Utopia and freedom
2024-03-20 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | Bateman Lecture Theatre, University of Exeter, Building One, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4PU, United Kingdom
Bateman Lecture Theatre, University of Exeter Building One, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4PU
THIS EVENT IS FREE TO ATTEND BUT PLEASE REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE.
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students (and academics) keen to explore and debate ideas. A short talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion.
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TOPIC
Utopia and Freedom
Since the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia at the dawn of modernity, utopian thinking has helped us imagine how society might be radically, wholly different. Transformative historical events such as the English Civil War and the Industrial Revolution often inspired imagined worlds to come.
The issue of freedom in utopias is far from straight-forward. More’s Utopia imagined religious toleration but also slavery as punishment for law breakers. Later utopians anticipated transformations in work, leisure or mobility but also rule by master elites and elimination of weak and feeble folk. By the twentieth century, utopia found itself tarnished by association with totalitarian ideologies. In the time since, dystopias have come to the fore, anticipating environmental emergencies, AI apocalypses or a tyrannical patriarchy.
Oscar Wilde argued that ‘a map of the world that does not include utopia is not worth even glancing at’. ‘Progress’, he declared, ‘is the realisation of utopias’. Today, some disparage the technocratic and technological utopianism of the likes of ‘progressives’ or ‘transhumanists’. Others argue that utopian dreaming is required as a stimulus to any worthwhile practical reforms. In our times of political malaise and disenchantment with the future, could a revival of utopian imagination help us out the doldrums? To what extent are utopias – or dystopias – a useful means to think about and shape the future?
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SPEAKER
Alastair Donald; convenor of Living Freedom; co-editor, The Lure of the City: from slums to suburbs
Alastair organises the Ideas Matter initiative Living Freedom and is associate director of the Academy of Ideas where he co-convenes the Battle of Ideas Festival. He is author of The Scottish Question, and co-editor of The Lure of the City: from slums to suburbs (2011) and The Future of Community: reports of a death greatly exaggerated (2008). He co-founded mantownhuman which published Manifesto: towards a new humanism in architecture (2008), as featured in Penguin Classics 100 Artists’ Manifestos.
CHAIR
Felice Basbøll project assistant, Ideas Matter
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BACKGROUND READING
Utopias: news from nowhere can help us here and now, The Guardian, 30 November 2023
Coronavirus lockdown: Dystopian and horror virus book sales spike, from The Handmaid’s Tale to Brave New World, Rhiannon Williams, iNews, 31 March 2020
Free love or genocide? The trouble with Utopias, Tobias Jones, The Guardian, 24 January 2016
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ORGANISED BY
Living Freedom, Exeter Speak Easy and Committee for Academic Freedom.

SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

Religious freedom: toleration or discrimination?
2024-03-25 18:00 - 19:30 | Violet Laidlaw Room, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh
Violet Laidlaw Room, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students (and academics) keen to explore and debate ideas. A short talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion.
THIS EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE BUT PLEASE REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE.
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TOPIC
Religious Freedom: Toleration or Discrimination?
Questions related to expression of religious beliefs are throwing up many tricky questions related to freedom and equality. In the UK, Christian street preachers have been arrested, a Muslim pupil is taking a school to court over a prayer ban and there are worries that protection zones around abortion clinics turn silent prayer into a thought crime. In Finland, a prominent MP who publicly quoted biblical scripture is being prosecuted for hate speech and there are concerns that Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order Act will also threaten freedom of conscience and religious expression.
However, many worry that it is religious practice that impinges on our freedoms and rights. Religious conservatives in America have made it easier for hospitals and medics to object to providing birth control and abortions on the grounds of conscience. A Supreme Court ruling in Alabama that embryos used for IVF are legally children may create restrictions on fertility treatment. After outrage over Qur’an burnings in European countries such as Denmark, bans on desecration of religious texts create worries about the return of blasphemy laws.
In pluralistic societies, how do we reconcile the right of faith communities to exercise their beliefs with our established wider freedoms? Are street preaching or prayers in school rights we should all enjoy? Should holy books be protected by law? Is firing a midwife who refuses to perform abortions an act of justice or discrimination? Or both? Where practical conflicts arise, for example, with anti-discrimination equality laws or medical service provision, how should we respond?
Ultimately, have we gone too far in protecting the faithful or too far in neglecting them?
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SPEAKER
Dolan Cummings novelist and essayist; author, Taking Conscience Seriously and The Pictish Princess: ..and other stories from before there was a Scotland; substack, L’esprit de l’escalier
CHAIR
Alastair Donald convenor, Living Freedom
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BACKGROUND READING

