Birmingham Salon

Mon, Mar 6 2023 12:43 | Permalink

Talking liberty - The seductive power of literature

Saturday 25th March, 1.00 pm - 3.00 pm

Map Room, Cherry Reds, 88-92 John Bright Street, B1 1BN

Free entry but donations welcome. Donations help us to meet speaker travel costs for our two debate Salon events.

Please book via EventBrite

In his Letter on Liberty, The Seductive Power of Literature, author and film-maker Phil Harrison makes the case for the importance to freedom of reading. "A book must be an axe that smashes the frozen sea inside us" Kafka wrote. Harrison sets out what happens to our awareness of language, of our desires and motivations, and to our understanding of the "other" when we read, elaborating on Kafka's metaphor with reference to a range of writers from George Eliot to JM Coetzee. 

Good writing (and reading of it) helps us break out of the constraints, pressures, and attempts to reduce what we are that is imposed upon us by the politics of right and left, Harrison argues. As sensitivity readers get to work on Roald Dahl, James Bond, and Ladybird fairytales, to what degree can this essay help us consider what is happening? 

Please join us in the Map Room from 1.00 pm.  At 1.15 pm, Rosie Pocklington, Salon regular, avid reader and member of Moseley Writers Group and Florence Cuckston Fenn, an A Level English Literature student will introduce the arguments made in this Letter on Liberty and give their response to it.  Attendees are strongly encouraged to read The Seductive Power of Literature, although the arguments in it will be summarised by Rosie. The Letters on Liberty are available at £5 for a group of three or as free PDFs.

Further reading




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Sat, Feb 4 2023 11:35 | Permalink

Talking Liberty - In defence of teaching history

Saturday 25th February
1.00 pm - 3.00 pm
Map Room, Cherry Reds, 88-92 John Bright Street, B1 1BN

Free entry but donations welcome. Donations help us to meet speaker travel costs for our two debate Salon events.

Please book via EventBrite

This is the second in our occasional series of events where we discuss topics covered in the Academy of Idea Letters on Liberty series.

In his Letter on Liberty, In defence of teaching history, historian, author and teacher Nicholas Kinloch writes: "History has long been the most controversial of all subjects on the school curriculum. No-one seems to worry very much about what children are taught in geography, drama or even science (although this may be changing). History has always been different.

What children should learn about the past, and how they should learn it, has invariably been the subject of considerable disagreement."

The essay then goes on to consider the issue of decolonisation, the influence of critical race theory, and the ideal of achieving objectivity in looking at history.

From l.10 - 1.40, Vince Gould will introduce his music and history project Abolition Times. Vincent Gould is a performance poet, musician and actor. He has been making songs, poems, satire and video for the last decade or so. To find out more about his current project go to Abolition Times

And then from 1.45, Chris Akers will introduce the arguments in the Letter on Liberty itself, and his own response to them, followed by discussion. Chris has been working in the care sector for over 15 years and graduated from Open University in 2015 with a degree in Psychology. He also has written about boxing, notably King of the Journeymen with Peter Buckley, and is interested in history, politics, and sport.

Attendees are encouraged to read the Letter on Liberty being discussed, although the arguments in it will be summarised by Chris.

Further reading



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Aspects of the Omnicrisis

Mon, Jan 2 2023 01:19 | Permalink

 Saturday 28th January, 1.00 pm - 5.00 pm

The Arthur Sullivan Room, Birmingham Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BU

Tickets £15 available at the event (cash only) or via EventBrite


National interest and global order - which comes first?

1.15 pm - 2.45 pm


The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a shock to the system of international relations. There was surprise that Russia believes its action serves its national interest and that we are seeing Europe once again threatened with war. The decades-long attempt to manage conflict and operate a rules-based order through supranational organisations like the UN, NATO and the EU was supposed prevent another world war. 

