Challenging ideas, not harassing people
One of our trustees, Jo Phoenix, was on talkRADIO this morning, discussing the problem of so-called 'cancel culture'.
Speaking to Julia Hartley-Brewer, Jo, who is Professor of Criminology at The Open University, spoke about the importance of teaching people "how to have debate... how to encounter different ideas... how to take apart ideas". She told Julia Hartley-Brewer:
I remember the 1980s and I was a firebrand young feminist... When I encountered highly sexist ideas, about why women get raped, I didn't sit there and try and cancel those people. We took those ideas to pieces, because the point was to challenge the idea, not to harass the people.
Jo also spoke in defence of University of Sussex professor of philosophy, Kathleen Stock, who has faced threats of violence for arguing that it is not possible for humans to change sex, and that sex differences between males and females matter in relation to public policy and public services.
Last month, our Director, Richard Garside, hosted a discussion with Jo and Professor Rosa Freedman of the University of Reading, on their experiences of being 'cancelled' at the University of Essex.
You can watch what Jo said to Julia Hartley-Brewer below.