End The Use Of Religion To Discriminate, ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
Scotland’s new ‘hate speech’ rules are a modern blasphemy law, Melanie McDonagh, The Spectator, 2 May 2020
Why Sweden tolerates Quran burning, Lars Tragardh, UnHerd, 1 September 2023
This ban on Muslims praying in school is a dystopian, sinister vision of Britishness, Nadeine Asbali, The Guardian, 19 January 2024
Is free speech under threat? Heather Tomlinson, Premier Christianity, 31 January 2024
Politicians have the right to strong religious views. But not to be shielded from scrutiny, Kenan Malik, The Observer, 26 February 2023

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ORGANISED BY
Living Freedom and Edinburgh Academics for Academic Freedom

SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

Image: adapted from Michael Coglan, Creative Commons

The dilemmas of civility
2024-04-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Ideas Matter Club, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, England, SW1P 3JS, United Kingdom
THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
We live in times where many believe that Western liberal democracies are undergoing a ‘crisis of civility’. From culture wars strife to social-media animosity, student enmity to boorish politicians, many take the view that civic norms are eroding, to be replaced by a rancorous culture that undermines the possibility of a productive public life.
Yet beyond obvious concerns over standards of behaviour and lack of basic regard to fellow participants in public life, few people stop to ask what we mean by ‘civility’. In fact, ‘civility’ is an idea with a long history and has formed a necessary buttress for a free, democratic age and promotes greater social and political freedom. Today, however, calls for greater civility in the face of offence culture, blasphemers and ill-mannered conduct are used to justify new behavioural norms and speech codes that curtail precious freedoms and free speech. In responding to the demand for civility, are we in danger of undermining rather than supporting toleration and other long-standing freedoms?
In this special Living Freedom forum hosted in partnership with Young Voices, the writer Alexandra Hudson, author of the recently published The Soul of Civility, will outline why the historic notion of civility is central to freedom, democracy and human flourishing. She will assess how, in an age of polarisation and intolerance, understanding and pursuing this age-old idea can help us navigate an age of profound cultural and political differences.
SPEAKER
Alexandra Hudson; author, The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves; founder, Civic Renaissance
RESPONDENTS
Noah Khogali; Scottish Conservative Councillor; communications professional and political commentator; former political aide, Scottish Parliament.
Samuel Rubinstein; postgraduate student in history; writer on historical themes for The Critic, UnHerd, The Spectator, Engelsberg Ideas and The New Statesman.
CHAIR
Alastair Donald; convenor, Living Freedom
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Living Freedom Summer School 2024
2024-07-11 18:00 - 2024-07-13 18:00 | London, United Kingdom
Our three-day residential school takes place in London on 11 to 13 July and is open to anyone aged 18 to 30, regardless of whether you are based in the UK or beyond.
Anyone interested in getting to grips with issues of freedom and free speech is welcome to apply and we aim to bring together attendees with a wide range of interests and diverse views.
Attendees will hear talks from experts on the history and philosophy of freedom, including revisiting ideals and classic texts. You will have the chance to explore complex moral and ethical issues, debate contemporary hot topics and discuss the limits to freedom. There will be plenty of time to meet, network and socialise with speakers and your peers, as well as attending the annual Living Freedom dinner.
Visit our Living Freedom Summer School 2024 page to find out more.

