Reading for Battle
Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.
Choose a theme from the listing on the left to narrow your search, or view all readings.
Arts & Culture
Poetry is not pamphleteering
Poetry is not about feel-good political posturing, but about 'challenging us, about language in full flight and full thought'
Shirley Dent, Guardian, 20 March 2007
Poetry is not about feel-good political posturing, but about 'challenging us, about language in full flight and full thought'
Shirley Dent, Guardian, 20 March 2007
MacGregor calls for bigger role for cultural diplomacy
Speaking at the launch of a DEMOS report on cultural diplomacy last month, British Museum director Neil MacGregor called for culture to play a bigger international role in building and sustaining relations between countries…
Museums Association, 14 March 2007
Speaking at the launch of a DEMOS report on cultural diplomacy last month, British Museum director Neil MacGregor called for culture to play a bigger international role in building and sustaining relations between countries…
Museums Association, 14 March 2007
The harassment of press freedom
A law aimed at stopping stalkers is being used against photographers and even as a substitute for libel claims.
Duncan Lamont, The Guardian, 5 March 2007
A law aimed at stopping stalkers is being used against photographers and even as a substitute for libel claims.
Duncan Lamont, The Guardian, 5 March 2007
You're paying for 'cultural diplomacy'
Do you enjoy multiculturalist drivel? No? Tough luck.
Damian Thompson, Telegraph, 3 March 2007
Do you enjoy multiculturalist drivel? No? Tough luck.
Damian Thompson, Telegraph, 3 March 2007
Boxed in: How cultural diversity policies restrict black artists
‘The official promotion of difference is not helping black and minority ethnic people enter the mainstream as equals but instead is keeping them at the margins’
Sonya Dyer, Manifesto Club, 2007
‘The official promotion of difference is not helping black and minority ethnic people enter the mainstream as equals but instead is keeping them at the margins’
Sonya Dyer, Manifesto Club, 2007
Why should artists be agents for the government?
Easily flattered, many arts organisations are falling over themselves to act as diplomats
Tiffany Jenkins, Independent, 28 February 2007
Easily flattered, many arts organisations are falling over themselves to act as diplomats
Tiffany Jenkins, Independent, 28 February 2007
Some Countries Remain Resistant to American Cultural Exports
American movies and music have done very well in some countries like Sweden and less well in others like India. This may sound like a simple difference in human tastes, but decisions to consume culture have an economic aspect.
Tyler Cowen, New York Times, 22 February 2007
American movies and music have done very well in some countries like Sweden and less well in others like India. This may sound like a simple difference in human tastes, but decisions to consume culture have an economic aspect.
Tyler Cowen, New York Times, 22 February 2007
D’you wanna be in my gang, my gang, my gang?
What matters is not simply bums on seats, but the engagement of a particular audience. Before any artform can be universal, it has to be particular. It is particular scenes or artistic milieux that give birth to new ideas, and also keep a tradition alive; without them, tradition quickly degenerates into heritage.
Dolan Cummings, Culture Wars, 21 February 2007
What matters is not simply bums on seats, but the engagement of a particular audience. Before any artform can be universal, it has to be particular. It is particular scenes or artistic milieux that give birth to new ideas, and also keep a tradition alive; without them, tradition quickly degenerates into heritage.
Dolan Cummings, Culture Wars, 21 February 2007
D'you wanna be in my gang, my gang, my gang?
The idea of fighting over notes and chords is alien to contemporary culture, and the idea of fighting over classical notes and chords is laughable
Dolan Cummings, Culture Wars, 20 February 2007
The idea of fighting over notes and chords is alien to contemporary culture, and the idea of fighting over classical notes and chords is laughable
Dolan Cummings, Culture Wars, 20 February 2007
Consuming children - Agnes Nairn
"The energy, verve and enthusiasm at The Battle of Ideas filled me with hope. Coming from India where so many people still lack the basic necessities that make human life worth living, it was heartening to see basic issues of equity and justice debated with such passion and fervour."
George Thomas, orthopaedic surgeon; editor, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics
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