BATTLEOFIDEAS.ORG.UK @INSTOFIDEAS | #BATTLEOFIDEASFEST | FREE SPEECH ALLOWED! 2 & 3 NOVEMBER 2019 | BARBICAN CENTRE, SILK STREET, LONDON EC2Y 8DS TWO DAYS OF HIGH-LEVEL, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, PUBLIC DEBATE PRODUCED BY IN ASSOCIATION WITH HEADLINE SPONSOR CONTENTS The annual Battle of Ideas festival brings together 2 Ticket prices and festival information BATTLE CHAMPIONS more than 450 speakers for over 100 debates 3 Why the Battle of Ideas? 3 Registration times over the course of a single weekend at London’s premier cultural centre, the Barbican. In addition, SATURDAY the festival comprises a series of stand-alone 4 Welcome Address satellite events which take place in UK and 4 Saturday Keynote Controversies 6 Identity Politics European cities from October to December. You 8 Ideology in the 21ST Century can find out more about these satellite events on 10 Eye on the World PARTNERS pages 58–63. 12 Solving 21ST Century Problems 14 Technological Futures This brochure will help you plan and navigate your visit to the 16 Law Matters festival. The debates are primarily organised by themed topic 18 Contemporary Controversies areas that we call ‘strands’ with strand debates running across 20 Battle Book Club the day in the same room. For example, the ‘Arts and Culture’ 22 Political Thinking strand on Sunday includes discussions on the canon, museums, 24 Culture Wars the Bauhaus and The Rite of Spring. You can choose to follow 25 School Matters one strand throughout the day, or pick and choose debates from 26 Online/Offline Communities different strands on the topics that interest you. FESTIVAL ATTRACTIONS Whatever you decide to do, with such a wide range of debates 27 Lunchtime Shorts and discussion, we are sure there will be plenty for everyone to 28 Festival Attractions and Entertainment think about. ESSENTIAL INFORMATION CREATIVE AND MEDIA PARTNERS 30 Battlefields: Barbican maps 32 Saturday Timetable 33 Sunday Timetable SUNDAY 34 Sunday Keynote Controversies 36 Science and Society 38 In Conversation With Dissidents… 40 Battle for Democracy 42 Arts and Culture 44 Battle for Education 46 Contemporary Controversies 48 Battle for the Economy 50 What Can We Learn From…? 52 Moral Dilemmas 54 Political Futures 56 Podcasts Live BATTLE SATELLITE EVENTS 58 UK Satellites 61 International Satellites 64 Thanks DESIGN: WINTER DESIGN BATTLEOFIDEAS.ORG.UK 1 BATTLE OF IDEAS TICKETING INFORMATION WHY THE BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL 2019? The Battle of Ideas takes place at the Barbican, London, WELCOME TO THE BATTLE OF FREE THINKERS WELCOME on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 November. IDEAS FESTIVAL 2019 The ability to raise difficult questions and unfashionable opinions is essential to a vibrant public sphere. That’s why our festival WEEKEND TICKETS We live in tumultuous times. This year’s Battle of Ideas, our fifteenth annual festival, feels more important than ever, offering mottos – ‘free speech allowed’ and ‘free thinkers welcome’ – are Standard ticket £100 a vital space for interrogating ideas and getting to grips with a not just slogans but statements of intent. This does not mean that Standard concession ticket £45 rapidly changing world. The Battle of Ideas is the place to be if ‘anything goes’. We ask festival attendees to be both tolerant and Academy of Ideas associate ticket – standard £60 open to listening to all views, but equally be prepared to express Academy of Ideas associate ticket – concession £40 you’re open to being part of civilised and passionate debate. opinions and to judge what is right. We think that whatever your School Students £20 Public life depends on constructive dialogue. We need a space own views, truly creative discussion comes about when we accept Camelot Student Champion £27.50 where ideas, beliefs and policies can be scrutinised. But at the there can always be another side to the story, that others hold moment, debate on a wide range of political and cultural issues opposing views in good faith and they might even have a point. DAY TICKETS can be ill-tempered – some would even say ‘toxic’. On some (Saturday or Sunday) issues, debates seem to have become more ‘tribal’, with different But that debate is often cut off by our censorious climate. Today, Standard ticket £55 GETTING TO THE BARBICAN sides closed to other people’s point of view. But, hearteningly, showing an ‘offensive’ old comedy film or tweeting an ‘inappropriate’ Standard concession ticket £30 amongst many people there also seems to be growing openness opinion can land you in hot water. Our ability to judge for ourselves Academy of Ideas associate ticket – standard £40 The Barbican is located in the heart of the City of London and is to new ideas and willingness to question orthodoxies. If is often undermined