US Elections 2024: prospects for the free world?
2024-08-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Ideas Matter Club, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, England, SW1P 3JS, United Kingdom
Hot on the heels of the shooting of Donald Trump, we’ve had the rise of JD Vance, the demise of Joe Biden and even signs of Kamala-mania. From the culture wars to geo-politics, what is at stake in this election? And what do recent developments mean for the future of freedom and democracy?
SPEAKERS
Felice Basbøll project assistant, Living Freedom
Will Kingston podcast host, Fire at Will, The Spectator Australia
Jacob Reynolds head of policy, MCC Brussels
CHAIR
Emma Gilland, volunteer coordinator, Living Freedom
This event is free of charge, but please register using the form below.
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Living Freedom at Battle of Ideas festival
2024-10-19 10:00 - 2024-10-20 18:00 | Church House, 27 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3AZ, United Kingdom
Living Freedom is taking part in the Battle of Ideas festival, which takes place at Church House, Westminster on Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 October. With 100 debates, hundreds of speakers and thousands of attendees, it is a brilliant opportunity to take part in discussions on an enormous range of issues.
Living Freedom is helping to organise some of the discussions and Living Freedom supporters are taking part in others. These include:

Gen Z: how to be a dissenter
(De)socialised on YouTube?
Equality law: freedom’s friend or foe?
Is anti-extremism a threat to liberty?
Don’t look back in nostalgia – or is modern music rubbish?
Meet-Up: Young Free Thinkers mixer

Tickets
Anyone in full-time education – or anyone under 30 studying/working in a science, technology, engineering or medical (STEM) field – can take advantage of the Student Champion ticket, which is £30 for the whole weekend. Everyone else can get 20% off standard and concession tickets by clicking on the link below.
Buy discount tickets

Living Freedom Xmas Bash Balloon Debate 2024
2024-12-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Ideas Matter Club, London, England, SW1P, United Kingdom
On behalf of Living Freedom we would like to invite you to join us for a drink, some good company and a fun Xmas balloon debate.
This invitation only gathering will take place at The Sanctuary in the heart of Westminster. Register using the form below.
What: Living Freedom Xmas Balloon Debate
When: Thursday 5 December 2024, 7:00pm-9pm
Where: 5-8 The Sanctuary, London SW1P 3JS
Entrance: Free
What is the greatest representation of freedom in culture?
A panel of valiant freedom lovers will seek to convince you of their choice, whether a work of art or literature, a film, opera, play or song.
Each contestant will have just three minutes to present their case, followed by a round of questions from the audience. Then there is a vote, and the top three will be given an additional one minute to convince you to back their choice.
Which cultural representation of freedom – and its defender – deserves to stay in the balloon? You decide!
PANELISTS:
* Pierre d’Alancaisez art critic, curator, and founder of Verdurin – defending Kneecap
* Tom Collyer executive, Pagefield; writer; alumnus, Debating Matters – defending Milan Kundera’s Unbearable Lightness of Being
* Ella Dorn journalist, New Statesman; creator, Fairyland! Substack; project assistant, Academy of Ideas – defending MGM studio backlot
* Thomas Harris director of data and impact, Free Speech Union – defending South Park
* Max Mitchell assistant news editor, UnHerd – defending Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis
* Lauren Smith staff writer, spiked – defending A Man For All Seasons
* Gawain Towler commentator and writer; former director of communications, Reform UK – defending the pub
Host: Alastair Donald convenor, Living Freedom
Register:

