Living Freedom: ‘The dangers of progress?’

Features the discussion ‘The dangers of progress?’ recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023.

Historically, the quest for freedom was often understood to be bound up with the ideal of progress, but today, society seems less certain of the benefits of progress. 

Key features of modernity such as urbanisation, mobility, secularism and affluence are often deemed counterproductive to liberty. How should we define ‘progress’ and how do we account for collapsing belief in its benefits?  Are progress and tradition necessarily in direct and bloody competition or can we make the case for a creative tension worth celebrating for social benefits? From industry to the internet, cars to contraceptive pills, has progress gone too far and become a threat to contemporary freedoms?

LECTURERS
Nina Power writer and philosopher; senior editor, Compact
Ralph Schoellhammer political theorist, Webster Vienna Private University

READ ON
Socialism or Barbie-ism, Nina Power, Compact, 24 July 2023
Degrowth is a suicidal ideology, Ralph Schoellhammer, 30 May 2023

LIVING FREEDOM
Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK

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