The supranational system and its ideals is also a way for the United States to pursue its own national interests. It does this despite its relative economic decline, by political and military means in the guise of freedom and human rights promoting respectability. This year it has also been pushing these interests more openly, from imposing sanctions on Chinese technology companies and capitalising on the energy crisis in Europe to taking advantage of the strength of the dollar in international trade.  

The war in Ukraine has not undermined supranational institutions which still have the support of the most powerful world leaders. Going it alone doesn’t look like an attractive option. NATO seems to be stronger than ever in most of Europe where many feel threatened by Russia. When British Prime Minister Truss tried to follow a new economic policy, she was soon forced to resign after the IMF commented negatively. When her successor Sunak suggested that he had better things to do than attend the COP27 climate conference such was the criticism, he quickly changed his mind. 

What is the significance of recent events in the tug of war between supranational institutions and nation states? What ideas might guide international relations in the future? As the war drags on in Ukraine, impacts Europe and conflicts break out in other countries bordering Russia, is it possible to agree a system that will operate to prevent future conflicts. Or would this inevitably be a cover for the most powerful nations to impose their will on others? As politicians and policy continue to be influenced by supranational organisations, is national sovereignty an illusion or more important than ever?


Speakers:

Dr Philip Cunliffe, Associate Professor in International Relations, University College London; author, The New Twenty Years’ Crisis 1999-2019: A critique of international relations; co-host, @Bungacast podcast


Dr Jake Scott, political theorist specialising in theories of peoplehood and populism. Jake has appeared on France24, GB News, and is a regular on TalkTV; www.jakescott.uk

Chair: 

Dave Aveston


Reading:
How to prevent World War III, Philip Cunliffe, UnHerd
Whatever happened to the national interest, Pete Ramsay & Philip Cunliffe, The Northern Star

Break: tea/coffee (included in ticket price) 2.45 - 3.15 pm


Reparations, industrial revolution: how should poor nations develop in the 21st century?

3.15 pm - 4.45 pm


During the Enlightenment period of the 18th century, the emerging system of industrial capitalism was largely greeted with enthusiasm.  It was thought that, over time, industry would bring wealth to all and that the gap between rich and poor nations would gradually decline.  

Clearly this dream has not been realised; if anything the trend has been in the opposite direction.  The Covid pandemic and responses to it is part of the reason for this. Previous explanations for uneven development have ranged from crudely racist ones, cultural and geographical factors, naked exploitation and the exigencies of cold war politics.  Behind even the most despicable of these explanations, however, there always lay an understanding that, at least in principle, the poor world ought to be allowed to catch up and that worldwide industrial development of the kind seen in the West would be in the interests of humanity as a whole. But this thinking has changed. At COP27 it was clear that the industrial revolution is now viewed as the first step on the path to the climate emergency. 

Do climate change and other environmental impacts of industrial development mean we have come up against a natural barrier beyond which it is no longer possible to go?  Is it now necessary to restrain growth in order to avoid destroying the planet, and what will that mean for billions of people in conditions of extreme poverty? Should they not enjoy the high standards of living modern society has shown are possible? Are Western environmentalist ideals just another form of colonialism or do they offer a different pathway, learning from previous mistakes and sparing people from catastrophe? Could loss and damage payments from the rich countries be part of a better route to development or are they tokenistic in the bigger scheme of changes that poor countries need?

Speakers:

Austin Williams, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Kingston School of Art; author China's Urban Revolution:Understanding Chinese Eco-cities


John Vogler, Professorial Research Fellow in International Relations, University of Keele; author Climate Change in World Politics


Chair: 

Chrissie Daz  


Reading:

The global south has the power to force radical climate action, Jason Hickel, Al Jazeera

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Coming up in 2023

Sun, Dec 4 2022 10:50 | Permalink

Coming up in 2023...

Aspects of the Omnicrisis
Saturday 28th January, Birmingham & Midland Institute

This is our event rescheduled from October 2022 looking at changes to the international order, supranational institutions and globalism, and how poorer countries should develop in the 21st century.

