Festival of Ideas: Pankaj Mishra (Free)

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Festival of Ideas: Pankaj Mishra (Free)

By Bristol Ideas

Date and time

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 18:30 - 19:30 GMT

Location

Reception Room

Wills Memorial Building University of Bristol Queen's Road BS8 1RJ United Kingdom

Refund Policy

Contact the organiser to request a refund.

Description

Pankaj Mishra
Age of Anger
Monday 20 February 2017, 18:30-19:30
Reception Room, Wills Memorial Building
Free, but booking required

Modernity, secularism, development and progress have long been viewed by the powerful few as benign ideals for the many. Today, however, botched experiments in nation-building, democracy, industrialisation and urbanisation visibly scar much of the world. As the world became modern those who were unable to fulfil its promises – freedom, stability and prosperity – were increasingly susceptible to demagogues. The many who came late to this new world or were left, or pushed, behind reacted in horrifyingly similar ways: intense hatred of invented enemies, attempts to re-create an imaginary golden age and self-empowerment through spectacular violence. It was from among the ranks of the disaffected that the militants of the 19th century arose – angry young men who became cultural nationalists in Germany, messianic revolutionaries in Russia, bellicose chauvinists in Italy and anarchist terrorists internationally.

Pankaj Mishra explains how today, just as then, the wider embrace of mass politics, technology and the pursuit of wealth and individualism has cast many more billions adrift in a literally demoralised world, uprooted from tradition but still far from modernity – with the same terrible results.

Booking opens 3 January 2017.

We have restricted the number of tickets that can be booked to one per transaction. This has been introduced in an effort to stop people automatically booking multiple tickets without confirming if they have guests to go with them. We hope this will help to limit the number of 'no shows' at the events, which currently run at around 35% of bookings. We will monitor the situation. If you need more than one ticket, you can click on the booking link again. The little extra effort involved will hopefully put off those who don’t really need more than one, but not those who do.

If you like what we do, and want to help us continue to keep our prices low and offer a wide range of free events, then please consider making a donation. Your donation will be made to Bristol Cultural Development Partnership, which manages the Festival, but all donations go to the Festival. Please note that one donation equates to one ticket.

Please ensure you use the correct email address. This is where your ticket will be sent. If you do not provide the correct address, you will not receive the acknowledgement email or ticket.

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Organised by

Bristol Ideas is a leading organisation for public debate and learning, bringing together arts and sciences to explore the key issues of our time. Our year-round events programme features writers and thinkers from all over the world. At the heart of all our work are ideas.

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