Opus Independents have today revealed the programme for 2021’s Festival of Debate –- the largest non-partisan politics festival in the UK.
This year’s festival features big name speakers including famed economist Yanis Varoufakis, Labour MP and Tribes author David Lammy, and writer Maya Goodfellow.
Other well-known figures featured at Festival of Debate 2021 include columnist and author Santham Sangera, former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, veteran politician David Blunkett, and Jackie Weaver, the parish council clerk who went viral earlier this year, who will host a ‘Festival of Debate Does Question Time’ event.
The festival also includes a diverse and exciting programme of community-led events exploring the most important social and political issues of our time.
Launching today via a brand new website, the 2021 programme will include more than 40 live-streamed online events and short video commissions between 4 May and 6 June.
This year’s events fall under four strands:
- Progressing Social Justice
- Putting Citizens in the Lead
- Solving Poverty
- Acting on the Climate Crisis
The 2021 programme will explore new ideas and offer a platform for local voices on topics as diverse as community organising and local democracy, social care, sustainable food, Universal Basic Income and the future of city centres in post-pandemic Britain.
Sitting alongside keynote events is a wide range of community-led events coordinated by local groups, charities, campaigners and ‘active citizens’ after the festival put out a public call for collaborations.
The programme of online events will include talks, panel discussions, workshops, film screenings and more. A series of short videos will also be produced with partners and shared online during the festival.
All events will be hosted online, with a ‘pay what you feel’ model which doesn’t exclude anyone from enjoying the programme, but also gives people the chance to support the festival if they can.
Selected events
Opening the programme on Tuesday 4 May, Sathnam Sanghera joins Desiree Reynolds for an in-conversation discussion about his new book, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain. The book explores the contradiction that, while the British Empire is fundamental to understanding Britain, there seems to be a desire not to look at it too closely, even among those who celebrate it.
On Friday 7 May, internationally-renowned economist, writer and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis talks about the themes and ideas in his book, Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present, which imagines a parallel timeline starting from the global economic crash in 2008 which has led to a fairer, more just economic system.
On Wednesday 12 May, in an event hosted by Sheffield-based asylum organisation ASSIST, Maya Goodfellow will explore the UK’s history of anti-immigration politics, looking at how both Labour and Conservative governments have implemented regressive policies. The author of Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Become Scapegoats will unpick the myths that surround immigration to argue against contemporary anti-immigration politics.
The following day (Thursday 13 May), Jackie Weaver will be our fair and impartial host for a ‘Festival of Debate Does Question Time’ event, featuring local political representatives, thinkers and campaigners – and questions from the audience.
‘A Bit of Earth’ – a project celebrating and growing green spaces
Festival of Debate and South Yorkshire Climate Alliance are excited to announce a specially-commissioned project which will gather people’s thoughts and experiences about nature and green spaces during lockdown.
In exchange for stories and images of people’s daily walks, unexpected encounters with wildlife and adventures into the unexplored green spaces of their cities, we will send out seeds and a map to their very own ‘bit of earth’ to create their own secret garden with their neighbours.
Run by The Bare Project, the project is suitable for all ages and will be open to people in Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster. The first 150 households will receive seeds and a map in the post.
Quotes
Joe Kriss, Programmer at Festival of Debate, said: “Covid-19 has impacted our communities in so many ways we don’t yet understand, but it has also highlighted the inequalities in our society that have always existed. Moments of crisis create the possibility of change. We must take this opportunity to bring people together to discuss the kind of society we want to live in.”
Jackie Weaver, Chair of the Festival of Debate Does Question Time event, said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to chair what I trust will be a lively Question Time-style event aimed at increasing active citizenship and democratic engagement. The enormous value of local councils and the people who make them work is just not well enough recognised, so events like this are invaluable in highlighting this and encouraging engagement. I, for one, am looking forward to exercising my new authority as chair.”
Natalie Bennett, Green Party peer and Sheffield Green Party member, said: “Sheffield has a great tradition of nation-leading public debate and activism, from the Sheffield Female Political Association, the first suffrage society in the UK, through to Edward Carpenter and on to the City of Sanctuary. The Festival of Debate continues that great tradition.”
Jo Eckersley, Deputy Managing Director at Sheffield Flourish, said: “Every year Festival of Debate gives us a space where we can talk about the things that really matter to us, partner with other organisations and get people thinking. It’s an opportunity to pause and reflect on why we do what we do, and sometimes to question the status quo.
“Being part of the debate matters to us. It makes us feel valued and it brings out the important conversations which need to be happening, right now. This year, for example, we’ll be talking about 2020, as Festival of Debate has given us a space to go through a year of mental health challenges in a participatory online workshop.”
Partners and sponsors
This year’s partners include Citizens Advice Sheffield, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, Sheffield Flourish, the Centre for Welfare Reform, Disability Sheffield, the Media Reform Coalition and DiEM25, alongside many more.
