Whose Cosmopolitanism?
Whose Cosmopolitanism? Launch Festival, March 2009
In March 2009 RICC held an academic and cultural festival to celebrate its launch. Over 200 people attending the town hall debate and question time, all of which was recorded. Watch videos including provocations on the topic of "Whose Cosmopolitanism?" by the RICC Directors, presentations by Professors David Harvey, Jacqueline Rose and Tariq Ramadan, and a disussion panel with Don Flynn (Migrants’ Rights Network), Irene Khan (Amnesty International), Sir Richard Leese (Manchester City Council), Alex Poots (Manchester International Festival), Katya Sander (Artist, based in Copenhagen and Berlin) .
Programme of Events
Monday 2 March
Writers' Evening (with the Centre for New Writing)
Featuring creative writers: Jackie Kay and Joe Pemberton.
Tuesday 3 March, Manchester Town Hall
Debating Cosmopolitan Cultures: Common Places/Imagined Politics (2-5pm)
This academic panel responded to the specificities of the current moment – a world characterised by an unprecedented global rescaling and accelerated speed and intensity of transnational communication, seeking to address issues that lie at the heart of the tension between local affiliations and a universal imperative. This event was opened by Professor Simon J Gaskell, Vice President (Research), The University of Manchester.
Panellists: Prof. David Harvey (City University of New York) Prof. Tariq Ramadan (St Antony’s College, Oxford) and Prof. Jacqueline Rose (University of London)
This panel was structured around four provocations written by the RICC chairs:
- Provocation of Prof. Nina Glick Schiller
- Provocation of Prof. Jackie Stacey
- Provocation of Prof. Galin Tihanov
- Provocation of Prof. Gyan Prakash
Responses to provocations:
Whose Cosmopolitanism? Festival Reception (5-6.30pm)
The Reception was opened by Nanchester City Lord Mayor Councillor Mavis Smitheman, with Professor Alistair Ulph (Vice-President and Dean of Faculty, The University of Manchester), Professor David Farrell (Head of School, School of Social Sciences, The University of Manchester), and Professor Kersti Börjars (Head of School, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, The University of Manchester).
Claiming the City: Belonging and Exclusion (6.30-8pm)
How do people develop a sense of belonging to a place? Who has rights to a city, a region or a nation? Why do some people find difference so hard to tolerate? Who is different anyway? How have new global insecurities changed what it means to be a citizen? These are the kinds of questions that face us in our new research centre on 'cosmopolitan cultures' and we shall be debating them with panelists working in different fields (NGOs; creative arts; journalism; politics).
In the style of BBC Question Time, we invited the audience to pose their questions to the panel who shared their reflections on cosmopolitanism and its relevance to vital social issues. Question Time Panel moderated by Jim Hancock (Manchester Evening News) Don Flynn (Migrants’ Rights Network), Irene Khan (Amnesty International), Sir Richard Leese (Manchester City Council), Alex Poots (Manchester International Festival), and Katya Sander (Artist, based in Copenhagen and Berlin).
Wednesday 4 March, University of Manchester / Cornerhouse
Workshops with Professors David Harvey, Tariq Ramadan and Jaqueline Rose
Professors David Harvey, Tariq Ramadan and Jacqueline Rose each held workshops providing the opportunity for ongoing debate of issues that arose in the sessionDebating Cosmopolitan Cultures: Common Places/ Imagined Politics. Students, academic staff and members of the public were able to engage in the discussions in these small group workshops.
Screening of Jia Zhangke's 24 City/Ershisi chengji (2008)
Supported by the Confucius Institute at The University of Manchester. Introduction to the film by Felicia Chan (RICC). This screening took place at Cornerhouse, Manchester.
Art Project - February and March 2009
'If you read this, I'll give it to you', by Katya Sander
In the lead-up to the launch festival (February and March), RICC sponsored an artistic intervention into the cities of Manchester and Salford. Katya Sander (artist, based in Copenhagen and Berlin) enacts complex ideas through deceptively simple interventions.
Thousands of pin-badges were released into the cities, each bearing the statement "If you read this, I’ll give it to you (but then you must wear it)". Each badge and its statement forms a social contract between those who wear it, and those who read the statement and choose to act upon it. Katya Sander's participation was supported by Arts Council England (Grants for the Arts) and The Danish Arts Council. Thanks also to Manchester Beacon and The Salford Restoration Office.