WORLDbytes - The School of Citizen TV » Debates

The View On The Streets: The European Union

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:18:43 +0000

On the streets of Walthamstow in East London, we ask the public what they think about the European Union. It’s clear that opposition to the EU is not the preserve of bigoted ‘little Englanders’, far from it. Eloquent, well-informed citizens are seriously concerned at the EU’s undemocratic set-up and want to have their say. Individuals backing the EU are hard to find and are against a referendum as they see their fellow citizens as ignorant and too ill-educated to ‘understand the issues’.

Recommended links:

Article by Bruno Waterfield: The EU crisis
The People’s Pledge website

Don’t shout at the Telly: Queer Progress

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:13:46 +0000

Gay rights have vastly improved over the decades, but have we progressed enough? This lively on-the-sofa discussion with Jason Smith a freelance journalist and director of Birmingham salon explores the state of ‘queer progress’ today, from Clinton and Cameron’s advocacy of tying foreign aid to gay rights to Stonewall calling for a policing of anti-gay speech in the playground. Has intolerance of anti-gay intolerants lead to a tyranny of the minority? Are gay individuals so vulnerable they now need posh protectors to police our views and intervene in African states?

Recommended links:

Article by Frank Furedi, An unholy marriage of snobbery and snideyness
Article by Josie Appleton, Don’t police anti-gay ‘hate’ speech

A glimpse of Debating Matters

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:07:33 +0000

The prestigious Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition runs this national debating competition for sixth form students in the UK and in partnership with the British Council in India. Honoured to be partners with this inspiring organisation which privileges content over style, WORLDbytes volunteers have filmed many debates and edited this short glimpse of the toughest intellectual challenge around for 16-18 year olds. With hundreds of schools involved and top level judges, the competition puts learning on a new level, deals with issues which affect us all and never fails to inspire. For full details of the competition and to take part visit http://www.debatingmatters.com/

Recommended links:

Debating Matters UK website
Debating Matters India website

Battle against the Fates

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:00:42 +0000

Are we are living in one of the most fatalistic times? Scientists claim everything from sexual preference to criminality is hardwired, behavioural economics suggests we are essentially irrational and what happens in your childhood is said to stay with you. Fighting against the fates in this thought provoking debate are: Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law, George Washington University; author, The Supreme Court: the personalities and rivalries that defined America; Steve Rayner, James Martin Professor of Science and Civilization; director, Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, University of Oxford; Frank Furedi, professor of sociology, University of Kent, Canterbury, author of On Tolerance: in defence of moral independence and Peter Hunter OP, principal tutor, philosophy, Blackfriars Hall; Dominican Friar.

Recommended links:

Article by Jeffrey Rosen, New York Times magazine, The Brain on the Stand
Article by Frank Furedi, Inviting us to bow down in front of the god of fortune

Life off Earth: are the aliens out there?

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:55:00 +0000

What is the likelihood of intelligent life existing elsewhere in the universe? These questions have returned to the centre of attention since the launch of NASA’s Kepler mission. Already, hundreds of so-called exoplanets have been discovered and the first potentially habitable planets are being identified. In this illuminating debate, filmed at the Battle of Ideas a panel of experts consider the possibilities and implications of sentient life being detected elsewhere in the galaxy and how this affects our perception of what it means to be human. Speakers include: Dr John Elliott, Post Detection Task Force member; writer and teacher Richard Swan; author Mark Vernon and the Chair is Sandy Starr from the Progress Educational Trust.

Recommended links:

Battle of Ideas Debate
In-debate Newsletter

The rise of the clicktivists: will the revolution be digitised?

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:49:35 +0000

Is the internet just an echo chamber for the already converted, another tool in the activists’ toolbox or has it brought about fundamental changes? Some argue the uprisings across the Middle East are ‘Wikileaks revolutions’. The English Defence League (EDL) counts the people who have clicked ‘like’ on its Facebook as members. Yet, less than a quarter of those said they’d attended a demonstration. As the audience twitter, Paul Mason, broadcaster, author, Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere; economics editor, BBC’s Newsnight provides a short lecture with respondents David Babbs, executive director, 38 degrees; Martyn Perks, director, Thinking Apart; Phil Booth, director, TRUTH2POWER.

