̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Robert Tombs

Brexit: Listen to experts from Cambridge and beyond discuss how, why and what next for Brexit Britain

fpjl2 — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 12:40:50 +0000

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge recently held a week-long series of Brexit talks and discussions, featuring senior experts in law, politics, history, science and economics from Cambridge and beyond.

̽��ֱ��aim was to engage both ̽��ֱ�� students and the local community in debates on how Britain moves towards departure from the European Union in the wake of June’s referendum.

You can listen to some of the talks below, or download from iTunesU here.

How Did We Get Here?

Tuesday 18th October

Robert Tombs, Professor of Modern European History at Cambridge's Faculty of History

Robert Tombs is the author of a recent epic history of England, and a renowned expert on nineteenth-century French political history and the relationship between the French and the British. During the EU Referendum campaign, he was a signatory on a letter produced by ‘Historians for Britain’, which supported a Leave vote, and has written about the future of the UK post-Brexit.

Dr Victoria Bateman, Fellow and College Lecturer in Economics at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge

Victoria Bateman is an economic historian at Cambridge, and a Fellow at the Legatum Institute think tank. Her current research focuses on the European economy from early-modern times to the present. Victoria has called for a sexual revolution in economics due to a lack of women in the discipline, and wrote articles in favour of a Remain vote in the run-up to the EU Referendum. She tweets at @vnbateman.

Dr Chris Bickerton, ̽��ֱ�� Lecturer in Politics at POLIS and Official Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge

Chris Bickerton’s research focuses on the dynamics of state transformation and the challenges facing representative democracy in Europe. He has written a recently published book called ̽��ֱ��European Union: A Citizen’s Guide. During the run-up to the EU Referendum, Chris wrote in favour of a Leave vote, making the left-wing case for Brexit. He tweets at @cjbickerton.

Key Issues for the UK and EU Post-Brexit

Wednesday 19th October

Coen Teulings, Professor of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations at Cambridge’s Faculty of Economics

As well as holding the Montague Burton Chair at Cambridge, Coen Teulings is a Professor of Economics at the ̽��ֱ�� of Amsterdam. He has written extensively about wages and income inequality, and spent seven years as the Director of the Central Planning Bureau — the Netherlands’ official economic forecasting agency. He has talked publicly about the risks posed by Brexit to free trade.

Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and Master of Churchill College

Athene Donald has served on the ̽��ֱ��’s Council and as its gender equality champion. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2010, and Master of Churchill College in 2013. Athene wrote and talked extensively on the dangers that a Leave vote posed for UK science during the run-up to the EU Referendum. She is a regular blogger, and tweets at @AtheneDonald.

Charles Clarke, former Home Secretary

Charles Clarke is a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute of Kings College London. He was MP for Norwich South from 1997 to 2010, and served as Home Secretary between 2004 and 2006 in Tony Blair’s Labour Government. During the run-up to the EU Referendum, Charles co-authored a report warning that intelligence relationships would be damaged by a Leave vote.

Process and Politics of the UK Leaving the EU

Thursday 20th October

David Runciman, Professor of Politics and Head of Department at POLIS and Fellow at Trinity Hall, Cambridge

David Runciman’s current research projects include the Leverhulme-funded Conspiracy and Democracy project and Future of Intelligence centre. In 2013, he published the book ̽��ֱ��Confidence Trap, a history of democratic crises since WWI. David hosts the weekly podcast Talking Politics from his Cambridge office, and has written that the Referendum vote shone a light on the education divide in democracy.

Mark Elliott, Professor of Public Law at the Faculty of Law, and Fellow at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge

Mark Elliott has written a number of books on public law, and is Legal Adviser to the House of Lords Constitution Committee. Mark writes a highly regarded blog called Public Law for Everyone, on which he analyses many of the legal issues surrounding the triggering of Article 50 and Theresa May’s Great Repeal Bill. Mark tweets at @ProfMarkElliott, and the slides from this talk are available at his blog.