Speakers include Philip Cunliffe, Associate Professor in International Relations, University College London, Austin Williams, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Kingston School of Art and John Vogler, Professorial Research Fellow in International Relations, University of Keele.


Talking liberty - In defence of teaching history
Saturday 25th February, Map Room at Cherry Reds

Talking liberty - The seductive power of literature
Saturday 25th March, Map Room at Cherry Reds

The Talking Liberty events will consider the arguments put forward in the Academy of Ideas Letters on Liberty on these subjects.

United? Kingdom?
Saturday 22nd April, Birmingham & Midland Institute

With the coronation of King Charles III approaching, we will discuss the institution of the British monarchy and also consider the future of Ireland.

Speakers include Don Milligan, author The Embrace of Capital 
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Talking Liberty - The Future of Free Speech

Mon, Oct 24 2022 11:44 | Permalink

Talking Liberty - the future of free speech

Saturday 12th November
1.00 pm - 3.30 pm
Map Room, Cherry Reds, 88-92 John Bright Street, B1 1BN

Free entry but donations welcome

Please book via EventBrite

This is the first in an occasional series of discussions based on the Letters on Liberty essays published by the Academy of Ideas.

Please join us from 1.00 pm for social time and informal discussion. From 1.45 pm we will introduce and discuss the essay The Future of Free Speech by Jacob Mchangama. You can purchase the essay in booklet format or download a PDF version. You are strongly encouraged to read it to contribute more fully to the discussion, but if you don't we will give a short summary to introduce the key arguments.

Mchangama is the author of Free Speech:a history from Socrates to Social Media, and he argues in this essay that we are in a free speech recession. 

"Free speech is one of the most powerful and transformative ideas ever conceived. It is held as the 'first freedom, the bedrock of democracy, the enemy of tyranny, the midwife of enlightenment and the source of truth...But free speech is far from assured; it has not been the default position in the long arc of history. Thus, after decades of global gains, it has now suffered more than a decade of setbacks."

How far do you agree with these assertions? Does Mchangama set out a convincing case for the importance of free speech? Is it helpful to those who want to defend free speech, or are there significant omissions? 

Following our discussion, we will agree which of the Letters on Liberty to discuss in 2023.

Free speech in the news:

National Secular Society defends free speech at 'Stand with Salman' event

Arrest of protestors prompts free speech concerns

Joanne Harris faces member vote on Society of Authors role amid call for free speech review

John Cleese set to join GB News in a push for 'free speech'

Most students think UK universities protect free speech, survey finds

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Aspects of the "omnicrisis"

Wed, Sep 7 2022 02:06 | Permalink

Aspects of the omnicrisis

Saturday 8th October

This event has been cancelled due to the impact of the planned rail strike on 8th October. It will be rescheduled.
BirminghamSalon
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Sun, Apr 3 2022 11:15 | Permalink

 

Law and Justice

Saturday 7th May, 1.00 pm - 5.00 pm
The Arthur Sullivan Room, Birmingham Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BU


Tickets £15 (includes tea/coffee) from EventBrite

Law-making and Freedom with Claire Fox (Baroness Fox of Buckley)
1.15 pm - 2.45 pm


Longstanding campaigner for freedom of speech, Claire Fox sits as a non-affiliated peer in the House of Lords, an institution she believes should be abolished as it constrains British democracy. Her short weekly YouTube videos, Inside the Lords, give her insights into the process of legislating as it takes place between the House of Commons and House of Lords, why certain pieces of legislation promised in a manifesto may not materialise at all and why others appear and disappear. 


Key recent pieces of legislation such as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and the Online Safety Bill present a major increase in restrictions on our freedom. What hope should we have, if any, of something less draconian emerging from the legislative process and what are the implications of this legislation for the wider justice system? To what degree are such laws related to what the majority of the electorate want and where should the work of law making take place?