Recommended links:

Article by Brendan O’Neill, Facebook doesn’t cause riots – or revolutions
Article by Martyn Perks, The revolution will not be digitised
Book by Paul Mason, Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions

Is this Africa’s decade?

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:03:47 +0000

A far cry from the aid, fair trade and patronising paternalism that still informs NGO speak, the new decade is looking bright for Africa. Speakers in this must watch debate provide the real development picture and shun the West’s myth ridden narrative of Africa as ‘hapless child’ or ‘dark continent’ in need of healing. This year, Angola beat China to the top with annual average GDP growth of 11.1%. In the next five years, African countries are predicted to outperform their Asian counterparts. Of course, it’s easy to grow fast when you are small – but nonetheless the lion is on the move, along with the elephant and the tiger. Growth not aid, we learn is transforming lives and its time to tell the real story. Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, the panellists are: Alice Ajeh, international relations manager, Nigeria, Shell International; Marieme Jamme, CEO, SpotOne Global Solutions; co-founder, Africa Gathering; Angus Kennedy, head of external relations, Institute of Ideas; Sam Mendelson, co-founder, Social Performance Advisory. Chaired by SOAS student Joel Cohen.

Recommended links:

Article by Stuart Simpson, There’s no new ‘scramble for Africa’
Economist article: A road to somewhere: what do Africans need most – aid or infrastructure?

Is there a ghost in the machine?

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:54:05 +0000

The spirit or personality – the concept of a soul, self or mind distinct from our physical shell – has long been a cornerstone of our understanding of what it means to be human. Increasingly, however, scientific fields like neuroscience, genetics and psychology provide intricate explanations for human functioning, rooted in the tangible and the biological. Can we establish an empirically sound view of ourselves, without detracting from the importance of morality, responsibility, solidarity and freedom? Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, the speakers in this contentious debate are Dr Stuart Derbyshire, reader in psychology, University of Birmingham; Martha Robinson, neuroscience PhD student; Richard Swinburne, emeritus professor, philosophy of religion, University of Oxford; Professor Raymond Tallis, fellow, Academy of Medical Sciences.

Recommended links:

Article by Martha Robinson, Independent blog, Surely by now we’ve outgrown the soul?
Article by Sandy Starr, Surely by now we’ve outgrown the body?

Is individualism bad for society?

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:48:32 +0000

Everything from social fragmentation to the economic crisis, and the riots that broke out across English cities in the summer, have been blamed on a modern ‘cult of individualism’. But isn’t there something to be said for individualism? Strong individuals have been admired for their courage and imagination and valued for their unique contributions to society. Speakers in this debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas bring fresh thinking and include Dr Maurice Glasman, author, Unnecessary Suffering: managing market utopia; Clifford Longley, leader writer and columnist, Tablet; John Sutherland, author, The Lives of the Novelists; Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent, Daily Telegraph; author, No Means No!

Recommended links:

Article by Kathryn Ecclestone, Remaking citizens for the ‘Big Society’

Eurozonia: too big to fail, too small to succeed?

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:39:59 +0000

Is it conceivable that the euro could fail? Can the bureaucrats weather the storm, keeping dissent to the margins? Or is the whole project doomed to failure regardless of their efforts, because it has been fundamentally and deliberately undemocratic all along? Speakers for this illuminating debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas include Philippe Legrain, advisor to Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (speaking in a personal capacity); Simon Nixon, European editor, Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column; author of The Credit Crunch: how safe is your money?; Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent, Daily Telegraph; author of No Means No!

