John Keane
IN-CONVERSATION WITH TORY SHEPHERD
Event details
15 September 2020
DICTATORS, DESPOTISM AND DEMOCRACY
JOHN KEANE IN-CONVERSATION WITH TORY SHEPHERD
JUST A THOUGHT SERIES
TUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER,
6PM TO 7PM, ACST,
6.30PM TO 7.30PM, AEST
Online Event
Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre
Access Video HERE
One day they will be like us. That was once the West’s complacent and self-regarding assumption about countries emerging from poverty, imperial rule, or communism. However, many have hardened into something very different from liberal democracy: what the eminent political thinker John Keane describes as a new form of despotism. One day, he warns, we may be more like them.
Authoritarian regimes are rising, but while the human rights abuses are ongoing, there’s a new charm to the despots’ ways. They cloak themselves in democracy-coloured fabric, a new iteration of the old “bread and circuses”, allowing the rising middle classes to pretend that citizens are free.
Professor John Keane, one of Australia’s top thinkers and writers about democracy and its limitations and pretences, casts his rebellious eye over what we used to think of as a simple binary. The free world versus… what, exactly? Professor Keane draws on the themes of his most recent book, The New Despotism, to illustrate how governments have mastered a formidable combination of political tools that threaten the established ideals and practices of power-sharing democracy.
Please register your interest so that we can keep you up-to-date and to send you a link to view this online broadcast. This event coincides with United Nations International Day of Democracy. The International Day of Democracy provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world. More Information
PROFESSOR JOHN KEANE
PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY AND WISSENSHCAFTSZENTRUM, BERLIN
CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, SYDNEY DEMOCRACY NETWORK
AUTHOR
John Keane is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB, Berlin Social Sciences Centre). He is renowned globally for his creative thinking about democracy.
Among his best-known books are The New Despotism (2020); Power and Humility: The Future of Monitory Democracy (2018); and the highly acclaimed full-scale history The Life and Death of Democracy (2009).
website
Sydney Democracy Network
Twitter: @jkeaneSDN
The Conversation John Keane Articles
FACILITATOR: TORY SHEPHERD
JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR
Tory Shepherd is a columnist at The Advertiser, a freelance writer, and the author of On Freedom.
After finishing Honours in Anthropology and a Masters in Communication, she ended up as a ‘mature-age’ cadet at the paper 15 years ago. She is a Walkley Award judge and a Churchill Fellow.
Twitter: @ToryShepherd
Facebook: Tory Shepherd
JUST A THOUGHT SERIES
This event is presented as part of Just A Thought, an exclusive In-Conversation series presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre with Tory Shepherd. Hear captivating interviews with inspiring contemporary thinkers and change-makers who are shaping Australia’s future. Speakers will share their thoughts on addressing our most pressing issues and discuss how we can have a positive impact on our society.
Other events in this series:
Senator The Hon Penny Wong
How to be a Star Citizen in Space
Slaves in the System
Breaking the News
Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre
While the views presented by speakers within The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia, or The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: Strengthening our Democracy - Valuing our Diversity - Building our Future.
The copying and reproduction of any transcripts within The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre public program is strictly forbidden without prior arrangements.
While the views presented by speakers within The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia, or The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: Strengthening our Democracy - Valuing our Diversity - Building our Future. The Hawke Centre reserves the right to change their program at any time without notice.