Speaker:
Claire Fox is a writer, broadcaster and director of the Academy of Ideas. She was Brexit Party MEP for the North-West of England until the UK left the EU in January 2020. Claire was introduced into the House of Lords in October 2020.


Chair: 
Rosie Cuckston, Birmingham Salon organiser

Suggested reading for this discussion:

The House of Lords defending democracy - oh please, Fraser Myers, Spiked Online, March 2022
Is Nadine Dorries a free speech champion or censorship fanatic? Freddie Hayward, New Statesman, February 2022
From lockdown to net zero accountability is dead in British politics, Steve Baker MP, The Telegraph, January 2022 

Refreshment break: 2.45 pm - 3.15 pm

What Are Prisons For?
3.15 pm - 4.45 pm


Prisoners are denied many of the normal rights of citizenship, such as being able to vote. But what are prisons for? And do prisons work? Denying liberty serves an important function in punishing those who have broken the law. But is it not also humane to give prisoners the chance to turn their lives around? 

In addition to the usual restrictions, the pandemic meant that visits from family and friends was stopped as were educational and rehabilitation courses and opportunities to work.  What impact has this had?Does the current prison system downplay people’s inherent capacity for change? Should there be more emphasis on people having the power to redeem themselves? If so, what changes need to be made to the UK prison system? 

Speakers:

Dr Anna Kotova, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Birmingham. Anna holds a PhD in Criminology from the University of Oxford and her teaching and research interests are in prison sociology and the impact of imprisonment on prisoners' families. Anna is also a member of Academic Advisory Group for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.

Dr Jonathan Hurlow, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist. Jo is Chair of the Psychiatry Division of the Birmingham Medical Institute and vice president of the Birmingham Medicolegal Society. He sits on the Committee for Professional Practice and Ethics at the Royal College of Psychiatry.

Michael Campbell, De Profundis Ltd, expert advisor to prisons. Michael supports governors, officers and prisoners to implement change that strengthens safety for everyone in prison. Michael served 3½ years in prisons across the country and develops practical solutions grounded in his experience to tackle prisoners’ anxiety, stress and frustration.

Chair: 
Ruth Mieschbuehler, Senior Lecturer in Education 
Studies, University of Derby. Organiser, East Midlands Salon.

Suggested reading for this discussion:

Locked up under lockdown: the plight of prisoners, Michael Campbell, People's Lockdown Enquiry
March 2022
The Rise of the Woke Prison, Joanna Williams, Spiked Online, June 2021
Our Prisons Are a National Disgrace, Ian Birrell, Unherd, December 2019

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Unbearable Lightness of Citizenship

Mon, Feb 14 2022 01:23 | Permalink

Return of Birmingham Salon Saturdays

We are very pleased to return to our in-person Saturday discussions. To relaunch these events, we will run the one which was cancelled in March 2020 as the pandemic restrictions started. 

Birmingham Salon has changed venue to The Arthur Sullivan Room at Birmingham Midland Institute on Margaret Street. It's a convenient central Birmingham venue only a few minutes walk from our previous home at The Old Joint Stock pub. And of course, the BMI has a long and impressive history. It was founded in 1854 by an Act of Parliament for the "diffusion and advancement of Science, Literature, and Art among all Classes of Persons resident in Birmingham and the Midland counties."

The Unbearable Lightness of Citizenship

Saturday 2nd April, 1.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Birmingham Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BU

Tickets £15 (includes tea/coffee) from EventBrite

Citizenship, identity, and belonging

1.15 pm - 2.45 pm

In Ancient Athens and Rome, citizenship developed as a bond between an individual and the city-state. Since the American and French Revolutions, the idea of increasing numbers of people being citizens went in tandem with the development of nation states, and a reciprocal relation of state protection of individual rights for allegiance to the nation. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the nation state became linked to imperialism, nationalism and tyranny even as masses of citizens got the right to vote and got rid of colonial rulers. 
 
