As EU leaders meet in Brussels this week to discuss the refugee crisis, the spotlight on the issue is growing in intensity and complexity. Events at the Festival, which runs from 19 October to 1st November, include A New Home: Asylum, Immigration and Exile in Today's Britain, The Kick - a discussion about the rise of right-wing violence in Europe and a debate about the future of Europe.
On 22nd October, author Bidisha and award-winning journalist Emily Dugan will be in conversation about their new books which focus on the experiences of immigrants and refugees in the UK. Bidisha’s book, Asylum and Exile: the Hidden Voices of London, is the result of a writing residency with refugees and asylum seekers in London. Through their own words and writing, it tells the stories of people who have fled war, violent persecution, poverty or civil unrest in a range of countries, from Syria to the Congo and their experiences in the UK. It shows that though many used to be accountants, teachers, criminologists and composers in their own countries, they are often forced to work illegally in the UK in underpaid, unstable jobs, surviving on a few pounds a day.
Emily Dugan’s book, Finding Home: Real Stories of Migrant Britain, is described as “an honest, unflinching portrait of ordinary people, all immigrants to the United Kingdom, struggling with extraordinary obstacles to find somewhere called home”.
On 30th October the Festival will also feature a screening of Andres Veiel’s award-winning film Der Kick [The Kick, 2006] on the murder of a teenager by three neo-Nazi teenagers in East Germany, which will be followed by a panel discussion on the rise of right-wing violence in Europe. Taking part are Dr Emmanuel Karagiannis, Senior Lecturer of the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London, who specialises in the area of radicalisation and terrorism in Europe and ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia; and from the University of Cambridge Dr Helen Roche, who specialises in Germany history and Dr Katharina Karcher, whose research interests include protest movements in the former West Germany, political violence and European women’s movements.
Also on the theme of immigration and the future of Europe is the debate Can Europe Keep the Peace? on 24th October. The speakers will be Alan Sked, Dr Chris Bickerton, a lecturer in politics from the University of Cambridge, historian Professor Robert Tombs and Montserrat Guibernau, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London and author of the forthcoming book Solidarity and Division in the EU.
And on 24th October Dr Matthew Machin-Autenrieth wil explore how flamenco has been used for political protests, including raising awareness about immigration.
Established in 2008, Cambridge Festival of Ideas aims to fuel the public’s interest in arts, humanities and social sciences. The events, ranging from talks, debates and film screenings to exhibitions and comedy nights, are held in lecture halls, theatres, museums and galleries around Cambridge. Of the over 250 events at the Festival, most are free.
The Festival sponsors and partners are Cambridge University Press, St John’s College, Anglia Ruskin University, RAND Europe, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Cambridge Live, University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden, Arts Council England, Cambridge Junction, British Science Association, Heritage Lottery Fund, Heffers, WOW Festival, Southbank Centre, Collusion, TTP Group, Goethe Institut, Index on Censorship and BBC Cambridgeshire.
Image copyright: Royal Navy Media Archive via Flickr
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