Roger Hallam on the Meaning of Revolution in the 21st Century
Thursday January 18th
Doors & drinks 6.30pm; Talk starts 7pm
In Roger Hallam's first talk for Kairos in April 2023, he argued that whatever you think about revolutions they are now inevitable, given the overwhelming evidence that existing political regimes are unable to reduce emissions quickly enough to prevent climate breakdown.
This breakdown will create a "fiscal crisis of the state" - it will run out of money - and regimes will fall. The key question then is whether these developments lead to fascism or some form of progressive revolutionary change in politics and society.
In this second talk, Roger will take a step back to ask what are we actually aiming to do. What does it mean to create a successful nonviolent and progressive revolution today? Based on his last decade of research into how to create social change, and his practical experience of initiating many of the biggest civil resistance projects around the western world, he will come up with a surprising answer. We need to focus on the dynamics of small group socialibility, which turns out to be the key space where pro-social human motivation and collective action are created.
Roger will argue that the whole paraphernalia of our view of society – our conceptual schema of politics and economics - prevents us from seeing how people actually tick and behave. He will propose an alternative, theoretical way of seeing human interaction and more importantly how this can be used to create the practical frames and designs which will lead to revolutionary success.
This talk was originally due to take place on November 23rd 2023 but had to be rescheduled due to illness.
Kairos, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TG
Doors open at 6.30pm for drinks. The talk will start at 7pm followed by a one-pot vegan supper and discussion.
£8 members, £15 non-members. Includes food.