This discussion will look at the idea of citizenship in the 21st century and whether citizenship been replaced by individuated, consumerist and cultural identities. Are we too divided by identities of race, gender and political affiliations to identify as citizens of a nation? What is the relationship between citizenship and language, culture, place and participation in common goals and ideals? If citizenship is more than visas, passports, pledges of allegiance, and other trappings of state organised process, what is it? 

Speakers
Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, Head of Education and Co-ordinator, Don't Divide Us. Author What Should Schools Teach?Disciplines, Subjects and the Pursuit of Truth.

Mladen Pupavac, co-author Changing European Visions of Disaster and Development. Mladen has taught International Relations at Harlaxton College, University of Derby, and University of Leicester. He previously worked as a translator for the UN International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Chair
Chrissie Daz

Reading for this session

In defence of immigrants, a reply to Lionel Shriver, Alka Seghal Cuthbert, Areo Magazine
How identity stole the debate, Olivier Roy, Green European Journal

tea and coffee break - 2.45 - 3.15 pm

The emergency state citizen 

3.15 pm - 4.45 pm

Our second discussion will review the situation of citizens following the last two years of pandemic measures both in relation to government and to each other.  

Since March 2020, large numbers of people, under quite extreme conditions, conformed with requirements: millions of us following restrictions that were often bizarre and led in some cases to immense personal distress. On the other hand, a significant number have rejected vaccination which has led for some to a major impingement on their participation in society, job loss or loss of sick pay, scapegoating for the problems of others, and to cases of severe ill health or death which could possibly have been avoided.

Whether it's the behaviourists of SAGE, governments using nudge theory, the fact checking and censorship carried out by big tech and social media companies, or the popularisation of the concept of mass formation psychosis, the view that people are easily manipulated and misled appears predominant across the political spectrum.

The political ideal of citizenship in a democracy requires us to be free, morally autonomous beings using reason and judgment, who can take an active part in the direction and running of the nation. How far are we from this ideal, and what do we need to realise it?

Speakers
Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham.  His current research interests include Covid 19 and messaging norms, behavioural economics from a social identity perspective (nudges), and conspiracy theories and social identity.

Dr Greg Scorzo, PhD in Meta-Ethics, author Love Before Covid, host Art of Thinking Podcast and editor of Culture on the Offsenive magazine.

Vanessa Pupavac, senior lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham. Co-author Changing European Visions of Disaster and Development (2020). Vanessa has recently published a pamphlet, "Translation as Liberation" with the Letters on Liberty series.

Chair
Rosie Cuckston

Reading for this session
How the psychology of blame can explain Covid 19 responses, Ayoub Bouguettaya & Victoria Team, The Conversation
The Virus, Lockdown and the Right, Niall McCrae & M.L.R. Smith, Areo Magazine
The Failure to Think, Bafflement Essay 3, Alex Klaushofer, Ways of Seeing Substack

Our next event will be on Saturday 7th May on the theme of law and justice.


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Inside the ‘’incelosphere’’

Thu, Sep 23 2021 03:33 | Permalink

THURSDAY 7TH OCTOBER 

7.00 PM - 9.00 PM
UPSTAIRS AT THE WOODMAN, NEW CANAL STREET, BIRMINGHAM. B5 5LG

Welcome back!

This is a free event for Birmingham Salon regulars to catch up after the pandemic paused our live debates, and for anyone new to Birmingham Salon to come and experience and contribute to a Salon discussion. 

Inside the incelosphere

Incels, or involuntary celibates, are an online subculture community of mostly men, who forge their sense of identity around a perceived inability to form sexual or romantic relationships. The incel community operates almost exclusively online, providing an outlet for a significant minority of incels to express misogynistic-hostility, frustration and blame toward society for a perceived failure to include them.

