Speakers are to include:

Nick Clegg – Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Ken Worpole – Professor in the Cities Institute at London Metropolitan University
Catherine Fieschi – Director, Demos
EXYZT – Architecture collective

The panel will be addressing the need for politicians to seek new platforms for engaging with citizens. For long, the shared public spaces of the city were arenas for political conversations. Has it lost that function and if so, why? Have we designed out the politics from public space, or is this a reflection of changes in the way politics is conducted?  

More importantly, can we create new settings for political debate? How do people nowadays wish to engage with the formal political sphere? The Southwark Lido, a temporary installation created by the architecture collective EXYZT – famed for their intervention in the French Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2006 – and filmmaker Sara Muzio, will be the perfect place to debate these questions in an open, informal and investigative atmosphere.

To find out more or attend, please email seminars@demos.co.uk

Join in the discussion at:

Southwark Lido

100 Union Street,

SE1

Nearest Underground station: Southwark

Click here to view map

For more information on the venue see http://www.lfa2008.org/event.php?id=165&name=Southwark+Lido

The British Muslim Initiative - together with Demos, the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Conflicts Forum, Forward Thinking and The Cordoba Foundation – is organising a seminar on Understanding Political Islam, to take place on 12-13 July 2008 in London.

Islamists have risen to prominence in the last two decades across the Middle East and much of the Muslim world. Today, Islamism is an undeniable fact of the political and cultural life of most Muslim countries in Asia and Africa, and even among Muslim minorities in Europe and the United States. Although much attention has been directed to the violent and radical forms of Islamism - particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks-, its more peaceful, mainstream manifestations continue to be largely overlooked. There has been little effort to grasp this socio-political phenomenon and comprehend its complexities. The need for a deep and coherent understanding of this important and highly complex movement has never been greater.

This two-day specialist conference will be held as an invitation-only event at Islam Expo, the largest Muslim cultural event in Europe. The aim is to open the way for a transparent and challenging discussion of a complex phenomenon which has been the subject of much attention but insufficiently objective and sophisticated analysis.

In Europe and worldwide, political systems are facing a crisis of disaffection and disengagement. How we deal with this crisis will determine the fate of liberal democratic systems everywhere, and of the European Union in particular.

This is the focus of a new book on Democracy: Crisis and Renewal, to be launched at Demos. The book argues that popular disillusionment with contemporary politics stems from liberal democracy's failure to live up to its promises. It also argues that new theoretical debate and practical innovation will be required for democratic political systems, and particularly those in Europe, to survive.

 
On Monday 30 June, Demos will host a presentation of the book will be followed by a panel discussion with author Paul Ginsborg and respondents.

To attend, please e-mail seminars@demos.co.uk, with the title ‘Democracy’. Please note that places are limited.

Rushanara Ali - Associate Director of the Young Foundation
Kim Knott - Head of the AHRC Diasporas, Migration & Identities Programme
Moira Sinclair - Director of Arts Council London

A second seminar on culture, integration and education, hosted by Demos in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Culture is a space in which values are expressed and interpreted. It can provide a safe space and mechanism to confront difference, but it can also be a space in which values are contested.  Online and in the streets, we encounter a more diverse range of cultures than ever before. This is the 'cultural age' - how can we approach and accommodate it?

The second seminar on the cultural age will address how cultural practitioners and academic thinkers can work with policy-makers to meet the challenges that arise in an intercultural world. It will involve speaker presentations and a debate on how to make the best of the opportunities for integration that the cultural age has to offer.

This event is by invitation only. If you would like to attend the event, please contact seminars@demos.co.uk.