Global Britain? ̽��ֱ��Future of British Trade after Brexit

Thursday 20th October

̽��ֱ��Rt. Hon. Greg Hands MP, Minister of State in the Department for International Trade, delivered this year’s Alcuin Lecture at Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS). Greg was appointed to his current position by Theresa May in July 2016, where he serves as number two to Secretary of State Liam Fox. He tweets at @GregHands.

̽��ֱ��UK and Brexit: How, Why and Where Now?

Friday 21st October

Matthew Elliott, Head of Vote Leave

Matthew Elliott is the former Chief Executive of the Vote Leave campaign. He is now Editor-at-Large of BrexitCentral, recently launched with the aim of “promoting a positive vision of Britain after Brexit”. He was a founder and former Chief Executive of the political think tank ̽��ֱ��TaxPayers’ Alliance. Matthew tweets at @matthew_elliott.

Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Union Law and Employment Law at the Faculty of Law, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

Catherine Barnard is a leading expert on EU internal markets and employment law, publishing extensively in these fields. She is a Senior Fellow of the ESRC’s UK in a Changing Europe initiative, and is jointly leading the EU Migrant Worker research project. Catherine regularly commented in the media during and after the EU Referendum. She has recently written that there could be free movement of workers in any Brexit deal. Catherine tweets at @CSBarnard24.

Jonathan Portes, Principal Research Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research

In addition to his role at the NIESR, Jonathan Portes is also a Senior Fellow of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative. Previously, he served as Chief Economist at the Cabinet Office. Jonathan’s new book, 50 Capitalism Ideas You Really Need to Know, has just been published. During the run-up to the EU Referendum, he wrote on the misrepresentation of migration by sections of the media. Jonathan tweets at @jdportes.

Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London

Anand Menon is the Director of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative, and has written widely on many aspects of EU politics and policy and on UK-EU relations. As part of the initiative, he recently led on a report suggesting that “Brexit has the potential to test the UK’s constitutional settlement, legal framework, political process and bureaucratic capacities to their limits”. Anand tweets at @anandMenon1.

Listen to some of the talks that were given as part of the ̽��ֱ��'s 'Brexit Week' series, which took place from 18 - 22 October.

Ed Everett

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̽��ֱ��8th Cambridge Festival of Ideas launches

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 10:13:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��packed two-week programme brings together many of the world’s leading thinkers and experts to tackle a series of critical issues, from privacy and the impact of technology to immigration and censorship, inspired by the theme of power and resistance.

Headline speakers include Professors Lord Martin Rees, Dominic Lieven, David Runciman, John Macnicol and Rae Langton. They are joined by BBC’s Alan Yentob, author Peter Hitchens, photographers Toby Smith and Judith Aronson, journalists Ian Dunt and Emily Dugan, CEO of Index on Censorship Jodie Ginsberg, and musical innovators Asian Dub Foundation.

Social media and technology come under the spotlight, with events examining how revolutionary movements interact with technologies such as Facebook and Twitter; issues of privacy in today’s technology-dependent society – particularly relevant in view of whistleblower Edward Snowden’s recent revelations that security services can gain total access to user’s devices; and the advantages and disadvantages of computers that predict our personalities and interact with us intelligently, and the many ethical questions these topics raise.

Political issues including the future of Europe and immigration are also at the heart this year’s Festival. On the theme of the future of Europe is the debate Can Europe Keep the Peace? ̽��ֱ��speakers include historian Professor Robert Tombs; Montserrat Guibernau, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary ̽��ֱ�� of London and author of the forthcoming book Solidarity and Division in the EU; and Dr Chris Bickerton, a politics lecturer at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and author of the award-winning book European Integration: From Nation-States to Member States.

Further political-themed events include Can Writers and Artists Ever Be Terrorists? a debate with Professor Anthony Glees, Director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Buckingham; Turkish artist and anti-censorship campaigner Pelin Basaran; Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship; and Dr Sara Silvestri who specialises in radicalisation. ̽��ֱ��question of whether national broadcasters can be truly independent at a time of war is considered in the debate War, Censorship and Propaganda, with Professor Christopher Andrew, Official Historian of MI5; Professor David Welch, director of the Centre for the Study of Propaganda and War at the ̽��ֱ�� of Kent; Dr Peter Busch from King’s College London on the use of social media for propaganda purposes; and Caroline Wyatt, former defence correspondent at the BBC.