The programme is kindly sponsored by Sheffield City Council, the University of Sheffield, Learn Sheffield, South Yorkshire Climate Alliance, Sheffield College and the Independent Media Association.
About Festival of Debate
One of the largest festivals of its kind in the UK, Festival of Debate is co-ordinated by not-for-profit social enterprise Opus Independents, alongside over 40 partners, campaign groups, voluntary organisations and passionate individuals.
Continuing in a rich vein of political activism and radical thought in the city of Sheffield, Festival of Debate was launched in the lead-up to the general election in 2015 to provoke thought, discussion and activism as the nation went to the ballot box.
The festival aims to combat political apathy by ensuring its events are led by the issues rather than by party politics, which can often be divisive.
Previous editions of the Festival have featured George Monbiot, Reni-Eddo Lodge, Ed Miliband, Owen Jones, Afua Hirsch, Francesca Martinez, Nick Clegg, The Guilty Feminist, John Pilger, Grayson Perry, James O’Brien and Paul Mason, among many others.
Festival of Debate has even led to the creation of new political movements including the UBI Lab Network, an international campaign advocating for pilots of Universal Basic Income. The Network started in Sheffield as part of Festival of Debate 2016 and now includes almost 40 citizen-led groups across the globe.
About Opus
Opus believes we can live in a place where everyone works to make things better for each other. ‘Better’ to us means fair, diverse, accessible, independent and heard. Opus projects connect us to each other and to music, arts, culture, ideas, action and conversations that will make change.
We are passionate about supporting ‘upstream’ solutions to social, political, economic and environmental concerns. We recognise that this is a long-term and systemic approach to social change — that’s why we create platforms which champion social causes, independent businesses, not-for-profits, emerging talent, active citizenship and community participation.
Event listings
The full Festival of Debate 2021 programme will go live on Thursday 15th April at 1pm. Below is a handful of event listings.
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Sathnam Sanghera: Empireland
Tuesday 4th May 2021 (5:30-7pm)
Sathnam Sanghera joins Desiree Reynolds for a discussion about his new book, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain. The British Empire ran for centuries and covered vast swathes of the world. It is, as Sanghera reveals, fundamental to understanding Britain.
However, even among those who celebrate the empire there seems to be a desire not to look at it too closely – not to include the subject in our school history books, not to emphasise it too much in our favourite museums.
At a time of great division, when we are arguing about what it means to be British, Sanghera’s book urges us to address this bewildering contradiction. For it is only by stepping back and seeing where we really come from that we can begin to understand who we are, and what unites us.
Sathnam Sanghera was born to Punjabi parents in the West Midlands in 1976. Sathnam joined The Times as a columnist and feature writer in 2007 and is a regular contributor on national radio and TV, having appeared on programmes including Have I Got News For You and BBC Front Row Late, and presented a range of documentaries, including The Massacre That Shook The Empire on Channel 4, which was shortlisted for best Factual TV show at the 2019 Asian Media Awards.
Sathnam Sanghera is author of EmpireLand: How Modern Britain is Shaped by its Imperial Past, memoir The Boy With The Topknot: Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton, and novel Marriage Material.
Désirée Reynolds (she/her) is a South Londoner up North, was brought up in Clapham, London to Jamaican parents and now lives in Sheffield. Her short stories have been widely published in various publications and online. She has been on numerous panels, radio and given talks about literature, film, race and gender, and continues to work as a writer, editor, journalist, broadcaster and creative writing facilitator.
Yanis Varoufakis: Another Now
Friday 7th May 2021 (7-8:30pm)
Imagine a world with no banks. No stock market. No tech giants. No billionaires. Imagine if Occupy and Extinction Rebellion actually won.
In Another Now, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis shows us what such a world would look like. Far from being a fantasy, he describes how it could have come about – and might yet. But would we really want it? Varoufakis’s boundary-breaking book confounds expectations of what the good society would look like and reveals the uncomfortable truth about our desire for a better world.
Yanis Varoufakis is the author of the bestseller Talking to My Daughter: A Brief History of Capitalism and two previous books, Adults in the Room, a memoir of his time as finance minister of Greece, and an economic history of Europe, And the Weak Suffer What They Must?, both of which were number one bestsellers.
Born in Athens in 1961, Yanis Varoufakis was for many years a professor of economics in Britain, Australia and the USA before he entered politics. He is co-founder of the international grassroots movement DiEM25 and, since 2019, he is leading its parliamentary party in Greece’s Parliament. He is currently Professor of Economics at the University of Athens.
Sanctuary in a Hostile Environment w/ Maya Goodfellow & Aidan Mosselson
Wednesday 12th May 2021 (4-5pm)
This event will explore the history and current impact of ‘hostile environment’ policies on migrants and people seeking sanctuary in Sheffield and the UK as a whole.