Recommended links:

Article by Simon Nixon, Solution is at hand – with little courage
Article by Angus Kennedy, La morte de l’Europe
Article by Bruno Waterfield, Eurocrisis: the politics of no-longer great powers

Middle East ‘revolutions’: Hopes and Fears

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:28:44 +0000

This year’s uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa came out of the blue. Beginning with the ‘Jasmine revolution’ in Tunisia, and spreading to Egypt and Yemen, popular protests called for freedom and democracy, with further political drama following in Syria and Libya. While the success of the uprisings has been varied, the toppling of apparently stable regimes challenged many assumptions. So is this truly a new revolutionary moment and will the overthrow of authoritarian governments lead to democratic alternatives? Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, speakers include Dr Maha Azzam, associate fellow, Middle East and North Africa programme, Chatham House; Ghazi Gheblawi, author; blogger, Imitdad; former cultural editor, Libya Today, Dr George Lawson, lecturer in international relations, LSE; author, Negotiated Revolutions: the Czech Republic, South Africa and Chile, and Karl Sharro, architect; writer; Middle East commentator.

Recommended links:

Article by Rob Lyons, Mubarak is gone, but Mubarakans still rule
Karl Sharro’s blog: Karl ReMarks

Has tolerance gone too far?

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:25:12 +0000

Do we confuse tolerance with democratic rights or respect and approval? Should we uphold the idea of tolerance while maintaining the right to criticise and judge? Is tolerating the vulgar, the offensive, the shocking, the price of liberty? Speakers on this esteemed international panel at the Battle of Ideas are: Christopher Caldwell, senior editor, Weekly Standard; author, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: immigration, Islam and the West; Frank Furedi, professor of sociology, University of Kent, Canterbury; author, On Tolerance: in defence of moral independence; Professor Anna Elisabetta Galeotti, chair of political philosophy, University of Piemonte Orienatale; author, Toleration as Recognition; GM Tamás, president, Green Left; author, Les Idoles de la Tribu

Recommended readings:

Book by Frank Furedi, On Tolerance: In Defence of Moral Independence
Article by Christopher Caldwell, Fear masquerading as tolerance
Book by Anna Elisabetta Galeotti, Toleration as Regulation

Sex in the brain: do men and women think differently?

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:23:17 +0000

Few today believe women are less intelligent, but some scientists say it’s time to accept male and female brains are differently wired. With the world still divided according to gender, however, critics argue the development of the brain is always influenced by cultural assumptions. In this extraordinary debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas, the issue gets heated with ‘scientism’ turning the clocks back and insisting male and female capabilities are fixed. Speakers include Dr Ellie Lee, reader in social policy, University of Kent, Canterbury; Dr Maurizio Meloni, research fellow, Institute for Science and Society, University of Nottingham; Dr Anne Moir, neuropsychologist; author, Brain Sex: the real difference between men and women & Dick Swaab, professor of neurobiology, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam. The chair is journalist and writer Timandra Harkness. This debate formed part of the Battle for our Brains strand at the Battle of Ideas, supported by the Wellcome Trust.

Recommended links:

Article by Madeleine Bunting, Guardian, The truth about sex difference is that men are from Mars, so are women
Article by Ray Herbert, Association for Psychological Science, The Brain Is Not an Explanation

The IPCC: Can we trust the evidence?

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:16:31 +0000

The accusations in late 2009 that the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia had been manipulating or hiding data struck a blow to confidence in the IPCC, with whom the CRU is closely associated. While the researchers were largely absolved, more scandals followed from ‘Climategate’ – IPCC claims about the retreat of glaciers and increased tolls from natural disasters were also questioned. When science and politics become so deeply entwined, can we trust the evidence? Speakers include Tony Gilland, science and society director, Institute of Ideas; director, Debating Matters Competition; Oliver Morton, energy and environment editor, The Economist; author Eating the Sun: how plants power the planet, and Fred Pearce, freelance journalist; environment consultant, New Scientist; author, The Climate Files: the battle for the truth about global warming and Peoplequake. This debate was filmed at the Battle of Ideas at the end of 2010.

