Who are we? Identity politics dissected

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas 2016.

In recent years, more and more political and cultural discussions have been conducted through the prism of identity. Who we are, rather than what we do or believe, has become ever more important. But why has this happened and what are the implications?

The shift from the idea of a universal human outlook, born in the Enlightenment, appears to have become badly degraded. This historical trend is the focus of The Academy 2017, the IoI’s residential weekend of study and debate on 15 & 16 July at Wyboston Lakes in Bedfordshire. Early Bird discounted tickets for the event are available until Monday 6 March. Find out more about the event and how to get tickets at The Academy 2017 page.

This Battle of Ideas debate from 2016 offers a flavour of some of the issues we’ll be discussing at The Academy.

SPEAKERS
Dr Julian Baggini
founding editor, the Philosophers’ Magazine; author, Freedom Regained: the possibility of free will and The Edge of Reason: A Rational Skeptic in an Irrational World

Ivan Hewett
chief music critic, Daily Telegraph; professor, Royal College of Music; broadcaster; author, Music: healing the rift

Sunder Katwala
director, British Future; former general secretary, Fabian Society

Professor Michele Moody-Adams
Joseph Strauss professor of political philosophy and legal theory, Columbia University; author, Fieldwork in Familiar Places: Morality, culture and philosophy

Brendan O’Neill
editor, spiked; columnist, Big Issue; contributor, Spectator; author, A Duty to Offend: Selected Essays

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