Political 'Realism' in an Election Year

This year’s lecture will be delivered by Gary Younge FAcSS, author, broadcaster, and Professor of Sociology at University of Manchester.

As a general election approaches in 2024, Britain's politicians have a number of urgent challenges to address, from the cost of living crisis and rising rents to an underfunded NHS and public infrastructure that is unfit for purpose.

In this lecture Gary will argue that not only will the main parties fail to offer solutions to these problems but, in the name of 'realism', they will also avoid any substantial engagement with the issues causing them.

Start: 8:30 AM, PST / 11:30 AM, EST / 4:30 PM, BST

End: 10 AM, PST / 1 PM, EST / 6 PM, BST

Gary Younge joined University of Manchester in 2020 from The Guardian, where he was a columnist, US correspondent and editor-at-large. He has written six books and won many awards including the 2023 Orwell prize for journalism. Throughout his career both his journalism and books have covered youth violence (both in the US and the UK), social movements (particularly the US civil rights movement), inequality, race, immigration, identity and politics. Between 2009 and 2011 he was the Belle Zeller Visiting Professor for Public Policy and Social Administration at Brooklyn College (CUNY). Currently a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he is also an Alfred Knobler Fellow of Type Media in the US and an editorial board member of the Nation magazine. As a broadcaster he has made several radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from gay marriage to Brexit.