Academy of Ideas

#BattleFest2019: The rise of toxic politics - can we be civil?

A recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas festival on Sunday 3 November 2019.
The angry exchanges in parliament after the Supreme Court ruled against prorogation were typical of the ill-tempered discourse around Brexit. This year it was also deemed acceptable to ‘milkshake’ those you disagree with. Looking at a world seemingly filled with slurs, angry social-media comments, inflammatory remarks about migrants and nasty jibes about ‘gammons’ and ‘TERFs’, many commentators have called this an age of ‘toxic politics’. Should we lament a lost civility, or is the emergence of more forthright and angry disagreements in fact a good thing? What is the line between passionate disagreement and toxic bile? How can we fi nd ways to disagree with other people constructively?
DOLAN CUMMINGS associate fellow, Academy of Ideas; co- founder, Manifesto Club; author, That Existential Leap: a crime story
TIMANDRA HARKNESS journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, Radio 4’s FutureProofi ng and How to Disagree: a beginner’s guide to having better arguments
DR DEBORAH E LIPSTADT professor of Holocaust Studies, Emory University, Atlanta; author, Antisemitism: here and now
JACOB MCHANGAMA executive director, Justitia, a Copenhagen based human-rights think tank; host and narrator, Clear and Present Danger: a history of free speech podcast
JAMES TOOLEY professor of educational entrepreneurship and policy, University of Buckingham; author, The Beautiful TreeCHAIR: ALASTAIR DONALD co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom

#BattleFest2019: Woke corporations - responsible capitalism or virtue signalling?

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.
Earlier this year, Gillette produced an advert aimed at challenging ‘toxic masculinity’. Although somewhat frivolous, the example illustrates a growing trend among the world’s biggest companies to weigh in on social issues. In perhaps the most infamous example of all, in 2017, Pepsi released an advert with Kylie Jenner healing divisions at a protest march. The advert was widely condemned for appropriating the legacy of the civil-rights movement. But many companies seem to genuinely care about social causes. Unilever, one of the world’s biggest companies, has made ambitious environmental commitments that are priorities at all levels of the company. For some observers, this is evidence of a genuine shift in how businesses think about their role, often underpinned by new generations of employees demanding change. But critics have condemned what’s been called ‘woke capitalism’ or even ‘wokewashing’. Are 'woke' corporations a cynical attempt to curry favour with the lucrative millennial market, or should we celebrate demonstrations of corporate conscience? What does the rise of woke capitalism tell us about the prospects and possibilities for more radical change today?
Asad Dhunnafounder, The Unmistakables; commentator; former director of communications, Pride in London
Dr Eliane Glaserwriter; radio producer; reader, Bath Spa University; author, Anti-Politics: on the demonisation of ideology, authority, and the state
Dr Norman Lewisdirector, Futures-Diagnosis Ltd; co-author, Big Potatoes: the London manifesto for innovation
Dan Mobleyglobal corporate relations director, Diageo
Toby Youngco-founder, West London Free School; author, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People; associate editor, Spectator and Quillette
CHAIR: Patrick Hayesdirector, British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA); director, EdTech Exchange
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#BattleFest2019: What does it mean to be normal?

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019. There is something of an obsession with ‘normality’ today. Sally Rooney’s novel, Normal People, was widely acclaimed for its sensitive portrayal of everyday contemporary relationships. The TV smash hit Fleabag was likewise praised for its unflinching portrayal of ‘normal’ British middle-class sexual mores. But attitudes towards ‘normality’ seem difficult to get a handle on today. On the one hand, campaigns to raise awareness for a variety of social or psychological ills seek to show it is not ‘abnormal’, for example, to experience depression and that such people ‘are not alone’. But on the other hand, the proliferation of identity characteristics encourage people to be celebrate difference, uniqueness and not being ‘normal’. What are we to make of this shifting understanding of what it is to be normal? Should we just accept that everything is unstable, that we can’t expect a single category of ‘normal’ to be helpful? Does society need a concept of normality, if only to define common sets of beliefs and values or does it enforce conformity? Should we celebrate being normal? DR FRANKIE ANDERSONpsychiatry trainee; co-founder, Sheffield Salon
DR ASHLEY FRAWLEYsenior lecturer in sociology and social policy, Swansea University; author, Significant Emotions and Semiotics of Happiness
DR BETH GUILDINGacademic, Goldsmiths, University of London; co-editor, Narrating the Passions: new perspectives from modern and contemporary literature; columnist, Times Higher Education
VANITY VON GLOWinternationally ignored superstar; cabaret performer; host, The Vanity Project
CHAIR: JANE SANDEMANchief operating officer, The Passage; convenor, AoI Parents Forum; contributor, Standing up to Supernanny
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#BattleFest2019: Extinction or progress? Visions of the future

Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas festival 2019.
Today’s political culture seems obsessed with dark, apocalyptic visions. From young people staging ‘die-ins’ to protest about the environment to talk of an ‘insect apocalypse’, fears and threats loom large. Extinction Rebellion argues that the threat of catastrophe means we must reject growth and material progress in favour of a new eco-austerity. Even proponents of new technology often see it as a means of avoiding environmental catastrophe rather than transforming the world for the better. What can we learn about the present from our attitude to the future? Do we need to recover our faith in the future – and by extension, ourselves?
DR SHAHRAR ALIhome affairs spokesperson and former deputy leader, Green Party; author, Why Vote Green 2015
GREGORY CLAEYSprofessor of history, Royal Holloway, University of London; author, Searching for Utopia: the history of an idea; fellow, RSA
DR ASHLEY FRAWLEYsenior lecturer in sociology and social policy, Swansea University; author, Semiotics of Happiness and Significant Emotions (forthcoming)
BRENDAN O’NEILLeditor, spiked; host, The Brendan O’Neill Show; writer, the Sun and the Spectator; author, A Duty to Offend
CHAIR: JACOB REYNOLDSpartnerships manager, Academy of Ideas; co-convenor, Living Freedom and The Academy, boi charity

#BattleFest2019: The Life of Brian at 40 - are we more easily offended today?

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian was released in the UK on 8 November 1979. The film had problems from the start, with its funding withdrawn by EMI films at the last minute, but it was rescued by former Beatle George Harrison putting up the money for it to be made. Forty years later, it would be nice to say that we’re more relaxed about religion and comedy. But in truth, while Christianity is considered fair game (notwithstanding the later controversy over Jerry Springer: The Opera), satirising Islam remains deeply controversial, as illustrated by the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the mealy-mouthed reaction to the killings by many supposedly liberal commentators and artists. Could Brian be made today? Why does it still work today? Have we lost the ability to ridicule the dominant ideas of our society? And have comedians, writers and producers lost their edge for fear of causing offence?
SIMON EVANScomedian; regular panellist, BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz
RIA LINAaward winning standup comedian; former forensic IT investigator, Serious Fraud Office; former research scientist, Herpesvirus bioinformatics
ANN MCELHINNEYdirector and producer, FrackNation; co-author and co-producer, Gosnell; producer, FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers; co-host, The Ann and Phelim Scoop
DR JOEL NATHAN ROSENJassociate professor of sociology and anthropology, Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; author, The Erosion of the American Sporting Ethos: shifting attitudes toward competition
ANDY SHAWco-founder, Comedy Unleashed
CHAIR: ROB LYONSscience and technology director, Academy of Ideas; convenor, AoI Economy Forum
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#BattleFest2019: Titania McGrath - satire in the age of social justice

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.
‘Humour is a weapon of the patriarchy.’ So says Titania McGrath, the Twitter superstar who describes herself as an activist, healer and radical intersectionalist poet. Titania has become famous for her ‘woke’ words of wisdom, such as ‘heterosexuality is a hoax’. Of course, those of us who have been following Titania’s rise to fame will know that she is, in fact, fictional – a satirical character dreamt up by the author and comedian Andrew Doyle. Boasting a Twitter following in the hundreds of thousands, Doyle’s parody of a ‘typical Guardian reader’ has managed to fool some so-called ‘social-justice warriors’ into believing Titania’s cries of oppression, as well as revealing uncomfortable truths about the degraded state of identity politics. But not everyone is a fan of Titania. Doyle has been accused of ‘punching down’ with his satire of contemporary ‘leftie’ politics. Is poking fun at social-justice campaigns merely a right-wing ploy – even though Doyle himself is a self-declared leftie? And what has it been like for Doyle, to be a comic writer in a world that sometimes seems unable to laugh at itself? Now that Titania’s real identity is out, where does she go from here?
ANDREW DOYLE
writer and comedian; author, Titania McGrath's Woke: A Guide to Social Justice
 
CHAIR: ELLA WHELAN
co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; journalist and frequent commentator on TV and radio; author, What Women Want
 
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#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