Recommended links:

The Independent blog by Craig Fairnington, Can we trust the IPCC’s evidence?
Article by Roddy Campbell, Prospect Magazine, Too hot to handle

Don’t Shout at the Telly: Pain & Animal Experimentation

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:44:33 +0000

This special Don’t Shout at the Telly forms the first programme in our new series on bio-medical science, supported by the Wellcome Trust. Dr Stuart Derbyshire, director of Pain Imaging at the University of Birmingham, introduces the issue by experimenting on volunteers. He then argues that as animals have no psychological self and are not conscious they cannot experience pain, as pain is not merely a response to physical stimuli. Discussants grapple with the complexity of the arguments and whether when experimenting on animals their capacity to feel pain even matters if it helps mankind.

Recommended links:

WORLDbytes edited video of the Battle of Ideas debate, Should apes have right?
Article by Tim Black, Man is more than an overdeveloped monkey
Article by Stuart Derbyshire, Humans are more important than animals

The Battle of Ideas: Don’t miss it

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:35:34 +0000

This appetiser reminds us there is no feast for the mind like the Battle of Ideas festival. Challenging new ideas blend with historical insights at this ‘free speech allowed’ weekend. This is a must for anyone interested in cutting edge thinking. With 75 debates and 350 speakers, a huge range of contemporary issues are covered. Mixed with snippets of debate, this programme features vox pops filmed by WORLDbytes volunteers at last year’s Battle of Ideas festival and their excitement is infectious. As one attendee tells us: “it covers issues most politicians won’t touch.” The full programme of debates and tickets for this year’s event on Saturday 29^th & Sunday 30^th October 2011 are available now; just visit the Battle of Ideas website.

Recommended links:

Battle of Ideas website

Wikileaks is good for Democracy?

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:27:17 +0000

This debate was filmed at the Debating Matters 2011 UK competition finals. In this semi-final, panellists debate whether Wikileaks is good for democracy or a hindrance to it. In the wake of the leaking of more than two and a half thousand US Embassy Cables at the end of 2010, Wikileaks became a focal point of public debate. But, are founder Julian Assange and his team making history by increasing accountability and improving the democratic process or are they simply whistle blowers severely damaging diplomacy and democracy whilst giving investigative journalism a bad name?

Recommended links:

Optimism versus Pessimism

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:18:21 +0000

In this edifying panel conversation at the Battle of Ideas 2010 festival, five speakers weigh up the future of our society in light of different challenges and ask whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about the future. Speakers include, Shreela Ghosh, director at the Free Word Centre; Stephen Hargrave, chairman at Reform, Mick Hume, editor-at-large and writer at Spiked-online; Humphrey Hawksley, BBC World Affairs correspondent; Marcus Sedgwick, author and writer-in-residence, Bath Spa University.

Recommended links:

Article, Times Higher Education: History goes on; human beings don’t change very much

Don’t Shout at the Telly: Tolerance

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:54:01 +0000

Claire Fox, Director of the Institute of Ideas is the guest expert on this fascinating in depth, on the sofa discussion on tolerance. After the massacre in Norway, volunteers consider calls for clampdowns on Facebook, the English Defence League and bigoted views. Claire provides a compelling case for allowing the vilest views to be heard in order to challenge them. Outlining the emergence of tolerance as an Enlightenment idea in opposition to the inquisition and tyranny she explains its problematic and demeaning character today as expressed in multiculturalism, non-judgementalism and fashionable intolerance of intolerant groups and views. Not being able to hear, see and judge for ourselves degrades us all she explains and Mill’s ‘harm principle’ provides a useful understanding of the difference between ideas and implementation. Harm, she reminds us, has sadly been expanded to encompass how we subjectively feel, what we can eat, drink and do in our personal lives, justifying state interference, regulation and un-freedom – the opposite of tolerance.

Recommended links:

Article by Frank Furedi, Don’t blame tolerance for this multicultural mess
Article by Brendan O’neill, There’s nothing Enlightened about the new equality law
Debating Matters, On secularism

Debating Matters India: a taster

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:35:30 +0000

Now in its third year, Debating Matters is jointly organised by the British Council India and the Institute of Ideas. In this short glimpse of the event in 2010, we see students engaging in debate on contemporary society at the highest level, pushed to think beyond the semantics of the issue and modes of presentation. As former student and Debating Matters participant, Nitin Jayakrishnan remarks: “It is only through debating and through public speech where experts, the public and other people of the opposite opinion question you and criticise, that you learn, it’s criticism that matters, and I think Debating Matters pulls it off brilliantly.”

