8 June, 11.00 – 5.00
People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester

It used to be said that the public intellectual was a thing of the past, but in recent years we have seen a resurgence of academics with strong public profiles and often with devoted followings. Over a similar period, we have also seen the rise of what we might assume to be an opposing phenomenon, a new political populism, but are our assumptions correct? What relationships do public intellectuals have to social movements? How should we understand their popularity? What ideas inform the stances they take? What forces are shaping the new populism, and is it necessary to oppose the forces of the far-right with an alternative populism?

This event will be the first in a series to be held at various locations in Manchester by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Arts and Languages. It brings together academics from different disciplines to debate these and related questions.

• Please register your interest on Eventbrite

• David Alderson (English and American Studies) on Jordan Peterson
• Lunch
• Ian Parker (Psychoanalyst and Co-Director of the Discourse Unit) on Slavoj Žižek
• Coffee
• Roundtable on global populism with Ignacio Aguiló (Spanish Portuguese and Latin American Studies), Peter Gries (Director, Manchester China Institute) and Angelia Wilson (Politics); Chaired by Francesca Billiani (Italian Studies).

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