A key Festival highlight is the 24-hour event, Arena: night and day. For one day and one night Arena infiltrates Cambridge in a series of pop-up locations showing the likes of Bob Dylan, Francis Bacon, Sister Wendy, Harold Pinter, Bob Marley, T.S. Eliot and Luis Bunuel to name just a few. Following the filmic inundation of Cambridge, members of the team will discuss the secrets of the programme’s success and the future of public service broadcasting with Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� film experts and the BBC’s Alan Yentob. ̽��ֱ��talk will consider new broadcasting formats and platforms, for instance online, and critical partnerships with universities and communities, seeking core interaction between the best research and best creatives.

Gender issues continue to be contentious and the Festival debates some of the current issues in a number of events including a panel discussion that explores the implications of trans identities for religious faith, with speaker Reverend Christina Beardsley. In addition, Dr Julia Long will take a look at the nature and prevalence of mainstream pornography, considering its impact and effects, and raising critical questions regarding feminist resistance within an increasingly pornified society.

Talks on several new books are a key highlight of this year’s Festival:

Author Bidisha and award-winning journalist Emily Dugan will be in conversation about their new books on the lives of refugees and immigrants who have made it to the UK, the books go behind the headlines to reveal the personal dramas of ordinary men and women trying to make a new life in the UK.
Professor John Macnicol will be discussing his new book (due out this week), which examines the effect of neoliberalism on the recent ageing and social policy agenda in the UK and the USA. ̽��ֱ��book outlines past theories of old age and examines pensions reform, the debate on life expectancy gains, the causes of retirement, the idea of intergenerational equity, the current debate on ageism/age discrimination and the likely human consequences of raising state pension ages.
Paul Wallace, a leading commentator on the economics of the European Union, will also be talking about his new book, ̽��ֱ��Euro Experiment, which explains how and why the euro crisis happened, and the implications for the economic and political future of Europe.
Professor Ulinka Rublack's new book, ̽��ֱ��Astronomer and the Witch: Johannes Kepler’s Defence of his Mother (due out this month), tells the shocking story of how the mother of the famous scientist Kepler was accused of witchcraft. In conversation with Juliet Mitchell, the author explores historical resistance to women as well as ways in which families have been implicated in mechanisms of power.

Established in 2008, Cambridge Festival of Ideas aims to fuel the public’s interest in arts, humanities and social sciences. ̽��ֱ��events, ranging from talks, debates and film screenings to exhibitions and comedy nights, are held in lecture halls, theatres, museums and galleries around Cambridge. Of the over 250 events at the Festival, most are free.

̽��ֱ��Festival sponsors and partners are Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press, St John’s College, Anglia Ruskin ̽��ֱ��, RAND Europe, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Cambridge Live, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden, Arts Council England, Cambridge Junction, British Science Association, Heritage Lottery Fund, Heffers, WOW Festival, Southbank Centre, Collusion, TTP Group, Goethe Institut, Index on Censorship and BBC Cambridgeshire.

Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2015 launches today with over 250 events exploring arts, society and culture.

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Politics debates at the heart of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:49:58 +0000

Speakers include the writer Bidisha, Alan Sked, founder and now fiercest critic of UKIP, journalist Peter Hitchens, Professor David Runciman, Professor Paul Cartledge, John Macnicol, one of Europe’s leading academic analysts of old age and ageing, and Russian historian Professor Dominic Lieven.

Bidisha and award-winning journalist Emily Dugan will be in conversation about their new books which focus on the experiences of immigrants and refugees in the UK. Bidisha’s book, Asylum and Exile: the Hidden Voices of London, is the result of a writing residency with refugees and asylum seekers in London. Through their own words and writing, it tells the stories of people who have fled war, violent persecution, poverty or civil unrest in a range of countries, from Syria to the Congo and their experiences in the UK. It shows that though many used to be accountants, teachers, criminologists and composers in their own countries, they are often forced to work illegally in the UK in underpaid, unstable jobs, surviving on a few pounds a day.