Recommended links:

Debating Matters website

Is the West still the best?

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:25:02 +0000

For centuries, the West was a model for the world. While anti-imperialists condemned the West for betraying its own ideals of freedom, even black radical CLR James declared: ‘I, a man of the Caribbean, have found that it is in the study of Western literature, Western philosophy and Western history that I have found out the things that I have found out even about the underdeveloped countries’.

Today, however, there are those who question some of the most basic values of the West and, in particular, its universality – the very idea that its legacy is for everyone. As capitalism seemingly wanes in the West, and the East is on the rise, is there anything in the legacy of the West we should preserve? Speakers include Ian Morris, author and professor of history and archaeology at Stanford University, Sabine Reul, society and politics editor at NovoArgumente, Gaspar Miklos Tamas, author and visiting professor at Central European University and Tarun J. Tejpal, author and editor at Tehelka, former editor of India Today.

Recommended links:

Article by Lindsay Johns, In praise of dead white men
Times Higher Education, The Tyranny of Guilt
Article by Bill Durodie, The West still needs to think big

The View On The Streets: Nuclear Power

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:33:30 +0000

WORLDbytes reporters hit the streets to investigate what the British public think about nuclear power after media scares of a Fukushima meltdown in Japan. Their findings are salutary and a lesson in never underestimating the public or treating their views with contempt. Savvy citizens may worry about waste but few have completely swallowed the nuclear doom mongering now evident in Germany. Eloquent insights on the press preoccupation with Fukushima where no one died, versus the horrific death and destruction caused by the Tsunami abound. For some, fear of climate catastrophe is pitted against nuclear catastrophe and nuclear power has become the ‘lesser evil.’ Perhaps a bigger problem is the idea we should settle for less energy in general.

Recommended links:

Article by Sophie Knight, Tokyo: a long way from Chernobyl
Article by Frank Furedi, Nuclear vs climate change: the clash of the alarmists

Don’t shout at the telly: uprisings in the Middle East and intervention in Libya

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:24:59 +0000

After disastrous interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the UN-sanctioned NATO intervention in Libya has revived support for “humanitarian intervention” in the name of saving lives. In this gripping on-the-sofa discussion, Middle East commentator and writer, Karl Sharro argues that such interventions far from helping, deny people the very freedom and self determination that people throughout the region are fighting for.

Recommended links:

Article by Karl Sharro, The No-Fly zone in Libya: hijacking the Arab Uprisings
Article by Rashid Khalid, Preliminary Historical Observations on the Arab Revolutions of 2011
Article by David Chandler, There’s nothing ‘good’ about the war in Libya

Prosperity without growth: a contradiction in terms

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:33:31 +0000

For two centuries, life expectancy has surged, the food supply has easily outstripped a rising population and science has advanced tremendously. But are the costs of growth beginning to outweigh the benefits? Critics point to rising inequality, and insist people are becoming no happier, while mental illness and obesity are rife. In this fascinating head-to-head, economics journalist and author Daniel Ben-Ami argues with professor of sustainable development, Tim Jackson against a culture of limits. To tackle poverty he explains, we need more growth not less. We are living longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives than ever before – including billions of people in the poorer countries and economic progress has provided huge benefits for humanity.

Recommended links:

Article by Daniel Ben-Ami, Growth sceptics selling the economy short
Article by Kevin Brown, Financial Times, The Asian century calls for a rethink on growth

Whose social justice is it anyway?

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:23:05 +0000

Twenty years ago the UN published the hugely influential Human Development Report. Drawing on the work of Amartya Sen, it aimed at ‘putting people back at the centre of the development process…going beyond income to assess the level of people’s long-term well-being’, something that has been carried forward in contemporary debate around social justice. But, should social justice be primarily about subjective well-being or should it be about material and political development? Speakers in this outstanding panel debate include Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent at Daily Telegraph, Sabina Alkire, author and director at Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative; Ann Bernstein, executive director, Centre for Development Enterprise, South Africa; Anil Gupta, professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Stewart Wallis, executive director, new economics foundation (nef).

