Ideas Matter: ‘A War on the Past?’

From the series ‘The use and abuse of history’, theme of the boi
charity’s event The Academy, held online in April 2021.


From discussions about reparations to the descendants of slaves
to the battles over public monuments, the legacy of the past is
bitterly contested in today’s culture wars. Many insist that
contemporary societies need to do much more to come to terms
with, and atone for, the evils committed in the past. If the past
actions of a country – such as military victories, the collection
of vast treasures or the foundation or independence of a country
– were once the source of national pride, today they are widely
seen as a source of shame. How did our relationship to the past
become so fraught? What are the consequences of this widespread
estrangement from the past? If it is no longer possible to see
the past as a reservoir of achievements and positive values, by
what is the present to be guided? Is there a barely-concealed war
on the past, or are societies merely finally facing up to their
history?


Lecture by Professor Frank Furedi, sociologist; public
intellectual; author, ‘Why Borders Matter’


THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORY A half day
online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. 


To view the full programme and some suggested background reading
to the talks, please visit 
https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3  


ASSOCIATED READING


For this lecture you may wish to read:-


‘The Death of the Past’ by JH Plumb, 1969
https://amzn.to/3i2UqNb

‘The culture war against the past’, Frank Furedi, spiked, 30
July 2020 https://bit.ly/3fovXQl



 


THE ACADEMY In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to
knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to
demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the
university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of
truth.


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please consider a donation, small or large.
Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate


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most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and
intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today.


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