelan and the academic and author Dr Jan Macvarish was a taster for Jan’s lecture, ‘Family matters’, at The Academy - our residential summer school which took place on 20-21st July. https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-2019
The following conversation between journalist Ella Whelan and the author and broadcaster Timandra Harkness was a taster for Timandra’s lecture, ‘The Personalised Century’, at The Academy - our residential summer school which took place on 20-21st July. https://theboi.co.uk/the-academy-2019
Professor Frank Furedi talks to journalist Ella Whelan about the boi's upcoming residential summer school, The Academy.If you’d like to join us on the 20th and 21st July 2019 at The Academy summer school for a weekend of stimulating debate in a beautiful location, head to The Academy 2019 to find out more and book tickets.This edition was edited by Will Nestor-Sherman.
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