Academy of Ideas

#BattleFest2019: Interrogating anti-Semitism with Deborah Lipstadt and Frank Furedi

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.
A recent EU report found 89 per cent of Jews living in member countries feel anti-Semitism has increased over the past decade, while 85 per cent believe it to be a serious problem. Anti-Semitism has traditionally been associated with the political right and with national chauvinism, but today it is often radical Islamists or even leftists, rather than nationalists, who are accused of prejudice against Jews. But can alleged anti-Semitism in the British Labour party really be compared to the fascist Oswald Mosley? Is anti-Zionism a distinct and legitimate position? How best can we define anti-Semitism? As Israel descends into political and, some would say, moral crisis, is it possible to criticise Israel without being anti-Semitic? And most importantly, if anti-Semitism is on the rise, how can we best combat it?
PROFESSOR FRANK FUREDIsociologist and social commentator; author, How Fear Works: culture of fear in the 21st century and Populism and the European Culture Wars
DR DEBORAH E LIPSTADTprofessor of Holocaust Studies, Emory University, Atlanta; author, Antisemitism: Here and Now; defendant, Irving v Penguin UK and Lipstadt (2000)CHAIR
CHAIR: CLAIRE FOXdirector, Academy of Ideas; Brexit Party MEP; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!

#BattleFest2019: Are the old political parties dying?

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2019.
Many commentators have observed that Britain enjoys, by European standards at least, a uniquely stable party-political system. In many other European countries, collapsing empires, social uprisings or world wars fuelled new parties and shifting popular allegiances. Britain, on the other hand, is notable for the longevity – and adaptability – of its established parties. But amid rising volatility, fragmentation and polarisation in the early twenty-first century, are we reaching a historic moment of change? Are new-style political ‘movements’ such as the Brexit Party or independent, local initiatives a promising way forward? Could we be on the brink of a new political landscape and, if so, how should we seek to shape it?
JONNY BALLspecial projects writer, New Statesman
MIRANDA GREENjournalist and commentator; deputy editor of opinion pages, Financial Times; former Liberal Democrat advisor
SHERELLE JACOBScolumnist and commissioning editor of comments, Daily Telegraph
JOHN MILLSeconomist and entrepreneur; author, Left Behind: why voters deserted social democracy – and how to win them back
TOM SLATERdeputy editor, spiked; regular commentator on TV and radio; editor, Unsafe Space: the crisis of free speech on campus
CHAIR: JOEL COHENassociate fellow, Academy of Ideas

#BattleFest2019: Education culture wars - what should be the role of schools today?

Recording of the opening remarks from a Battle of Ideas festival satellite event on Monday 18 November 2019.
Schools are unique institutions. Their most obvious role is in relation to education and the generational transfer of knowledge. However, they also mediate between the state and parents in shaping the next generation. Schools enforce behavioural expectations and instil particular values while preparing children for the responsibilities of adulthood.
Schools have always played this role. However, over recent years the values and expectations championed by schools have become more explicitly political and more contested. From lessons on climate change and recycling to cultural awareness days, it can appear as if schools, through children, aim at broader social change.
In this respect we seem to now be witnessing the emergence of the ‘Culture Wars’ in Education. One consequence is that tensions between schools and parents spill out in conflicts over contentious issues such as teaching of sex and relationships education. However, from the contents of lunchboxes to disputes over ‘gender neutral’ school uniform policies, few area of school life now seem beyond controversy.
In this special lecture and discussion, Joanna Williams, author of Consuming Higher Education: why learning can’t be bought, explores how these conflicts might be resolved. Should it be the state or parents who decide which values and behaviours to inculcate in children? And how should schools mediate between the two?
SPEAKERDr Joanna Williamsauthor, Women vs Feminism and Consuming Higher Education: why learning can’t be bought; associate editor, spiked

#BattleFest2018: Tearing up the rule book - the end of the new world order?

Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2018.
Since the fall of communism, the dominant narrative around international politics and economics has been that of a stable order defined by liberal, free-market values and agreements. In recent years, faith in the liberal international vision seems to have been shattered. In response to the rise of China and resurgence of Russia, populists across the world, most famously President Trump, have denounced free-trade agreements and collective security arrangements. Are we really moving into a more protectionist world, or will free-trade ideology make a comeback? How will the rise of China and the ‘global south’, alongside the apparent slow decline of the US, change things?
CAMERON ABADIdeputy editor, Foreign Policy
REMI ADEKOYAPhD researcher on identity politics, Sheffield University; columnist; member, Editorial Working Group, Review of African Political Economy
PROFESSOR BILL DURODIEchair of international relations, University of Bath
DR TARA MCCORMACKlecturer, international politics, University of Leicester
CHAIR: JACOB REYNOLDS partnerships manager, Academy of Ideas; co-convenor, Living Freedom; organiser, Debating Matters