Emily Dugan’s book, Finding Home: Real Stories of Migrant Britain, is described as “an honest, unflinching portrait of ordinary people, all immigrants to the United Kingdom, struggling with extraordinary obstacles to find somewhere called home”.

̽��ֱ��Festival will also feature a debate on the rise of the extreme right in Europe. A screening of Andres Veiel’s award-winning film Der Kick [ ̽��ֱ��Kick, 2006] on the murder of a teenager by three neo-Nazi teenagers in East Germany will be followed by a panel discussion on the rise of right-wing violence in Europe. Taking part are Dr Emmanuel Karagiannis, Senior Lecturer of the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London, who specialises in the area of radicalisation and terrorism in Europe and ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia; and from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Dr Helen Roche, who specialises in Germany history and Dr Katharina Karcher, whose research interests include protest movements in the former West Germany, political violence and European women’s movements.

Also on the theme of immigration and the future of Europe is the debate Can Europe Keep the Peace? ̽��ֱ��speakers will be Alan Sked, MEP Mary Honeyball, historian Professor Robert Tombs and Montserrat Guibernau, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary ̽��ֱ�� of London and author of the forthcoming book 'Solidarity and Division in the EU'. In another event on Europe, leading commentator Paul Wallace will analyse why the Euro went wrong and if reforms have been sufficient to make it perform better in the future.

Other politics events at the Festival include:

John Macnicol on the effects of neoliberalism on old age and retirement.

A special Festival edition of the respected politics podcast, Election Live! led by Professor David Runciman. It will cover the new Labour leadership, Europe and other issues of the day, reflecting on how much has changed since June and how quickly, and looking at the US elections and what the parallels might be between maverick candidates there and here. ̽��ֱ��podcast will also be taking predictions on the US elections from the panel and the audience.

Can Writers and Artists Ever Be Terrorists? - debate with Professor Anthony Glees, Turkish artist and anti-censorship campaigner Pelin Basaran, Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship, and Dr Sara Silvestri who specialises in radicalisation.

Professor Dominic Lieven will be discussing his new book, Towards the Flame: Empire, War and the End of Tsarist Russia, which deals with Russia’s disastrous involvement in the First World War and the implications for Europe today.

War, Censorship and Propaganda - a debate with Professor Christopher Andrew, Official Historian of MI5, Professor David Welch, director of the Centre for the Study of Propaganda and War at the ̽��ֱ�� of Kent, Dr Peter Busch from King’s College London on the use of social media for propaganda purposes, and Caroline Wyatt, former defence correspondent at the BBC.

̽��ֱ��Lords Spiritual: Power and Resistance? - a discussion of the role of bishops in the House of Lords with the Rt Reverend Stephen Conway, Bishop of Ely.

Flamenco and the Politics of Resistance: Flashmobs and Immigration in Spain - Matthew Machin-Autenrieth will explore how flamenco has been used as a catalyst for social change, including in 'flash mobs' where dancers and singers have engaged in acts of spontaneous performance in banks and political institutions as a form of anti-capitalist protest and to celebrate issues surrounding immigration and racism.

Greek democracy: ancient and modern – Paul Cartledge, Professor of Ancient Greek History, and political journalist Maria Margaronis will discuss ancient and modern conceptions of democracy and the myths surrounding them both.
People’s power: democracy on three continents and an island - Four drastically different places and four distinct points of view will bring to the table the force of broad cross-cultural comparison to bear on the most urgent problems which haunt democracies around the globe and at home.

Speakers include some of the world’s leading thinkers in their fields, including the astronomer Lord Martin Rees, John Macnicol, one of Europe’s leading academic analysts of old age and ageing, philosopher Professor Rae Langton, Professor Christopher Andrew, the Official Historian of Mi5, Russian historian Professor Dominic Lieven and Classics Professor Paul Cartledge. Also speaking are writer and journalist Peter Hitchens, BBC religious affairs correspondent Caroline Wyatt, Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship, and Professor Alan Sked, founder and former member of UKIP.

