Stockholm Battle of Ideas festival 2022 at Accelerator

Wednesday 16 November, 3.30pm – 8.00pm
Accelerator, Stockholm University, Frescativägen 26a, Se-106 91 Stockholm

The seventh Stockholm Battle of Ideas festival, at Stockholm Accelerator in partnership with Accelerator and Volante Books, features debates on three of the key issues of our times. The debates are free and open to all.

15:30 — 16:30
WAR IN UKRAINE: CRISIS OR REBIRTH FOR EUROPE?
What are the roots of Ukraine crisis and what will be the implications for reshaping Europe? Is this a new moment of Western unity and a reassertion of ‘Western values’ or the return of History and deeper geopolitical tensions? Has the invasion demonstrated that reports of the decline of the West were exaggerated, or will declinists be proved right in the end?

17:00 — 18:00
CHALLENGING ORTHODOXIES: FREE SPEECH IN UNIVERSITIES
Are we morphing from a society that fought for the right to speak our minds and hear all opinions to one that shuns widely engaging with ideas? Are academics right to be worried about new restrictions, or have academics always been constrained by prevailing orthodoxies? How can students be won to the cause of critical inquiry, free expression and open debate?

18:15 — 19:15
EXHIBITING COURAGE: VALOUR OR VULNERABILITY?
What insights can we gain from art today on the question of courage and what are the opportunities and challenges for artists themselves? In this era of safety first, risk aversion, and even nihilistic fatalism, do we need to draw on the longstanding virtue of courage in order to dare to live freely? How can we reinvigorate courage for a new era?

19:15 – 20:00
DRINKS @ CAFE