Ideas Matter: ‘The elite: old and new - introduction’

Ideas Matter

Introduction to the series ‘The elite: old and new’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in November 2021.

Politics has always been inseparable from the question: who has power? In previous eras, the answer to that question was to examine the issue of social class. Today, it is harder to offer such easy answers. Many speak of multiple ‘elites’ including business, educational, cultural and media. If traditional elites are in retreat, or anxious to broadcast their support for a new set of ‘progressive’ values around race, sex and gender, does this mean that they no longer play such a central role in the management of society? Or is this simply an age-old cycle of elites seeking to mystify their social position?

Introduction by Jacob Reynolds, external affairs manager, boi; author, Letters on Liberty: Beyond the Culture Wars

THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and new
To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv

ASSOCIATED READING

For this lecture you may wish to read:-

• Hannah Arendt, Truth and Politics, in Between Past and Future, https://amzn.to/3rbtbV2
• Peter Mair, Ruling the Void: The hollowing of Western democracy, https://amzn.to/2Zs4SXr

THE ACADEMY
In the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth.

DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITY
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IDEAS MATTER PODCAST
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