Political issues ranging from the future of Europe, the US elections, immigration and how to deal with Islamic extremists will be at the heart of this year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas which runs from 19th October to 1st November.

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Stability, unity and nonchalance: What does it mean to be English?

tdk25 — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 00:00:47 +0000

It may seem difficult to believe amid continual current debates over immigration, but an aversion to patriotic flag-waving and a relative tolerance of other cultures are both key components of English identity, according to a new history of England, published today.

̽��ֱ��conclusions are just two of those reached in ̽��ֱ��English and Their History, a sweeping survey of the last 13 centuries by the historian Professor Robert Tombs which, by examining the development of the nation and Englishness since Anglo-Saxon times, attempts to answer the enduring and complex question of what it means to be English.

Part of that answer, he suggests, is to be found in a healthy “nonchalance” about national identity that has made the English – while by no means saints – resistant to racism and broadly tolerant of other cultures.

This is, however, only one small piece of the extensive verdict that Tombs, who teaches and researches modern European History at St John’s College, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, reaches in the conclusion of a study that has been six years in the making.

Elsewhere, he perhaps surprisingly argues that the widespread view that England is in a state of post-Imperial political and economic decline is a myth. ̽��ֱ��book also suggests that political isolationism from larger structures – whether the Empire or Europe – has rarely been a part of English history or nature, and identifies a fascinating history of political polarisation on sectarian lines that has, in the modern age, evolved into the split between “Ambridge and Coronation Street”.

̽��ֱ��book, published on Thursday, November 6 by Allen Lane, is the first single-volume history of England to be produced on this scale since the 1930s. Starting in the Anglo-Saxon era and ending in 2014, it aims in part to explore, through the English people’s developing understanding of themselves, what their history means at a time when ties within the United Kingdom appear to be loosening.

“It tries to reflect on how we have understood history, what the past means to us today, and what it might mean to us in the future,” Tombs said. “It is an attempt to say, ‘this is the sort of country we are, and this is what our history has made us’. It’s up to the reader to decide how to use that and whether or not they agree.”

While the multicultural character of English history has been well-documented, Tombs argues that a tolerance of other peoples and, historically, of immigration, has become a component of the country’s national identity.

Central to his argument is the fact that England has, for very little of its history, stood alone. Most of the time it has been the core nation in a multinational state, or at one stage in the Empire. Only between King Alfred and King Cnut, and then during the Tudor period (along with Wales), did England operate as an isolated political entity.

Because of this, the book suggests that English identity tends not to be expressed in terms of ethnic purity or cultural distinctiveness, and it has typically made little political sense for England to “beat the nationalist drum”. Instead, Tombs argues that England has historically propagated its values through interaction with others – spreading Christianity in Medieval times, as a force for European civilisation and free trade more recently, and as an Empire. ̽��ֱ��result, he says, is that Englishness is not founded on ideas of opposition and exclusion, but on inclusion and expansion.

One effect of this is a general “nonchalance” about national identity. “We don’t normally go in for a lot of flag-waving, we find that fairly un-English,” Tombs said. “That nonchalance has made us pretty resistant to racism. That is not to deny that racism has played a part in English history, but it has not been a defining character of our history. And thanks to our memory of resistance to Hitler in the Second World War there is no nostalgia for Fascism in England as we are now seeing in several other countries.”

While some agonise over the lack of a clear patriotic identity or devotion to the national flag, Tombs argues that “there is something to be said for national nonchalance”.

“In recent decades, the English have largely accommodated the shifts brought by changing moralities and multi-ethnicity, incorporating them into new varieties of Englishness,” he writes. “Who could be more English today than Rita Ora and Dizzee Rascal, Jessica Ennis and Rio Ferdinand?”