Recommended links:

Book by Danny Dorling, Injustice: why social inequality persists
Book by Daniel Ben-Ami, Ferraris for All: in defence of economic progress

The Empty Square

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:40:23 +0000

The 2010 election saw unprecedented attempts to get into our heads with opinion polls, while online petitions and televised leaders’ debates were meant to ‘engage’ us in new ways. Universities are told to reach out to the community; news organisations beg us to text/tweet our views. Is this democratic, or merely patronizing? Discussions about the public and what it is thinking invariably seem to come from an elite perspective and display contempt for the man in the street. In today’s individuated society, is there really a public to engage? In this vital debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas, speakers include: Frank Furedi, professor of sociology, University of Kent; Deborah Mattinson, Director, BritainThinks consultancy; Joyce McMillan, chair, Hansard Society Working Group in Scotland; Graham Stuart, MP Conservative Party.

Recommended links:

Book by Deborah Mattinson, Talking to a Brick Wall: How New Labour stopped listening to the voter and why we need a new politics
Article by Dolan Cummings, Ideas, Intellectual and the Public

Pointless

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:04:27 +0000

Katja Reinhardt, a student from Germany and WORLDbytes reporter, investigates the impact of the points based immigration system on international students. She hears from campaigners, students and professors who tell of scandalous stories of university staff being pushed to become border agents and maintain surveillance of overseas students; treating them as criminals.

Recommended links:

Manifesto Club’s Visiting Artists & Academics Campaign
Valerie Hartwich’s Free Movement Blog
Goldsmith’s student union Students NOT Suspects campaign
WORLDbytes video: The More the Merrier

Don’t Shout at the Telly: Booze Bans

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:53:24 +0000

Suzy Dean takes government intervention on alcohol to task in this spikey on the sofa discussion. Are we incapable of deciding for ourselves or with our peers what, when, where and how much we drink? Do the army of advisors and advice from students unions to health professionals see us all as out of control victims of the demon drink and treat us like children? Should our social lives be controlled by the new temperance police and is it any of the state’s business what we consume? Suzy is clear the alcohol police will harm more than our livers, but not everyone agrees.

Recommended links:

Article by Suzy Dean, Alcohol, feminism and freedom
Report by Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Temperance: Its history and impact on current and future alcohol policy
Article by Dolan Cummings, The first step: admit drinking is normal

What does it mean to be a liberal today?

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:43:58 +0000

Peculiarly, assaults on freedom often come in liberal clothing, from political correctness to burqa bans. And day-to-day, when it comes to smoking and booze bands or ‘nudges’ to eat healthily and recycle, few self-styled liberals seem confident people should really be free. From John Stuart Mill’s harm principle to the birth of liberalism with John Locke, in this enthralling panel debate, Frank Furedi, Lisa Appignanesi, Mark Littlewood and Nigel Warburton do battle on what it means to be a liberal today.

Recommended links:

An interview with Frank Furedi, by Sarah Boyes, What does it mean to be a liberal today?
Article by Mark Littlewood, How truly liberal is the coalition government?
Book by Nigel Warburton, Free Speech: A Very Short Introduction

From Banning Burqas to B&B Bigots

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:39:13 +0000

Belgium and France have moved to ban the face veil in public, while Switzerland has banned minarets. Is Europe now putting its own ‘secular’ culture before religious toleration? When MP Chris Grayling said before the election he thought Christian B&B owners should be allowed to turn away gay couples there was an outraged consensus that such bigotry should not be tolerated. How should secular societies deal with awkward religious practices and beliefs? Speakers include: Abid Raja, chair at Minotek; Dr Evan Harris, Ex MP Liberal Democrats, Nathalie Rothschild, commissioning editor at Spiked-online, Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent, Daily Telegraph.

