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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261020T210000
DTSTAMP:20261015T004411
CREATED:20260507T132630Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T110516Z
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SUMMARY:Did we only dream democracy?
DESCRIPTION:BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day\, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics\, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions. \nSo where are we? Since its conception some 2\,500 years ago\, democracy has existed under persistent pressure. Indeed\, one might ask whether any society has ever truly practiced “real” democracy?  While there have been moments when groups of people have come close\, the gap between democratic ideals and lived political reality has usually been vast. In many cases\, the illusion of a functioning democracy has reassured majorities even as power and wealth has became increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small minority. This concentration has not only weakened democratic practice but begun to erode confidence in democracy as an idea. \nSo\, if democracy has never been fully viable in practice\, how should humankind make collective decisions\, especially now\, as we confront the consequences of a profound and catastrophic separation from the natural world? \nPeter MacFadyen\, Author of Flatpack Democracy \nA discount of 20% is on offer to all those purchasing five tickets or more from the series\, excluding the conference on the 4th of July. \nTo learn more about Democracy Under Threat and the exciting range of speakers coming up as part of the programme\, don’t forget to follow our Democracy Under Threat Webpage: https://www.brlsi.org/democracyunderthreat/
URL:https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/did-we-only-dream-democracy/
LOCATION:Queen Square or Online\, 16 Queen Square\, Bath\, BA1 2HN
CATEGORIES:Democracy under Threat,Modern World,World Affairs
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261024T160000
DTSTAMP:20261015T004411
CREATED:20260507T125120Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T111658Z
UID:10002250-1792852200-1792857600@www.brlsi.org
SUMMARY:Mad about Trump - MAGA on the couch
DESCRIPTION:BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day\, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics\, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions. \nIn recent years\, political life has become increasingly charged with psychic stress\, especially anger\, grievance\, nostalgia\, and a powerful sense that something vital has been lost. The rise of Donald Trump and the enduring appeal of the “Make America Great Again” movement raise important questions not only about politics\, but about the psychic life of politicians and political activists. \nFocusing on the appeal of Trump and the MAGA movement\, Bath-based psychoanalyst Daniel Jeffreys considers how unresolved loss – of status\, identity\, or imagined pasts – may shape both individual and collective experience. \nDrawing on two personal interviews with Trump\, and on his book America’s Back Porch\, which mapped the communities that formed the MAGA movement\, Jeffreys explores the Western political landscape with help from Sigmund Freud’s ideas of mourning and melancholia alongside Jacques Lacan’s concept of lack. Through this lens\, he examines how difficulties in accepting loss and tolerating uncertainty may contribute to the hardening of belief\, the rejection of unwelcome realities\, and the pressures currently fracturing democratic life. \nThe talk will create a space for thinking about how unconscious processes – especially desire\, and the need for certainty – may shape public life in an age where both the mind and democracy itself feel increasingly unsettled. \nA discount of 20% is on offer to all those purchasing five tickets or more from the series\, excluding the conference on the 4th of July. \nTo learn more about Democracy Under Threat and the exciting range of speakers coming up as part of the programme\, don’t forget to follow our Democracy Under Threat Webpage: https://www.brlsi.org/democracyunderthreat/ \n 
URL:https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/mad-about-trump-maga-on-the-couch/
LOCATION:Queen Square or Online\, 16 Queen Square\, Bath\, BA1 2HN
CATEGORIES:Democracy under Threat,Modern World,Psychology,The Unsettled Mind,World Affairs
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261103T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261103T210000
DTSTAMP:20261015T004411
CREATED:20260506T135502Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261007T101833Z
UID:10002234-1793734200-1793739600@www.brlsi.org
SUMMARY:From John Locke to America’s founding & destiny
DESCRIPTION:BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day\, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics\, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions. \nAnd speaking of political thinking and democratic systems! Were you aware that the roots of American independence has its roots in English philosophy? When America announced its independence from Britain it did so extensively with words chosen from a book by the English philosopher John Locke.  \nWho was John Locke? Why did America choose to do so? When the U.S.A came to reshape itself decisively for the independence it had won\, it had to do so on fresh lines designed to ward off tyranny by separating the power to govern. For most of the two and a third centuries which have followed that worked surprisingly well\, but it is now failing terminally? Professor John Dunn explores what has happened to change American democracy so fundamentally.  \nProfessor John Dunn\, University of Cambridge \nA discount of 20% is on offer to all those purchasing five tickets or more from the series\, excluding the conference on the 4th of July. \nTo learn more about Democracy Under Threat and the exciting range of speakers coming up as part of the programme\, don’t forget to follow our Democracy Under Threat Webpage:  www.brlsi.org/democracyunderthreat/