Another eye-catching argument within Tombs’ extensive survey is that “declinism” – the suggestion that England and Britain as a whole have lost economic and political standing on the world stage since the end of Empire – is a myth.

Key to this is one of the book’s central propositions – that the history of England shows the nation to have been relatively rich, secure and orderly for most of its history. Notwithstanding periods of upheaval, such as the Wars of the Roses, Peasants’ Revolt or even the Civil War (a small-scale affair compared with the prolonged and bloody experiences going on in France and Germany at the same time, Tombs says), Britain has been relatively immune to transformative catastrophes such as invasion, war and revolution.

̽��ֱ��result is the survival of ancient buildings, cultural treasures, and national institutions such as the Crown, Parliament, shires, boroughs, the Church, universities, schools, charitable foundations, voluntary associations and more. This is reinforced by long-term cultural consistencies, in particular the use of English itself as a mainstream spoken and written language dating back to Anglo-Saxon times. “ ̽��ֱ��nation changes, but it has certain structures that continue,” Tombs argues. “England has an ancient structural unity in a way that in Italy, Germany or France do not.”

Taking the same long view reveals that Britain’s power, wealth and global status has been remarkably stable, even though all are typically seen to have failed following the end of the Empire, and decolonisation. When Britain emerged as a significant force in the early 18th century, it was the smallest, and yet the most global, of the world’s half dozen most powerful states. Three centuries later it remains so, outdistanced – like all other states - only by the USA.

Other measures also raise questions about the “declinist” view that British international power has fallen, and its political and social organisation have failed. Britain in the mid-20th century was, for instance, stronger militarily than in the mid-19th, the study observes. In the 1960s it was richer than ever; by 2008 England was second only to the USA among large countries in gross per capita income.

̽��ֱ��book is also critical of the highly centralised nature of Britain’s administration which, it points out, is a relatively recently development – “a seventy year habit that we cannot, or will not, break,” Tombs says. He argues that it leaves British governments having to handle “a neverending conveyor belt of everyday problems”, relating to transport, education, and health, for example, which other countries deliver through local government.

In a complex way this clashes with a long-standing division in the nation’s politics that, unusually, was brought about by the legal recognition given to two religious cultures in England following the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. Unlike other countries, where a single religious denomination tends to have been dominant, England has since the 17th century held Anglicanism on the one hand, and Nonconformism on the other, in tension.

̽��ֱ��study suggests that this unusual situation, of rival religious parties, then evolved new layers. Whig, Liberal and Labour politics were built on foundations of religious Dissent, then took on social and geographical characteristics as the country became divided between the working-class north and wealthier south.

One result of this religious point of origin, Tombs says, is that English politics has a distinctly moral and ideological tone. As a result, the commonplace details handled by a heavily-centralised Government have become the subjects of heated ideological debate – health and education are now disputed in the same terms as slavery or suffrage were in centuries past, when in most other countries they arouse far less emotion.

̽��ֱ��over-arching message of the book is, however, a positive one, suggesting that structural and cultural unity are at the heart of what it means to be English. “We should be fairly optimistic about the future of England, as part of the UK and as a country that will want to reassess itself and will probably gain more autonomy in the coming years,” Tombs added. “ ̽��ֱ��history of England shows that we have, in the long term, been very stable. We are not a nation in decline – and we never really have been.”

̽��ֱ��English and Their History, by Professor Robert Tombs, is published by Allen Lane and is priced at £35.

Inset image: Coronation Street by Allan Lee; Robert Tombs

An epic new history of England offers some eye-catching conclusions on Englishness – suggesting, among other things, that a “remarkable” level of cultural unity and a relative openness to other cultures are both key components of English national identity.

̽��ֱ��history of England shows that we have, in the long term, been very stable. We are not a nation in decline – and we never really have been.

Robert Tombs

Delaware Art Museum / Bridgeman Images.

Detail from the cover image of “ ̽��ֱ��English and Their History”.

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Cambridge academics head for Hay

bjb42 — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:00:16 +0000

A series of talks and debates by Cambridge academics on pressing contemporary issues kicks off this week at the Hay Festival.