Recommended links:

Article by Tim Black, Banning the burqa is an assault on secular values
Spiegel Online International: Are women’s rights really the issues?
Article by Christopher Caldwell, Fear masquerading as tolerance

The great population debate: too many carbon footprints?

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:45 +0000

Fears about climate change have brought back concerns about global population numbers. With the global population set to reach seven billion in a few years time, some argue we are heading for a crisis, as food supplies and energy sources wane in the face of increasing demand. Yet similar arguments have been made throughout history – most notably by Thomas Malthus – and have been proven wrong, as development and human ingenuity have solved the problems posed by apparently natural limits. In this exhilarating debate filmed at the Battle of ideas Spiked’s Brendan O’Neil takes on the Optimum Population Trust’s Roger Martin and argues against ‘finite-itus.’

Recommended links:

Article by Brendan O’Neill: Too many people? No, too many Malthusians
Article by Roger Martin: Overpopulation is the biggest threat to our climate
Video: Celebrating more people

Trafficking: new slave trade or moral panic?

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:50:18 +0000

Human trafficking has been labelled a ‘modern-day slave trade’. Yet there is little evidence out there, is this because it’s a hidden crime? Critics say it’s a misleading label, which refers to diverse forms of migration and employment and the best way to help migrants avoid taking dangerous journeys is to open the borders. ‘Rescuers’ it’s argued compel migrants to present themselves as victims. Leading sex workers’ rights activists claim trafficking has become a powerful tool for prostitution abolitionists to win wider support for a clampdown on the sex industry as a whole. This powerful debate was filmed at the Battle of Ideas.

Recommended links:

Article by Nathalie Rothschild: ‘Rescue’: a new PC term for repatriation
Book by Laura Agustin: Sex at the Margins: migration, labour markets and the rescue industry

Human trafficking has been labelled a ‘modern-day slave trade’. Yet there is little
evidence out there, is this because it’s a hidden crime? Critics say it’s a misleading
label, which refers to diverse forms of migration and employment and the best way to
help migrants avoid taking dangerous journeys is to open the borders. ‘Rescuers’ it’s
argued compel migrants to present themselves as victims. Leading sex workers’ rights
activists claim trafficking has become a powerful tool for prostitution abolitionists
to win wider support for a clampdown on the sex industry as a whole. This powerful
debate was filmed at the Battle of Ideas.

Are we a classless society Mr Cameron?

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:39:53 +0000

Since the coalition took power there has been no shortage of comment about the number of public school and Oxbridge alumni in the Cabinet. Are we witnessing the return to power of a traditional privileged elite? Can we expect a revival of traditional class politics as austerity measures begin to bite? In this debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas Kevin Macguire, Nirpal Singh Dhaliwal, Professor Peter Saunders and Neil Davenport argue about whether there is an ‘upstairs downstairs’ anymore.

Recommended links:

Blog post by Neil Davenport: Are we still a classless society Mr Cameron?
Article by John Arlidge: Britain’s new political elite
Article by James Heartfield: Where they teach you how to be thick

Don’t shout at the telly: Should we swallow Foie Gras?

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:17:52 +0000

As restaurants take Foie Gras off the menu, in this ‘on the sofa’ discussion, Kirk Leech argues that we shouldn’t worry about eating it and that the detractors have got it wrong. Our intolerance of life style choices is a problem he argues, force feeding ducks is not. Respondents debate the issue and discuss the animal rights angle, reducing humans to the level of ducks, posh food, production and campaign violence. More than a culinary culture war is on the cards.

Recommended links:

Article by Kirk Leech: Terrorism of the terrine
Article by Kirk Leech: The bleeding heart luvvies should not put us off our foie gras

Rape and the law: he said, she said?

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:10:17 +0000

There is no doubt rape is a heinous crime, but how should the law and criminal justice system deal with it? Headlines feature the oft-repeated claim that only six per cent of rape accusations lead to a conviction. Baroness Stern’s influential review concluded there has been too much focus on conviction rates. How can we ensure rape cases are prosecuted both fairly and effectively? Should rape cases be treated differently from all other crimes? Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, speakers include: Dan Subotnik, professor, Touro Law School, USA, author, Copulemus in Pace; Marguerite Russell, barrister, founder member, Garden Court Chambers; Helen Reece, reader in Law, LSE; author Divorcing Responsibly; Chair: Luke Gittos, trainee barrister.