The “incelosphere” can be characterised as a fatalistic, misogynistic echo-chamber in which misery and failure are celebrated, emblematic of all dimensions of the victimhood-mindset. Incels take an ‘’external locus of control’’ to the extreme in perceptions of themselves and inter-sex relations. Many subscribe to what is known as the “black-pill,” a derivative of the concept of the “red-pill” from the movie The Matrix, denoting a willingness to see the world as it really is as opposed to the blissful ignorance of the “blue-pill”. The “black-pill” describes a particularly bleak “truth” to swallow; in this case, the belief that sexual-attraction is mostly fixed and that there is nothing that incels can do to improve their romantic-prospects. 

Rare individual cases have seen incels lash out in violent murderous rage. Most notable is the notorious case of Elliot Rodger, who in 2014 killed six people and injured 14 others before killing himself, referring in his manifesto to a “day of retribution” when he would kill those he was envious of – Chads (men who sleep with lots of women) and Stacey’s (the attractive women who reject him). 

In August 2021, Plymouth, United Kingdom, 22-year-old Jake Davison used a pump-action-shotgun to kill five people, including his mother and a three-year-old girl, and injure two others before killing himself. Davison’s digital-footprint revealed YouTube videos where he used incel-terminology, taking concepts from evolutionary psychology to justify his thinking without really understanding them. This case is the first alleged incel attack in the UK, and the worst instance of gun-violence in over a decade, causing the UK government to consider following Canada in designating incels as a terrorist-group. However, a comprehensive literature review found that while mental-health issues such as suicidality are prominent points of discussion on incel-forums, they have not received the same attention as themes of misogyny. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that incels as a group represent more of a danger to themselves than others.

Is the incelosphere a phenomena triggered by or reflecting other trends in society? Recent reports suggest that in the US, the number of men going to universities is falling significantly.  Morgan Stanley forecast that 45 percent of working women between the ages of 25 and 44 will be single and childless by 2030 in what they call the rise of the SHEconomy. The rise of identity politics has encouraged a pattern of group formation around grievance and oppression. Is this at all justified in the case of the incel?


Speaker: William Costello

William is a Birmingham Salon regular with an MSc in Psychology: Evolution & Culture from Brunel University London. His Masters dissertation is on the psychology of incels. William also writes about cultural issues such as polyamory, sexual violence, identity politics, Birthstrike and racism through an evolutionary psychology lens and has contributed opinion pieces to outlets such as Quillette and Areo.

Twitter: @WilliamCostello

Chair: Rosie Cuckston

Recommended reading

Step your dick up - why incels deserve better advice  William Costello, Medium, 2020

What the media gets wrong about incels Naama Kates, Unherd 2021

Why incels are the losers in the age of Tinder James Bloodworth, Unherd 2020



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THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF CITIZENSHIP

Mon, Jan 20 2020 01:03 | Permalink

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. WE AIM TO RESCHEDULE FOR SEPTEMBER 2020. EVENTBRITE TICKETS ORDERED CAN BE REFUNDED OR CAN BE USED FOR OUR NEXT SALON.
Saturday 28 March 2020, 11.00am to 5.00pm
Upstairs, Old Joint Stock, 4 Temple Row West, Birmingham B2 5NY

 Tickets £10 available in advance via Eventbrite
Join us for a day of debate and reflection on what it means to be a citizen. Should only citizens be able to vote? And if so, at what age? Should anyone, such as prisoners, be excluded from voting? And, how should society treat those who have broken the law and failed in their duties as citizens? What are prisons for – punishment or rehabilitation, or both?
What does it mean to be a citizen?
11.15am-12.45pm
Modern thinking has situated citizenship within the borders of nation states. But as nation states retreat from their responsibilities to run national economies and provide for citizens’ welfare, are the ‘citizens of somewhere’ losing out to more flexible notions of global citizenship?