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Tyranny: a twenty-first century threat to freedom?
2025-01-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Ideas Matter Club, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, England, SW1P 3JS, United Kingdom
Places are free but please register using the form below.
The concept of tyranny has been around since ancient Greece, but in the twenty-first century, it is near ubiquitous – deployed to describe all manner of ills from populist strongmen to autocratic despots, Islamist regimes to the ‘woke tyranny’ ostensibly coercing Western institutions. According to the headlines, the spectre of tyranny haunts the West in the form of a return for the US president-elect, Donald Trump. The cry of ‘just like Hitler’ is now a regular means to delegitimise populist revolts. Others identify tyranny in a variety of recent menaces to free societies, including Covid lockdowns, Big Tech, Net Zero or the two-tier rule of overbearing technocracies.
In an era where liberal principles are under widespread attack, is the use of ‘tyranny’ and other extreme concepts justified? We have rulers who break their own rules. Corporations are manipulating new technologies. Surveillance states are intruding into the everyday lives of citizens, such as police investigating social-media posts. These seem to be the types of actions unconstrained by laws or customs and deployed to benefit powerful elites – which seems to fit with established ideas on tyranny.
But others say that the label doesn’t fit. For example, populists are democratically elected rather than imposed. When ‘tyranny’ is used promiscuously, they argue, it loses its meaning. Despite legitimate concerns about freedom, the language of tyranny fails to help us understand our modern predicaments. As the true horror of the Assad regime in Syria becomes clear, can’t we distinguish between illiberalism and genuine tyranny?
What should we understand by tyranny, who are the modern-day tyrants and when is the language of tyranny warranted? Can populists, autocrats or modern technocracies usefully be described through the idea of tyranny? Is the term useful in addressing modern political problems, or do we run the risk of watering down the term and missing the real tyrants across the world? Are ancient ideas about tyranny outdated or can they be useful for understanding the present?
SPEAKERS
Dr Edmund Stewart
associate professor in Ancient Greek History; director, Tyrannica: The Interdisciplinary Network for the Study of Tyrannies, Personalist Dictatorships and Authoritarian Regimes
Alastair Donald
convenor, Living Freedom
CHAIR
Felice Basbøll
project assistant, Ideas Matter
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Reclaiming the University from the Culture Wars
2025-03-07 19:00 - 20:30 | central London
This in-person event in central London, in association with Student Academics for Academic Freedom (SAFAF), is free but please register using the form below.
Universities have always been in the vanguard of the so-called ‘woke’ revolution. After the election of Donald Trump, there has been an apparent cultural ‘vibe shift’, with criticism of DEI in the UK increasing – but universities seem to be doubling down. For example, newly proposed funding guidelines aim to cut research funding from institutions that fail to meet diversity guidelines. Meanwhile, paternalism dominates student life. Some worry that the very notion of the risk-taking, intellectually autonomous student is drowning under wellbeing guidelines and a mental-health apparatus seemingly resistant to reform.
On the other hand, some students are beginning to take up the fight against the censorious campus climate. And some things appear to be changing. In some instances, debates on topics such as sex and gender are no longer drowned out by banging pots and pans from student activists and can now take place with only minor disturbances. The Freedom of Speech in Higher Education Act, previously put on pause, will be implemented by the Labour government in revised form and Lord Hague, the new chancellor of the University of Oxford, says that universities must not be ‘comfort blankets of cancellation’. Are these signs of hope, or more false promises?
How do students who wish to change campus culture navigate questions about intellectual independence and academic freedom? Has managerialism destroyed the university for good, or can it be reformed? What are the biggest problems facing the modern university? How can we in the 21st-century best harness the spirit of true intellectual endeavour, inside and outside the universities?
SPEAKERS
Lara Brown
policy researcher specialising in culture and identity; former president, Cambridge Union
Jaiden Long
convenor, Student Academics for Academic Freedom
Sam Rubinstein
writer and historian
CHAIR
Felice Basbøll project assistant, Living Freedom
REGISTER
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Crumbling of the ivory towers: what is the purpose of a university?
2025-05-07 18:00 - 19:30 | Gillis Lecture Theatre, Balliol College, University of Oxford, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BJ, United Kingdom
This event is free, but please register using the form below.