URL:https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/from-john-locke-to-americas-founding-destiny/
LOCATION:Queen Square or Online\, 16 Queen Square\, Bath\, BA1 2HN
CATEGORIES:Democracy under Threat,World Affairs
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261117T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261117T210000
DTSTAMP:20261015T004411
CREATED:20260506T143539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260923T081516Z
UID:10002238-1794943800-1794949200@www.brlsi.org
SUMMARY:A.C Grayling: fighting authoritarianism\, saving democracy
DESCRIPTION:BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day\, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics\, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions. \nSo are things really that bad? Around the world\, says A.C Grayling\, the foundations of democracy\, freedom\, civil liberties are being eroded – what can be done? Are we living through the end of the democratic moment? While democracy once seemed the bedrock of Western societies\, the past few decades have revealed a fragile reality. Once liberal countries are turning to authoritarianism\, wealthy individuals and corporations are interfering with elections ever more flagrantly\, and faith in democracy has plummeted among every demographic. From gerrymandering and partisanship to corporate interference and tainted donations\, A. C. Grayling reveals the forces undermining our democratic ideals and offers bold solutions. An urgent wake-up call to the risks this poses to us all\, For The People reminds us why democracy remains worth fighting for. \nProfessor A C Grayling\, CBE\, MA\, DPhil (Oxford)\, FRSL\, FRSA\, Master of the New College of the Humanities and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College\, Oxford \nA discount of 20% is on offer to all those purchasing five tickets or more from the series\, excluding the conference on the 4th of July. \nTo learn more about Democracy Under Threat and the exciting range of speakers coming up as part of the programme\, don’t forget to follow our Democracy Under Threat Webpage: https://www.brlsi.org/democracyunderthreat/ \n 
URL:https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/for-the-people/
LOCATION:Queen Square or Online\, 16 Queen Square\, Bath\, BA1 2HN
CATEGORIES:Democracy under Threat,World Affairs
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261201T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261201T210000
DTSTAMP:20261015T004411
CREATED:20260506T082135Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260923T081936Z
UID:10002241-1796153400-1796158800@www.brlsi.org
SUMMARY:The life\, death & afterlives of Athenian democracy
DESCRIPTION:BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day\, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics\, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions. \nWhatever your thoughts about the pressures on our current democracies\, BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock  as we collectively take the long view across history and the breadth of political thinking which underpins our long held democratic systems and institutions. \nSo where did it all begin? Originating in a popular uprising against foreign invaders\, ancient Athenians developed the first democracy in Ancient Greece: making the majority of citizens the deciders of key political questions and enabling them to hold their leaders to account – even while vulnerable to rhetorical manipulation. Having regrouped in the aftermath of military defeat\, the democracy lived on in altered forms under later foreign pressure for longer than is often recognised. And in centuries to come\, Athenian democracy would serve as a warning of mob rule for some\, an inspiration of popular power for others.  \nThis talk will explore the life\, death and many afterlives of Athenian democracy\, asking what we might learn in facing up to the threats to democratic rule today. \nProfessor Melissa Lane\, Princeton University \nPlease note that Professor Lane will not be at BRLSI in person – she will be giving the talk live from America and the talk will be shown on the large screen in the Elwin Room. \nA discount of 20% is on offer to all those purchasing five tickets or more from the series\, excluding the conference on the 4th of July. \nTo learn more about Democracy Under Threat and the exciting range of speakers coming up as part of the programme\, don’t forget to follow our Democracy Under Threat Webpage: \n 
URL:https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/the-life-death-afterlives-of-athenian-democracy/
LOCATION:Queen Square or Online\, 16 Queen Square\, Bath\, BA1 2HN
CATEGORIES:Democracy under Threat
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261202T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261202T210000
DTSTAMP:20261015T004411
CREATED:20260506T090504Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260824T110556Z
UID:10002242-1796239800-1796245200@www.brlsi.org
SUMMARY:Political cartoons: a heritage under threat?
