Are We All ‘In It Together’?
Saturday 6 February, 1.30p
The Music Room, The Storey
Download 'Festival of Questions' Programme here
Class divisions seem to remain entrenched in modern Britain, as something we all recognize and experience, yet seemingly cannot break down. Is it possible for all individuals in Britain to achieve economic prosperity and, if so, what would the cumulative effect be on social hierarchies?
Lynsey Hanley
David Kynaston has been a professional historian since 1973. In addition to three books on cricket and five corporate histories, he has undertaken two major sequences: a four-volume history of the City of London, 1815-2000, published between 1994 and 2001; and an ongoing history of post-war Britain, under the collective title ‘Tales of a New Jerusalem’, of which three volumes have so far appeared: Austerity Britain, 1945-51 (Sunday Times Book of the Decade), Family Britain, 1951-57 and Modernity Britain, 1957-62. In recent years he has become increasingly interested in the related issues of social mobility and private education, on which he delivered the 2014 Orwell Lecture. He is currently writing a history of the Bank of England.
Shiv Malik started his career as a reporter after winning a bursary from the Guardian's Scott Trust and obtained an MA in journalism at Sheffield University in 2003. He went on to write for the New Statesman magazine from Afghanistan and Pakistan and from the UK for the Sunday Times and the Independent on Sunday among others.
In 2008 he was involved in a landmark court battle with the Greater Manchester police to protect his sources on terrorism and was also selected as the Evening Standard's most influential Londoners of that year.
In 2010 he co-authored the cult book Jilted Generation; How Britain has Bankrupted its Youth. He is also co-founder of the think tank, the Intergenerational Foundation which seeks to find solutions to economic imbalances between those of different age groups in society. In 2011 he helped edit, Regeneration, a collection of essays on intergenerational justice. He currently works for the Guardian as an investigative correspondent and is a regular contributor in the UK media on issues affecting young adults.
Melissa Benn (Chair) is a writer, broadcaster and campaigner, particularly on issues of educational and gender equality. She has contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers, including the Guardian and New Statesman, and has published seven books including School Wars: the Battle for Britain’s Education and What Should We Tell Our Daughters?: The Pleasures and Pressures of Growing Up Female. An active campaigner for high quality comprehensive education Melissa is a founder of the Local Schools Network and is currently the Chair of Comprehensive Future which campaigns to phase out the 11+ and ensure fair admissions to all schools. Her latest book, published in late 2015, is The Truth About Our Schools: Exposing the Myths, Exploring the Evidence.
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This panel discussion is part of Day of Questions #1.
Presented by Lancaster Arts in partnership with Modern Culture, & Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at Lancaster University, with venue partners The Storey and The Dukes