‘When you’re in a hole, stop digging.’ Sadly, this ‘first law of holes’, often attributed to former politician and once Balliol scholar, Denis Healey, seems to have bypassed many universities. Despite warnings in recent years about the perils of over-expansion, marketisation and anti-intellectualism, reports point to courses closing, redundancies rising, bureaucracy increasing, students becoming dissatisfied, staff demoralised and standards falling. Notably, fewer 18-year-olds now elect to go to university and 40 per cent of universities and other higher-education institutions expect to run a loss in this financial year. What are the underlying problems? And what should universities be? What will it take to get out of the hole?
Some blame the culture wars and the wider politicisation of education. In the US, a Trump-driven ‘vibe shift’ has caused a reassessment of social-justice priorities and funding for DEI, but UK universities seem to be doubling down. For example, newly proposed guidelines aim to make adherence to diversity guidelines a condition of research funding, raising questions as to how academics assert independence to determine research priorities. ‘Decolonising’ reading lists or eliminating gendered language – even from graduation ceremonies – are said by some to be prioritised over defending knowledge and excellence, which are now said to be elitist. Do such shifts help explain, for example, the devaluation of the arts and humanities, which are under siege and facing drastic cuts?
Elsewhere, paternalism can often dominate student life. Some worry that the very notion of the risk-taking, intellectually autonomous student is drowning under directives on wellbeing and mental health. The chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Hague, said universities must not be ‘comfort blankets of cancellation’. But the University of Sussex may be more representative of the new norm with its recent decision to challenge a fine for failing to uphold free speech and insisting on setting guidelines on lawful speech.
However, some students do seem keen to fight back against a censorious culture on campus – and in some instances, even sex and gender debates now go ahead largely free of a ‘heckler’s veto’. Are these signs of hope, or more false promises?
How do students and academics who wish to change campus culture navigate questions about critical inquiry, intellectual independence and academic freedom? Has managerialism destroyed the university for good, or can it be reformed – and if so, how? How can – and should – we best harness the spirit of true intellectual endeavour, inside and outside of universities?
SPEAKERS
Felice Basboll
student, Trinity College Dublin; project assistant, Living Freedom
Dr Edward Howell
Lecturer in International Relations, University of Oxford,
John Maier
PhD student, University of Oxford; UnHerd columnist
CHAIR
Alastair Donald
convenor, Living Freedom
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Battle of the sexes: the new political divide?
2025-11-24 18:30 - 20:30
This event is now fully subscribed.
Today, over half a century on from the radical emergence of equality movements in 1960s, the growth of an ideological and social splintering between the sexes is frequently making headlines.
A recent report by Onward notes that, in line with international trends, the divide between men and women in the UK is growing, most evident amongst Gen Z. In the 2024 General Election, young women moved leftwards while young men drifted significantly to the right, with the former almost twice as likely to vote Green as young men, who in turn were twice as likely to vote Reform as young women. With Gen Z opting for more radical parties, political polarisation is deepening – and following gendered lines.
Perhaps the problem is social media, with young women tending to use TikTok and Instagram while young men tend towards X and podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience. Socially, Gen Z men and women are also said to be drifting apart. Women now outperform men in education, being more likely to attend university and get higher-paying jobs in their twenties. However, young women are also reportedly more stressed, more lonely and less satisfied with life, while fears over the ‘manosphere’ and toxic masculinity go hand-in-hand with a hardening sense of cultural antagonism and alienation between the sexes.
Some say lower levels of intimacy and sexual activity in Gen Z reflect a loss of emotional connection and long-term commitment. Others point to young men increasingly viewing themselves as ‘left behind’ and more resentful of feminism, equal rights and woke policies that they perceive as discriminating against them. Are political divisions ruining young people’s love lives, too?
Is this divide as alarming or deep-rooted as it seems? Could Gen Z’s polarisation be a passing phase? Or is the growing divide around the sexes now an issue to take seriously – perhaps in ways that class or racial divides might once have been addressed in the past? And when previously ideology or shared social experiences were used to overcome these divisions, what is the route forwards to find common ground between the sexes today?
SPEAKERS
Poppy Coburn
acting deputy comment editor, Daily Telegraph
Emma Gilland
project assistant, Ideas Matter; author, The Corona Generation
Nicholas Stephenson
researcher and data analyst, Onward
Jake Weston
project assistant, Academy of Ideas
CHAIR
Alastair Donald
convenor, Living Freedom