Recommended links:

Article by Claire Fox: No means no. But what about yes?
Book by Joanna Bourke: Rape: A History from 1860 to the Present

Should apes have rights?

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:31:52 +0000

In 2008, Spain became the first country to commit to the Great Apes Project, an initiative from scientists and philosophers who believe that the great apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans – should be granted basic rights. But what would extending rights to apes actually mean? Does extending the concept of human rights to great apes make any sense from a moral philosophical point of view? Are rights, like the capacity to make moral judgements about whether or not to protect other species, something only humans can appreciate? An absorbing Battle of Ideas debate.

Recommended links:

Book by Dr Helene Guldberg: Just another ape?
Article by Peter Singer & Kenan Malik: Should we breach the species barrier and grant rights to the apes?

Policy-based evidence?

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:24:07 +0000

MP David Willetts conceded that it is impossible to make policy solely on the basis of scientific evidence. Yet despite this, politicians today rarely make policy statements without citing ‘the evidence’. Whether it’s behavioural economics and social psychology, or neuroscience guiding government intervention, politicians seem keener than ever to cite experts’ findings. Is democracy well-served by an ‘evidence-based’ approach to decision making? Frequently ‘facts’ and ‘evidence’ are deployed to trump ethics or indeed politics. Might this reflect a lack of political conviction or moral authority? Can science and politics collaborate without damaging both? Experts hammer out the issues in this debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas.

Recommended links:

Article by Chris Tyler, The Times: Evidence as a political broker
Article by Timandra Harkness: Science, politics and the public

What science can and cannot tell us

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:13:47 +0000

Traditionally, priests served as the arbiters of right and wrong, advising and passing judgement on moral issues. Scientists, on the other hand, were supposed to divest themselves of their moral stance in order to observe and record the world in an objective manner. Science operates on the philosophical principle that the world is understandable by humans, and that it is a worthwhile endeavour for us to do so. There is disagreement about where the limits of scientific enquiry lie, however. Can science solve once and for all our moral conundrums and remove the need for political disagreements? Filmed at the Battle of Ideas a line up of leading experts share their views.

Recommended links:

Article by Julian Baggini, Independent: If science has not actually killed God, it has rendered Him unrecognisable
Article by Sue Blackmore, Guardian: Science explains, not describes

Patient centred healthcare: the right to choose?

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:05:57 +0000

Health experts don’t agree on the medicine in this timely debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas. All of the three main parties agree that healthcare should be more personalised, that the experience of patients should take precedence over ‘one size fits all’ provision. Increasing information available to patients about the quality of service may seem unobjectionable, but some do question just what it means to ‘empower’ patients. Just who is it that should be driving priorities in health care delivery: patients, doctors, GP consortia or government policy?

Recommended links:

The Economist: Reforming the NHS, once more into the ring
The Health Foundation: The patient will see you now
NICE, The challenge of co-production

Ageing and medicine: quality versus quantity?

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:56:42 +0000

Filmed at the Battle of Ideas, panelists iron out the wrinkles in the ageing debate. We are living longer, but what about the quality of our extended lives? Average life expectancy has extended by as much as 30 years in developed countries during the 20th century. While this statistic might be seen as cause for celebration, society seems ambivalent. Our doubts are not simply caused by headline scaremongering about massed ranks of the elderly being a drain on pension funds and the NHS. What constitutes ‘quality of life’? When poet Jenny Joseph wrote, ‘When I am an old woman I shall wear purple…spend my pension on brandy,’ she captured the pleasurable prospect of growing old disgracefully. Is this irresponsible?

Recommended links:

Article by Zoe Williams, Guardian: Abortion and euthanasia: was Virgina Ironsid right?
Book by Irma Kurtz, (John Murray): About time: Growing Old Disgracefully