Saturday 6 April 2019
Babbage Lecture Theatre
"This house believes identity politics is an impediment to progress."
Buy Tickets
Tickets are not on sale for this event yet.
From the EU referendum to Trump’s election, trans rights to #MeToo, the rise of the far right in Europe to Black Lives Matter in America, identity politics is re-shaping the modern world. But is defining yourself by your identity – whether gender, sexuality, race, nationality or class – a way of making society a more progressive, inclusive place? Or is it a downward slope that leads to self-interest, polarised debate and political stasis?
Speaking for the motion
Philip Collins is a columnist at The Times and former chief speech writer for Tony Blair. His books include Start Again: How We Can Fix Our Broken Politics.
Dr Munira Mirza was a Deputy Mayor for London and is now Executive Director, Culture, at King’s College London. She is author of The Politics of Culture: The Case for Universalism.
Dr Adrian Pabst is Head of the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. His most recent book is The Demons of Liberal Democracy.
Speaking against the motion
Naz Shah is MP (Labour) for Bradford West and Shadow Minister of State for Women and Equalities
Dr Anamik Saha is Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is author of Race and the Cultural Industries.
Chairing the debate: Helen Lewis, Associate Editor of the New Statesman
Event type:
Running time:
16:00 - 17:30
If you have chosen to collect your tickets from the Box Office, they can be collected until Wednesday 3rd April from the Cambridge Live Tickets Box Office (2 Wheeler Street, CB2 3QB – two doors down from the Cambridge Corn Exchange), or from the Festival Box Office on the 5th, 6th and 7th of April. The Festival Box Office will be located at The Old Divinity School, St John’s College and will be open from 9am each day. During the festival, tickets cannot be collected on the door of the event, they must be collected from the Festival Box Office.
Please be aware that collections and on the day purchases for tickets can cause the Box Office to be very busy, so make sure to allow yourself plenty of time to collect before your event begins. To save time on the day, please consider having your tickets posted to you or collecting your tickets in advance where possible. Advance booking is encouraged, as events may sell out in advance.