DESCRIPTION:BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day\, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics\, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions. \nSo\, how can we hold our politicians to account? For years\, political cartoons have appeared regularly in newspapers to comment on events in the news. They catch the attention and often convey issues far more quickly than words can. Some are perceptive\, some are satirical\, some are humorous – and some have proved to be deeply controversial. They represent an important part in our democracy\, and have embedded themselves in our heritage – they are uniquely British. \nBut newspapers are in decline\, and with them so are political cartoons. Would our democracy – and heritage – be the poorer without them? \nTim Benson is Britain’s leading authority on political cartoons.  Every day\, he scours the press looking for great examples so that he can compile an annual of “Britain’s Best Political Cartoons” of the year.   Who better to tell us about his personal favourites\, the stories behind them and the ones that arguably pushed at boundaries too far. \nA discount of 20% is on offer to all those purchasing five tickets or more from the series\, excluding the conference on the 4th of July. \nTo learn more about Democracy Under Threat and the exciting range of speakers coming up as part of the programme\, don’t forget to follow our Democracy Under Threat Webpage: https://www.brlsi.org/democracyunderthreat/ \n 
URL:https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/political-cartoons-a-heritage-under-threat/
LOCATION:Queen Square or Online\, 16 Queen Square\, Bath\, BA1 2HN
CATEGORIES:Democracy under Threat,Modern World,World Affairs
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261215T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261215T210000
DTSTAMP:20261015T004411
CREATED:20260506T095942Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260923T083545Z
UID:10002237-1797363000-1797368400@www.brlsi.org
SUMMARY:AI technologies inside the state
DESCRIPTION:BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day\, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics\, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions. \nSo what about AI technologies inside the state: the challenges for authority and political rule? Who gets to decide\, what\, for whom\, how\, and how are they held to account?  An upcoming talk by Professor Emma Carmel of University of Bath\, examines how the relationship between technology and statehood has shaped political rule and authority historically\, and what this means for democratic states in an age of AI. Setting the use of AI technologies in a broader historical and political economy context\, this talk addresses how the specific characteristics of AI technologies and their use in governing present more than just a new phase in the wider “digitalisation” of governance of the last half-century\, in four key ways. Taken together\, these have transformative implications for our understandings of democratic statehood in the twenty-first century. \nEmma Carmel is Professor of Governance and Public Policy. She is a history-trained political sociologist who investigates the relationship between statehood and society. Through a series of international collaborations\, her scholarship has theorised new ways of understanding how policy and politics exert effects on society: in social and labour market policies; migration; and through the use and regulation of digital technologies. She is currently researching the political economy of AI technologies and the future of the liberal state. \nA discount of 20% is on offer to all those purchasing five tickets or more from the series\, excluding the conference on the 4th of July. \nTo learn more about Democracy Under Threat and the exciting range of speakers coming up as part of the programme\, don’t forget to follow our Democracy Under Threat Webpage: https://www.brlsi.org/democracyunderthreat/
URL:https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/ai-technologies-inside-the-state/
LOCATION:Queen Square or Online\, 16 Queen Square\, Bath\, BA1 2HN
CATEGORIES:Democracy under Threat,World Affairs
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