Living Freedom Xmas Bash Balloon Debate 2025
2025-12-11 19:00 - 21:00 | central London
We would like to invite you to join us in Westminster for a drink, some good company and a fun Xmas balloon debate. Please register using the form below.
What is the greatest representation of freedom in culture?
A panel of valiant freedom lovers will seek to convince you of their choice, whether a work of art or literature, a film, opera, play or song.
Each contestant will have just three minutes to present their case, followed by a round of questions from the audience. Then there is a vote, and the top three will be given an additional one minute to convince you to back their choice.
Which cultural representation of freedom – and its defender – deserves to stay in the balloon? You decide!
SPEAKERS
Ada Akpala, writer and commentator
defending nudity in art and beyond
Freddie Attenborough, research manager, Committee for Academic Freedom
defending the work of playwright and writer Joe Orton
Sonia Gallego, reporter, Al Jazeera English
defending Monty Python’s Penis Song (Not the Noel Coward Song)
Reem Ibrahim, communications officer, Institute of Economic Affairs
defending Hamilton: An American Musical
Jasper Robbins, writer; alumnus, Living Freedom; history and politics student
defending Top Gear (2002-2015)
Kevin Rooney, religion, philosophy and ethics teacher; editor, irishborderpoll.com
defending Alan Bennett’s The History Boys
Jake Weston, project assistant, Academy of Ideas
defending gambling culture
HOST
Alastair Donald, convenor, Living Freedom
This invitation-only gathering will take place in Westminster. We’ll send out details after registration.
REGISTER
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Is anti-extremism a threat to liberty on campus? In conversation with Michael Ben-Gad
2026-04-14 18:30 - 20:00 | central London
This event is now fully subscribed.
Extremism on campus is back in the headlines. In the long shadow of October 7, one recent survey found half of students had heard slogans glorifying Hamas, Hezbollah or other proscribed groups, while 65 per cent reported teaching disrupted by protests. Some students describe threats and abuse, and referrals to the Prevent counter-extremism programme have gone up by 50 per cent in two years. After the recent revelation that one in five students refuse to live with a Jewish peer, one parliamentarian argued that anti-Semitism in universities has been ‘normalised’.
The Henry Jackson Society has identified dozens of universities hosting events mourning the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and campuses are ‘now used as platforms to spread extremist narratives’. Meanwhile, the government plans tighter oversight – including clamping down on ‘divisive content’ and plans to ‘strengthen monitoring’ of non-violent extremism. A Campus Cohesion Charter will help manage external speakers and events, and will risk-check free speech for signs of crossing into unlawful activity or support for terrorism.
Yet such moves pose real moral dilemmas for those who believe in free speech. After all, setting clearer expectations around conduct, respect and shared values across university life can easily spill over into wider restrictions on speech. How should we define extremism and should we be open to new constraints? Where do the boundaries lie between resisting intolerance and tolerating all views and ideas? Is ‘extremism’ being weaponised to undermine our freedoms?
To help us navigate our way through the issues, we’ll be joined by Michael Ben-Gad – a lecturer at City St George’s, University of London – who himself faced protests by students, calling him a Nazi, threatening violence and demanding his dismissal. Join us to work out how we defend liberty in an age increasingly inclined to police ideas.
Doors open at 6.15pm, discussion starts at 6.30pm.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael Ben-Gad
City St George’s, University of London

CHAIR
Alastair Donald
convenor, Living Freedom
READINGS
The targeting of Israeli Professor Michael Ben-Gad: Britain’s academic freedom crisis
Professor Ian Pace, Jewish Chronicle, 21 November 2025
Students given stronger protections against extremism on campus
Department for Education and Bridget Phillipson MP, 8 March 2026
What the government’s Social Cohesion Action Plan means for universities and students
Jim Dickinson, WONKHE, 9 March 2026
