Voterama

Voterama

2024 is not just an election year, it is the election year, as more people across the world (64 countries), representing almost half the global population, will vote than at any other point in recorded history.

From the US, to India, to Taiwan, and closer to home, this year will see the political dice roll in ways we have never seen. Some of the most populous, wealthiest, and most powerful countries will have a new leader, or not. To say this year is pivotal is an understatement.

But how democratic is democracy? Is populism once again on the rise internationally? And what do experts predict from the current conflicts? Politicians, journalists, and thinkers bring global knowledge, perspectives, and experience to these pressing questions.

In another landmark in 2024, the Scottish Parliament turns a mighty 25 this year. The Scottish Youth Parliament is also celebrating 25 years, and we’re working with its members to envision the Scotland they’d like to live in (and may well help shape, as our potential future leaders) in Scotland 2049. In partnership with the Festival of Politics.

We explore the contemporary UK political landscape, and the impact of devolution, in this seismic year with new titles from leading politicians and commentators Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, Caroline Lucas, Jess Phillips, Simon Kuper, and Alastair Campbell.

How can you make sure your vote counts? We look to the future of democratic participation, and ask how deliberative processes and Citizen Assemblies are playing an increasingly important role in the democratic process, and evolving how we engage altogether.

Away from the headlines, how does conflict ever actually become resolved? In partnership with Beyond Borders Scotland, we are hosting three events themed around peacebuilding and conflict resolution, exploring everything from the Islamic principles of peace-making, to UN diplomacy, and the impact on climate. Featuring Mark Muller Stuart KC, Andrew Gilmour, and Ebrahim Rasool.

 

Daniel Susskind: A Reckoning with Growth

Friday 23 August 12:15 - 13:15

  • Attend in person
  • Watch online
Expect a discussion which questions the very basis of our current financial reality, in the company of Professor in Economics, Daniel Susskind, whose book Growth: A Reckoning interrogates society’s obsession with economic growth. Acknowledging that…
 

Beyond Borders: Peace for the Planet

Friday 23 August 13:45 - 14:45

  • Attend in person
In the face of our despair over conflicts, what can we learn from those involved first hand in trying to resolve them? And how do conflict and climate interact? Today, Andrew Gilmour (UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights and author of The…
 

Adam Biles & Sunjeev Sahota: State of the Nation

Friday 23 August 15:00 - 16:00

  • Attend in person
Two very different novels take the political and cultural temperature of the nation. Adam Biles reworks an Orwell classic to give us Beasts of England, featuring a premier petting zoo where something is amiss; Rebecca Solnit describes it as ‘as much of…
  • Attend in person
Professor of Anthropology at LSE and Orwell Prize finalist, Alpa Shah’s The Incarcerations is a bold attempt to explore contemporary democracy in India through the story of BK-16 – a group of 16 human rights activists who remain imprisoned as terrorists…
 

Caroline Lucas: Reimagining England

Saturday 24 August 11:45 - 12:45

  • Attend in person
  • Watch online
  • BSL interpreted
  • Captioned
Twice leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, and the Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion from 2010 until she steps down at the next general election, Caroline Lucas this year launches her second book Another England, which fights back…
 

Scotland 2049

Saturday 24 August 13:30 - 13:45

  • Attend in person
If you imagine the future, what does it look like? To celebrate the 25th anniversaries of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament, poet Ryan Van Winkle asked young people across the country what Scotland will look like in 25 years. Through…
 

Scotland 2049

Saturday 24 August 14:00 - 14:15

  • Attend in person
If you imagine the future, what does it look like? To celebrate the 25th anniversaries of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament, poet Ryan Van Winkle asked young people across the country what Scotland will look like in 25 years. Through…