With the weakening of national solidarities, is citizenship being replaced by individuated, consumerist and cultural identities? Or does it continue to be built through political solidarities and struggle? What is the relationship between citizenship and language, culture, place and participation in common goals and ideals? If citizenship is more than visas, passports, pledges of allegiance, and other trappings of state organised process, what is it? 
Speakers 
Claire Fox, Director, Academy of Ideas and author, 'I still find that offensive'

Mladen Pupavac, associate researcher, Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice, University of Nottingham. Co-author of the forthcoming book Changing European Visions of Disaster and Development.

Christine Huebner, researcher of citizenship, Research Fellow of the Citizenship, Democracy and Transformation Research Group, Nottingham Trent University. Christine's research focuses on changing conceptions of citizenship.
Rosie Cuckston, organiser of the Birmingham Salon 
The session will be chaired by Helene Guldberg, Associate Lecturer, Open University
Recommended reading
Global citizens vs the people, Jim Butcher, spiked, 7th December 2016
The nation state goes virtual: why citizenship need no longer be determined by geography, Tom Symons, New Statesman, 1st February 2018 
When can governments revoke citizenship? The Economist, 8th March 2019
The complex world of the global citizen, Irene Skovgaard-Smith, BBC, 10th November 2017
The session is produced by Helene Guldberg

12.45pm-1.30pm Lunch
There is no lunch provided, but there's an abundant choice nearby.

Who should be able to vote?
1.30pm-2.45pm
Being able to vote in general elections is essential to democratic life. The term democracy comes from the ancient Greek term demos (people), and means that ‘the people’ rule, in distinction to monarchies, where one person ruled, or oligarchy, where a small group ruled. But who are ‘the people’? Who should have a vote?

The electoral franchise has, in different ways, become increasingly contentious in recent years. Some argue, for example, that the voting age should be lowered to allow more progressive youthful voices to decide the future. There have been denunciations of ‘low-information’ voters, who are allegedly manipulated by lies and algorithms. Should the franchise be extended to 16-year olds? And what about EU citizens and prisoners?
Speakers
Greg Scorzo, philosopher, public intellectual, publisher and editor of Culture on the Offensive (COTO)

 Fraser Myers, staff writer for spiked and producer of the spiked podcast
The session will be chaired by Lizzie Soden, creative director at Culture on the Offensive (COTO), freelance arts project manager, writer and digital artist/filmmaker.
Recommended reading
Labour members back proposal to give all UK residents voting rights, Frances Perraudin, The Guardian, 25th Sep 2019 
Votes for 16-year-olds should be based on wider evidence, not just a need for participation, Andrew Mycock and Jonathan Tonge, The Conversation, 2nd February, 2018
Votes for 16-year-olds is a completely undemocratic idea, Brendan O’Neill, spiked, 28th October 2019
Prisoners' voting rights: developments since May 2015, House of Commons Briefing Paper, September 30, 2019
The session is produced by Helene Guldberg

 What are prisons for?
3.00pm-4.30pm

Prisoners are denied many of the rights of citizenship, including being able to vote. But what are prisons for? And do prisons work? Denying their liberty serves an important function in punishing those who have broken the law. But is it not also humane to give prisoners the chance to turn their lives around?

Does the current prison system downplay people’s inherent capacity for change? Should there be more emphasis on people having the power to redeem themselves? If so, what changes need to be made to the UK prison system?
Speakers
Luke Gittos, solicitor practising criminal law, legal editor of spiked.
Jo Hurlow, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. 
Dr Anna Kotova, Prison researcher, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Birmingham. 
The session will be chaired by Pauline Hadaway, co-founder of The Liverpool Salon and has worked in the arts and education since 1990

Recommended reading
‘Whole life’ orders are not the answer, Luke Gittos, spiked, 22nd November 2019

What are prisons for? Answering that is the starting point for reform, Kathryn Snow and Lynn Gillam, The Conversation, 14 June, 2015

We know that prison doesn’t work. So what are the alternatives? Jarryd Bartle, The Guardian, 16th August, 2019

This session is produced by Helene Guldberg

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