Maya Goodfellow will explore the UK’s history of anti-immigration politics, looking at how both Labour and Conservative governments have implemented regressive policies. She will unpick the myths that surround immigration to argue against contemporary anti-immigration politics.
Aidan Mosselson will highlight the ways in which the government’s hostility towards migrants affects people as they try to go about their daily lives. His research also analyses the ways in which the hostile environment intrudes into and disrupts spaces and interactions designed to provide support to forced migrants, creating divisions between those providing care and those being cared for.
This event will also discuss some of the work being done in Sheffield to actively challenge and contest the hostile environment – and create a city that is welcoming to, and hospitable for, forced migrants.
Maya Goodfellow is a writer, academic and broadcast commentator. She is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at SPERI at the University of Sheffield and a Visiting Fellow at the UCL Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Race and Racialisation. She is the author of Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Become Scapegoats (2020) and has written for a range of publications, including the New York Times, the Guardian and the Washington Post.
Aidan Mosselson is a Chancellor’s Fellow in the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh. His research interests focus on urban development in the Global South, migration, infrastructures, the politics of the everyday and relationships between space and social identities. Prior to joining ESALA, he was a Newton International Fellow based in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield.
Festival of Debate Does Question Time w/ Jackie Weaver
Thursday 13th May 2021 (5:30-7pm)
Festival of Debate runs a Question Time-style event platforming local MPs, activists and commentators from South Yorkshire and beyond, answering questions presubmitted to the panel and a selection of comments contributed live on social media.
Trust, accountability and transparency is key to the functioning of any local democracy. This is known more than most by our guest host for the evening, Jackie Weaver (Yes, that one). Jackie Weaver is the meeting clerk from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils who shot to fame after presiding over a chaotic meeting of Handforth Parish Council which went viral.
Submit your questions to [email protected] or by tweeting @festofdebate live on the evening – as long as you have read the standing orders…
David Lammy: Tribes
Monday 17th May 2021 (5:30-7pm)
Join David Lammy for an in conversation discussion about his brand new book, Tribes: How Our Need to Belong Can Make or Break Society.
A memoir and a call-to-arms, Tribes explores both the benign and malign effects of our need to belong. How this need – genetically programmed and socially acquired – can manifest itself in positive ways, collaboratively achieving great things that individuals alone cannot. And yet how, in recent years, globalisation and digitisation have led to new, more pernicious kinds of tribalism. This book is a fascinating and perceptive analysis of not only the way the world works, but also the way we really are.
David Lammy is the Labour MP for Tottenham. He has been the MP for his home constituency since 2000. In April 2020, David was appointed the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice.
David has been one of Parliament’s most prominent and successful campaigners for social justice. In January 2016, the then Prime Minister David Cameron asked David to lead an independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in our criminal justice system. The Lammy Review was published in September 2017 and included 35 wide-ranging policy recommendations for Government and the criminal justice sector.
David is also the author of Out of the Ashes: Britain After the Riots, an analysis of the long-standing causes of the 2011 riots, as well as his new book, Tribes: How Our Need to Belong Can Make or Break Society. David is a regular contributor to national newspapers and publications including The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, New Statesman and others, and appears regularly on television and radio.
A Year in Our Lives: Mental Health & The Pandemic
Wednesday 19th May 2021 (5:30-7pm)
Each year that passes, we change. But 2020 brought some of the biggest changes to our lives that most of us will have ever experienced.
Who were we when the pandemic hit and how has it changed us? What have we learnt, and lost? And, now we’ve made it to 2021, how do we feel about the future? Join us at this participatory online workshop to share, discuss and process what we’ve been through.
Hosted by Sheffield Flourish and facilitated by Adelaide Chibanda.
Democracy in Crisis w/ Peter Geoghegan & Neal Lawson
Thursday 3rd June 2021 (5:30-7pm)
Democracy in the UK only runs skin deep. The various crises that the UK has faced over the past few years has called into question the very functioning of how our society is governed. Does our democratic system give us the ability to be able to be governed fairly while being reactive to future crises?
This live stream will take aim at our democratic system itself, discussing how our democracy functions – and how it is funded. Featuring Peter Geoghegan, the award-winning investigative journalist from openDemocracy and author of Democracy for Sale, Neal Lawson, Director of think tank Compass, and a representative from Make Votes Matter, the cross-party campaign to introduce proportional representation.
Peter Geoghegan is an Irish writer, broadcaster and investigations editor at the award-winning news website openDemocracy. He led openDemocracy‘s investigations into dark money in British politics that were nominated for a 2019 British Journalism award and the Paul Foot award. His most recent book, Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics, was published in August 2020 by Head of Zeus.
Neal Lawson is Chair of the pressure group Compass and has written many pamphlets for the organisation on the themes of democracy and equality. He is author of All Consuming and was co-editor of The Progressive Century.
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