St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
4:30pm-6:30pm, Tuesday 28 July 2009
(Tea and coffee served from 4:15pm)
The Carnegie UK
Trust Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland
and Open Democracy are delighted to invite you to an event to explore
the role of civil society associations in creating and supporting
spaces for dissenting voices, both in the UK and globally.
In 2007, the Carnegie UK
Trust Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society undertook an extensive
futures exercise to explore the possible future threats to and
opportunities for civil society, looking out to 2025. Contributors to
the futures work highlighted the marginalisation of dissent and
diminishing spaces for public deliberation as key concerns. This event
will draw on these concerns and consider the various ways in which
dissent is marginalised resulting from factors such as threats to civil
liberties and anti-terror legislation, the behaviour of media or
self-suppression on the part of civil society associations themselves.
Key questions that the speakers will address include: What are the
roles of civil society associations in enabling dissent? Where are the
key areas where dissent is marginalised? What factors enable or inhibit
dissent? What practical steps should be taken to support spaces for
dissenting voices?
The event will be chaired by Anthony Barnett (founder of
openDemocracy.net, Co-Director of the Convention on Modern Liberty and
Co-Chair of Real Change: the open politics network). Speakers include:
Kumi Naidoo (Visiting Fellow at the Carnegie UK
Trust, Honorary President of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen
Participation and Co-Chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty
campaign), Sunny Hundal (Editor of Liberal Conspiracy, journalist,
commentator, blogger and activist), Reverend Malcolm Carroll, (Greenpeace campaigner and
Baptist minister) and Fran
Bennett (Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Social Policy and Social
Work, University
of Oxford and independent
consultant).
The Inquiry has hosted two other events on the theme of dissent in
Dublin and in Glasgow. Findings from these events can be found at the
Inquiry web pages, Marginalisation of Dissent. For your information, we
are also attaching information about the Inquiry’s work.
Places at this event are limited. To book your place please email Catherine at [email protected] by 20 July 2009. To find out more about the Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society please visit www.futuresforcivilsociety.org
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