Living Freedom Summer School 2025

SUMMER SCHOOL OVERVIEW

Our three-day residential school takes place in central London on 26 to 28 June and is open to anyone aged 18 to 30, based in the UK or beyond. First time attendees are eligible for a Living Freedom 2025 Scholarship that covers 90 per cent of fees (full cost £500).

‘VIBE SHIFT’: A NEW ERA FOR FREEDOM?
Across the planet, political discussion is dominated by the American ‘Vibe Shift’ and the implications of Trump 2.0 for reshaping Western politics and culture. After a decade and more of freedoms feeling under siege, some anticipate that actions to counter race and gender ideologies, dismantle the DEI empire or ‘restore freedom of speech and end federal censorship’ will help usher in a more upbeat era, one where free expression again flourishes as the lifeblood of democracy.

Others remain downbeat, fearful that freedoms may founder on the rocks of legal or institutional resistance or be derailed by a partisan political class that rarely embraces the ideal of ‘free speech for all’. Is it sensible to rely on Trumpism for our freedoms? With technologies such as X now operating from the White House, and Meta now seemingly on board with the new regime, is the US government’s influence over ever more of the public square to be feared or celebrated?

Shifting loyalties and cultural hegemonies in the US are one thing, but what will be the impact downstream in Europe? Will Big Tech’s seeming turn against content moderation prevail in the face of European commitments to controlling hate speech and misinformation online? Can the quest for more open political debate survive the firewalling of populist parties in Europe? Can growth and development struggle free of environmental green tape and lawfare? And how best can agency and individual freedom be defended in the face of increasing incursions in the private sphere by officialdom? Is the trajectory towards scepticism of everything, from official fact-checkers to EDI, a sign that the tide is turning, especially with the young, keen to shake off their reputation as Generation Snowflake.

Clearly this is a moment of flux when we need to examine afresh many of the big, historically significant questions related to freedom and free speech. Living Freedom Summer School 2025 is your chance to be involved in such debates. We’ll place recent trends in wider context through expert lectures on key developments in the history and philosophy of freedom; panel-led debates will cover contemporary challenges and hot topics of our time; workshops allow attendees to explore classic texts and ethical dilemmas. In changing times, join us to assess the challenges and opportunities and to develop the arguments we need to make the 21st-century case for freedom.

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

PLENARY LECTURES & DEBATES 

  • The Trump effect: step forward or setback for freedom?
  • Privacy and Freedom: the rise and fall of private life
  • Rule of law vs the rule of lawyers
  • Young dissenters: how to fight back against conformism

TALKS AND WORKSHIPS: MORAL MAZE OF FREEDOM

  • Je suis Charlie? The return of blasphemy laws
  • Farewell to fact-checking: online freedom or free rein for misinformation?
  • Dating apps to OnlyFans: sexual freedom or fearing intimacy?
  • Letters on Liberty talks – today’s challenges to liberty
  • What the papers say – reviews workshops

DEBATES: FREEDOM AND ITS LIMITS

  • Should we be free to hate?
  • Cultural boycotts to literary wars: how can we defend artistic freedom?
  • Should smartphones be banned in schools?
  • Is it time to return the Elgin Marbles to the Parthenon?

THE CLASSICS: TALKS AND SEMINARS

  • Simone de Beauvoir: Ethics of Ambiguity
  • Lionel Trilling: The Liberal Imagination

HOW TO APPLY

Complete and submit the application form here by Monday 12 May at 9.00am.

ENQUIRIES

Should you need further information, please email the Living Freedom convenor, Alastair Donald, at info@livingfreedom.org.uk or call +44 (0)20 7269 9234.