This year is the 25^th anniversary of the Festival and the fourth year running that the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has run a series of talks there as part of its commitment to public engagement.

This year's line-up includes Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, who will be participating in three of the 10 sessions on in the Classics series on Herodotus, the “Father of History”, on Plato and on the aspirations and concepts of civilisation, democracy, drama, virtue, victory, liberty and xenia and what the study of Classics has meant in the wider world.

For the first time, Cambridge academics will take part in a series of debates about contemporary political and social issues, including Europe, democracy and urban violence. Among those taking part in the Europe debate is Professor Robert Tombs who has written a blog on the implications for France and Europe of the election of Francois Hollande as president of France.

Another debate covers the broader cultural implications of current events, with Professor Adrian Poole, Professor Alison Sinclair and Jennifer Wallace discussing the modern meaning of tragedy and literary representation of current events. Other speakers include Professor Susan Golombok on alternative family structures, Professor Martin Jones on the archaeology of food, Carolin Crawford on the birth and death of stars, Dame Patricia Hodgson on media regulation in the shadow of the Leveson Inquiry, Professor David Spiegelhalter on our risk society and Professor Stefan Collini on what universities are for.

Professor Lawrence Sherman will talk about how science is transforming policing in a session entitled “ ̽��ֱ��new police knowledge”. ̽��ֱ��session will be introduced by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Denis O’Connor.

Brendan Burchell, senior lecturer in the Sociology Department, will be in conversation with Julia Hobsbawm, honorary visiting professor in networking at Cass Business School, about the future of work.

Other Cambridge academics speaking at Hay are Professor John Thompson, Professor Robert Macfarlane, Professor Martin Rees, Professor John Barrow, Dr Julian Allwood and Professor David MacKay.

Nicola Buckley, head of public engagement at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said: “ ̽��ֱ��Cambridge series is a wonderful way to get the fascinating research being done at the ̽��ֱ�� out to the public. ̽��ֱ��Hay Festival draws an international cross-section of people, from policy makers to prospective university students. It is a fantastic platform for our research and this year’s debates aim to highlight the broad range of what we do at the ̽��ֱ�� and its relevance to the key issues we face today.”

Peter Florence, director of the Hay Festival, said: “What’s thrilling about this year’s series is how exacting it is about society. ̽��ֱ��Cambridge experts cut through the political and media spin on big issues and look at them with real attention and intellectual rigour - from policing to European integration and 21st century family structure and risk. It’s a timely reminder about the value of authority; an aspiration that ‘policy’ might be formed by the best ideas and analysis rather than doctrinaire inclination or what’s easiest to sell. What else would you want from the world’s greatest ̽��ֱ�� but the best thinking on subjects that matter?”

Cambridge is fielding a series of talks and debates by leading academics on a range of global challenges at this year's Hay literary Festival.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge experts cut through the political and media spin on big issues and look at them with real attention and intellectual rigour.

Peter Florence

Hay Festival.

̽��ֱ��main site at the Hay Festival.

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Can Hollande live up to expectations?

gm349 — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:31:30 +0000

No one could have been very surprised, not even M. Sarkozy, when François Hollande was elected as the second socialist president of the Fifth Republic, the first since François Mitterrand in 1981. Only a few months ago, he would have seemed a very unlikely president. What transformed his prospects was not the economic and political problems of France, and even less his own actions, but on one hand the notorious episode in a New York hotel that ended the career of French socialism’s preferred future president, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and on the other the personal unpopularity of Nicholas Sarkozy. M. Hollande comes to the presidency with a limited track record. In the short term, this may be an advantage: he has pretty clean hands, and an appearance of decency and dignity. In the long term, perhaps not: he has aroused a sudden swell of hope, but he is a novice, until now a figure of the second rank, with a reputation for indecision.

