Night of Ideas @ LSE
What does it mean to be a citizen today? How do European citizens see Europe, and how do they relate to this supra-national entity? How can democracy be understood in the 21th century, and what does it say about the state of political life and the discourse held by its representatives?
On Thursday, January 26th, an impressive group of renowned journalists, academics, politicians, but also architects and political activists came together to try to answer these burning questions in the context of the Night of Ideas. The event was co-organised by the Institut français du Royaume-Uni and the LSE, and took place in the New Academic Building of the LSE. It was part of a worldwide project coordinated by the Institut français in Paris: Nights of Ideas were held in 40 countries around the world, and more than 50 cities!
The audience’s enthusiasm for debates around changing ideas of democracy, citizenship, and truth could be felt even before the event, as more than a thousand tickets were sold out in a matter of hours. On the day of the event, expectations were not disappointed. Three parallel series of panels (Democracy now, Citizens of Nowhere and Changing Narratives) provided a space for experts to discuss fundamental concepts of post truth, transnationalism, or constitutional law, with their audiences.
'European Ideas and Ideals' panel, from left to right: Lucie Campos (Head of the Book Office), Christophe Charle (Université Paris 1), Laurent Jeanpierre (Université Paris 8), Ludovic Frobert (Maison française d’Oxford).
'Constitutions Under Stress' panel, from left to right: Jo Murkens (LSE), Scot Peterson (Oxford), Julie Smith, Baroness of Newnham (Cambridge/House of Lords), Richard Toye (Exeter), Nicolas Rousselier (Sciences Po).
'European Narratives and Emotions' panel, from left to right: Sonia Stolper (Libération), Michael Bruter (LSE), Cécile Alduy (Stanford), Jonathan White (LSE).
The audience, both young and less young, was very responsive to our guests’ analyses, which brought new light on current pressing matters, especially since different fields of expertise as well as different conceptions of citizenship and political activism were represented: the ‘Generations, Voice and Action’ panel notably brought together Dr. Jiřina Šiklová (born in 1935), sociologist and political activist of the Charter 77 movement, and members of the 1989 Generation, a group of young Europeans committed to the regeneration of the European Project.
If you want to catch up with the debates of the Night of Ideas, you can follow the Book Office’s or the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni’s Twitter accounts, as many panels were live-tweeted. You can see all the tweets about the different Night of Ideas held worldwide last week by clicking on the hashtag #nightofideas.
Audio recordings of the panels are also available here on the LSE website.