by the raging Culture Wars. This year, there Academy of Ideas associate ticket – concession £25 accessible by rail, road and underground. The nearest underground have been vicious rows about everything from the validity of the School Students £10 you’re looking for answers to the big questions thrown up by stations are Barbican, Moorgate and St Paul’s. contemporary politics and culture, you’ll love the Battle of Ideas. ‘Western canon’ of great works and the morality of listening to For more information about accessibility and travel options, Michael Jackson’s music to whether WhatsApp conversations visit barbican.org.uk/your-visit UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD should remain private. On the seventieth anniversary of George Tickets are available from the Barbican Box Office or online at One of the major themes of this year’s festival is democracy. Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, not only are the words we use more www.battleofideas.org.uk/tickets INTERNET ACCESS From proroguing parliament to demands for a written heavily scrutinised than ever, but policing language is seen as a Free wifi: search for WiFi Zone – The Cloud constitution, this year has thrown up difficult questions about way of changing behaviour and evading tough issues. More than the limits to democracy and the boundaries between politics ever, we need freethinkers rather than ‘correct’ ways of thinking. CAMELOT STUDENT CHAMPION SOCIAL MEDIA and law. Today’s big issues defy easy characterisation. Footloose CREATING THE FUTURE SPECIAL TICKET OFFER FOR STUDENTS The festival hashtag is #BattleOfIdeasFest and you can follow politicians jump between parties. Voters cast aside old ballot- We are offering current undergraduate and postgraduate the Academy of Ideas on Twitter @instofideas, Instagram box loyalties. Well-established political labels such as ‘liberal’ No political, cultural, scientific or technological issue should be students a limited number of Camelot Student Champion @battleofideasfest, Facebook @battleofideasfestival and ‘conservative’ rarely seem to mean much. Together at beyond debate. In fact, concepts that we thought we knew the 2019 weekend tickets for just £27.50 – a saving of 40% on the the festival, we’ll grapple with these new developments and meaning of – like class, community or identity – have changed in normal concession rate. To take advantage of this offer, visit PRESS, PARTNERS AND SPONSORSHIP try to get a better understanding of a complex world. recent years. Ask 30 different women what feminism means to them and you might well get 30 different answers. New challenges our tickets page www.battleofideas.org.uk/tickets and follow For partnership enquiries or to arrange press passes, request Few recent developments raise more questions than the rise abound, too. For example, how do we ensure sport is egalitarian the Camelot Student Champion link. interviews and for general media enquiries, please contact of Extinction Rebellion, whose protesters have filled streets and open to transgender athletes without compromising on in the UK and beyond. While the protesters, including school Jacob Reynolds: fairness? Why are so many issues understood through conspiracy strikers inspired by Greta Thunberg, take the moral high- [email protected] / +44 (0)20 7269 9220 theories – and where does this fit with our view of experts and ground, the police and politicians trail in their wake. One big expertise? With synagogues being targeted and anti-Semitism question at the festival will be about who has moral authority FURTHER ENQUIRIES on the rise in British politics, how do we tackle one of the oldest today, and why. It certainly seems right that society explores SCHOOL PUPILS SPECIAL TICKET OFFER If you have any questions about Battle of Ideas tickets, contact: prejudices today? Many such questions lead to a fundamental solutions to climate change. But the ‘climate emergency’, as HARGRAVE FOUNDATION SCHOOLS CHAMPION challenge: how do we build solidarity in the twenty-first century? A limited number of FREE ONE-DAY tickets are available to Geoff Kidder: it’s now called, also seems to fit with a trend to label all manner school pupils. [email protected] / +44 (0)20 7269 9220 of problems as ‘existential threats’. Indeed, new terms such The Battle of Ideas festival is the place to stretch your as ‘eco-anxiety’, ‘Brexit trauma’ or ‘toxic masculinity’ seem intellectual muscles. Get out of your comfort zone and or Barbican Box Office: Email [email protected] stating which to attach medical labels to social issues. How can we avoid a get stuck into the debate. Have a brilliant Battle. +44 (0) 20 7638 8891 day you would like to attend for free, the name of your school paralysing impact on young people – and indeed wider society? and a postal address