Inevitably, he has become a source of uncertainty, in France and Europe. Before his election, he was letting it be said on his behalf that he was a moderate, but moderation is not what his supporters expect. They want some sort of miracle: the end of austerity, economic growth, a return to normal. Hollande’s headline pledge to create 60,000 new teaching jobs epitomises the problem. We may all think that teaching jobs are a good thing in the abstract. But they are not going to redress France’s economy. What they really symbolise – apart from a desire to cheer up schoolteachers and job-hunting students, key Socialist supporters – is the hope that spending more money on creating public sector jobs is the best way to solve unemployment and boost growth.

This, of course, seems to be the very opposite of the nasty medicine so far prescribed for Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany and France itself. A statist, neo-Keynesian, tricolour flag is being raised – admittedly, a small one – against the prevailing European orthodoxy. Most people in France probably want that flag waved very vigorously, in the faces of the European Central Bank and Angela Merkel. They like the idea of France as leader of the awkward squad, putting itself forward as international leader of the forces of progress.

This is an old republican/patriotic vision, last seen when France stood up to America and Britain at the time of the Iraq invasion. This time the enemy is the unholy alliance of globalised ‘Anglo-Saxon’ capitalism, bankers, and conservative (German) politicians. Yet the small print of Hollande’s announced policy is little different from that of Sarkozy – he intends to eliminate France’s deficit a year later than his predecessor. M. Hollande’s supporters, and not only in France, expect much more: in effect, to lead an international revolt against austerity, plutocracy, and globalisation. But every educated French socialist is aware of the warnings of history: Léon Blum tried something like this in 1936; Mitterrand again in 1981. In both cases they were forced into U-turns.

Britain’s principal relationship with France concerns defence, security – and shared aircraft carriers. Both countries are alone among European states in their ambition to play a great role in the world, as was recently seen in the Libyan intervention. Both know that in the present political and financial circumstances, they need each other to give this ambition credibility. They might ideally prefer other partners, but no one else is willing, and consequently, their budding ‘special relationship’ will continue.

Europe is a more complex matter. If Hollande seemed to have pushed Europe away from austerity, it would obviously increase pressure on the British government to follow suit. On the other hand, if the French could induce the Germans to agree to more expansionary policies, it would suit Britain’s interest by increasing demand in Europe for its exports. But even the hint of disagreement between the Eurozone’s ‘big two’, and uncertainty about their policy, seems to be aggravating a crisis of confidence and bringing forward the general Euro crisis that has started in Greece. Many commentators predict that there will be a quick Franco-German compromise, and this does indeed seem indispensable. But will compromise be enough now to prevent a panic when decisive action is required? And on whose terms will it be?

If M. Hollande appears too easily satisfied, his new-found popularity may prove short lived. ̽��ֱ��crisis has strengthened extremes of both Right and Left, creating problems for a centrist like Hollande. ̽��ֱ��Right-wing Front National has increased its vote, including among young voters and even established ethnic minorities. ̽��ֱ��forthcoming parliamentary elections are therefore unusually important and unpredictable. ̽��ֱ��most sensational contest will be a head to head clash in a Pas-de-Calais constituency between Marine Le Pen, head of the populist eurosceptic Front National, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Communist leader of the scarcely-less-populist Parti de Gauche – a bold but dangerous showdown sought by the latter.

However, all this is being overshadowed by the sudden Eurozone crisis, which leaves M. Hollande suddenly facing one of the most daunting prospects of any new French president since the 1950s.

*Robert Tombs is Professor of History at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. His research is in 19th Century French political history, and especially popular political culture. Recently he has been concerned with the history of the cultural, economic and political relationship between France and Britain from the end of the 17th Century to the present day. He will be speaking in a debate on Britain’s relationship with Europe with Professors Christopher Hill and Brendan Simms on 9 June at 5.30pm as part of the Cambridge series at the Hay Festival.

As Francois Hollande takes up his seat as President of France, will he be able to live up to the huge expectations of those who voted for him or will his reputation for indecision be his undoing, asks Robert Tombs.

Many commentators predict that there will be a quick Franco-German compromise. But will compromise be enough now to prevent a panic when decisive action is required? And on whose terms will it be?

Robert Tombs, Professor of History at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

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