#BattleFest2018: The moral case for abortion

In 2019, over than a dozen US states have either passed or attempted to pass stricter abortion legislation. Georgia's new law bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Alabama's new law would more or less ban abortion entirely. How should those who are pro-choice respond? This Battle of Ideas debate from 2016 remains very relevant.
Original introduction
In her new book, Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and a veteran campaigner for abortion rights, sets out the ethical arguments for a woman’s right to choose, drawing on the traditions of sociological thinking and moral philosophy. This discussion will consider the moral and philosophical foundations on which Furedi builds her case. We will also explore the relevance of this approach to the pro-choice cause, particularly the current campaign to decriminalise abortion altogether. Is it moral for women to choose abortion? Should campaigners for abortion focus on issues of health and mental well-being or argue for an absolute right to abortion?
Speaker
ANN FUREDIchief executive, British Pregnancy Advisory Service; author, The Moral Case for Abortion
Respondents
MARY KENNYjournalist and author
DR ELLIE LEEreader in social policy, University of Kent, Canterbury; director, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies
CHAIR: JON O’BRIENpresident, Catholics for Choice

#BattleFest2018: The crisis of diplomacy in the era of Trump

Recording of the debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2018.
Visiting Europe in the summer, President Trump lambasted Germany’s relationship with Russia, took a dig at Theresa May’s Brexit strategy and seemingly sided with Vladimir Putin against America’s own intelligence agencies. The UK’s former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, also famously made numerous diplomatic gaffes. Once diplomacy was regarded as a careful art, furthering national interests through back-channels and coded language, and pursued by highly educated diplomats. But in recent years, politicians have seemed keener to make loud public statements at the expense of cool negotiation. Why do politicians seem to respond to events on the hoof rather than pursuing a long-term strategy? Are they playing with fire?
MARY DEJEVSKYformer foreign correspondent in Moscow, Paris and Washington; special correspondent in China; writer and broadcaster
PROFESSOR BILL DURODIÉchair of international relations, University of Bath
DR SEAN LANGsenior lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University; author, First World War for Dummies
CARNE ROSSauthor, The Leaderless Revolution; executive director, Independent Diplomat

#BattleFest2018: Feminism - in conversation with Camille Paglia

After three decades teaching at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, there have recently been calls from campus activists for Camille Paglia to be sacked from her post for having 'dangerous' views. Listen to this discussion at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2016, with Paglia in conversation with Claire Fox, and decide for yourself.
Original session introduction
Internationally renowned American social critic Camille Paglia has been called ‘the anti-feminist feminist’. A staunch defender of individual freedom, she has argued against laws prohibiting pornography, drugs and abortion. Describing contemporary feminism as a ‘reactionary reversion’ and ‘a gross betrayal of the radical principles of 1960s counterculture’, she stands firmly on the side of free speech and against political correctness. She has argued that though today’s feminists strike progressive poses, their ideas emanate from an entitled, upper-middle-class point of view. This has led Paglia to become one of the US’s foremost critics of contemporary feminist orthodoxies such as the idea of ‘rape culture’, which she believes stifles women’s autonomy.
Instead, Paglia is keen to stimulate reasoned discussion about some of the most controversial and inflammatory issues dominating campus politics and debates about threats to young women. She is calling such fashionable concepts such as ‘rape culture…a ridiculous term…not helpful in the quest for women’s liberation’. She is associated with a brand of feminism which encourages women to embrace the dangers of being in the world and has argued that the current enthusiasm for things such as compulsory sexual consent classes in colleges illustrates how sex is being policed by ‘drearily puritanical and hopelessly totalitarian regulatory regimes and codes’.
 

#BattleFest2018: Can we revive Britain’s ’Rust Belt’?

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2018.
In Brexit Britain, much focus has fallen on the divides that cut across generational, educational and class lines. But increasingly there is a new geographical divide that is taking shape – one where voguish metropolitan regions, prosperous urban centres and university towns contrast starkly with vast swathes of territory now labelled ‘left-behind Britain’. Is it still possible to rejuvenate former ports, market towns, coastal resorts and county towns? Should the focus be economic investment or a social and cultural transformation? Do we need a new urban paradigm, or should we create incentives to save, rebuild and inject new life into these urban areas?
DR RUTH DUDLEY EDWARDSjournalist and writer; award-winning author
CAROLINE FLINT MPmember of parliament, Don Valley; co-chair, Northern Powerhouse All Party Parliamentary Group
DAVID GOODHARThead of demography, Policy Exchange; author, The Road to Somewhere
MO LOVATTwriter and researcher specialising in arts and culture policy; co-chair, The Great Debate
CHAIR: ALASTAIR DONALDassociate director, Academy of Ideas; codirector, Future Cities Project