Ideology Now: One Day Conference

What is the role of ideology in politics and culture today?
With the disappearance of conflict between East and West in the Cold war, and with the apparent blurring of Right and Left in our recent politics, many have declared that ideology is a thing of the past. Politicians use the word 'ideology' as an insult. But has ideology really disappeared? And if not, where and how does it now operate? Is the narrative of the death of ideology itself an ideological move? Are there any overt forms of ideology that are still meaningful (environmentalism; neoliberalism; capitalism)? How do covert forms of ideology operate in politics and culture? Is the twenty-first century West more covertly ideological than other eras in history, or other places in the world?

Speakers will include: Matthew Beaumont (English, UCL), Mark Fisher (author, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?), Owen Hatherley (author, A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain), Esther Leslie (English and Humanities, Birkbeck), Ferdinand Mount (writer and former head of policy at 10 Downing Street), Louise Owen (Theatre Studies, Birkbeck), Nick Pearce (Director, Institute for Public Policy Research), Steven Poole (author, Unspeak: Words are Weapons and Guardian columnist), Nina Power (Philosophy, Roehampton), Renata Salecl (Law, Ljubljana).

Payment and booking required. Payment: £10 cash on the door.