Where Next for Democracy?
Julius Horvath, Ögmundur Jónasson, Sue Mendus, Baroness Prashar, Stein Ringen, Angelia Wilson

• Saturday 10 June 2017, 6.00PM to 7.30pm
• Free admission
  Booking required
• Ron Cooke Hub, University of York (map|getting to campus)
• Wheelchair accessible

Event details

We explore the challenges for diplomacy and the rule of law in the years ahead. Among the speakers is Ögmundur Jónasson, Honorary Associate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and former member of the Icelandic Parliament.

Supported by The Morrell Centre for Toleration which is generously funded by the C and JB Morrell Trust.

Speakers:

• Julius Horvath, Central European University (CEU)
• Ögmundur Jónasson, Honorary Associate, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• Sue Mendus, University of York (Chair)
• The Rt Hon Baroness Prashar
• Stein Ringen, Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford
• Angelia Wilson, University of Manchester

About the speakers

Julius Horvath is Acting Dean of Central European University (CEU) Business School in Budapest, Hungary and Professor in the Department of Economics. He is a former (2006-2011, 2014-2016) Head of the Department of Economics and also former Head of Department of International Relations (2002-2006). His main interest lies in international economic policy issues, political economy of monetary relations, and history of economic thought. At CEU he teaches courses on Global Economy: Emergence and Issues, History of Economic Thought, International Economic Policy and Political Economy of International Money. He has published in journals such as the Journal of Comparative Economics, Contemporary Economic Policy, Applied Economics, Economic Systems and the Journal of Economic Development. He has also published chapters at publishing houses including Palgrave MacMillan, Edgar Elgar and Logos Moscow. He was a Member of the Slovak and Czech Accreditation Committees, and the Chair of the Slovak Economic Association. He serves on the editorial boards of 11 academic journals.

Ögmundur Jónasson is a former journalist, trade union leader and politician and currently a writer and commentator. He was chairman of the Federation of State and Municipal Employees in Iceland for over 20 years and served as a member of the Icelandic Parliament from 1995 until the end of 2016. He was Chairman of the Non-Aligned Parliamentary group from 1998 to 1999, and subsequently became the Chairman of the Left Green Movement’s Parliamentary group from 1999 to 2009. He is the former Minister of the Interior (2011-2013); Minister of Justice and Human Rights and Minister of Transport, Communications and Local Government (2010-2011); and Minister of Health (2009). After leaving government in 2013 he became the Chairman of the Parliament’s Constitutional and Supervisory Committee and a Representative to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Currently he is Honorary Associate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

After completing his studies at the University of Edinburgh, Ögmundur started his career in journalism and broadcasting at Icelandic State Radio and TV, and for a number of years he was also part-time Lecturer in Modern History and Political Theory at the University of Iceland.

Sue Mendus is Morrell Professor Emerita of Political Philosophy with the Department of Politics, University of York and the former Director of the Morrell Centre for Toleration.  She has published widely on topics in modern and historical political philosophy, with a special emphasis on the concept of toleration. In 2004 she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, and from 2008 to 2012 she was Vice President (Social Sciences) of the Academy. She is a Founding Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and in 2012 she was made a CBE for services to Political Science.

She was the First Civil Service Commissioner (2000-2005), the inaugural Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission (2000-2010) and Chairman of the Parole Board of England and Wales (1997-2000). She has also held Non-Executive Director positions at ITV, the Cabinet Office, Unite PLC, Channel 4, Energy Saving Trust and Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith Health Authority. In addition, she has held senior positions at the Salzburg Seminar, the National Literacy Trust and the Royal Commonwealth Society.

Baroness Prashar was born in Kenya and attended the Universities of Leeds and Glasgow. In recognition of her contribution to community relations, she was awarded a CBE in 1995 and given a peerage in 1999. She sits in the House of Lords as a Crossbencher.

Stein Ringen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. His most recent book is The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century (Hong Kong University Press August 2016),

His blog on the whys and hows of democracy is on ThatsDemocracy.com. His earlier books include What Democracy Is For: On Freedom and Moral Government (Princeton 2007), The Korean State and Social Policy: How South Korea Lifted Itself from Poverty and Dictatorship to Affluence and Democracy (co-authored, Oxford 2011), and Nation of Devils: Democracy and the Problem of Obedience (Yale University Press, 2013).

He was a Professor of Welfare Studies at the University of Stockholm and has held visiting professorships and fellowships in Paris, Berlin, Prague, Barbados, Jerusalem, Sydney, and Harvard University. He has been Assistant Director General in the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, a consultant to the United Nations, and a news and feature reporter with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

Angelia Wilson is the Chair of the Political Studies Association and a Professor of Politics at the University of Manchester. Her research explores the intersections of American social conservatism, Christianity, feminist political theory and policies regulating sexuality. Her current research project considers the political strategies of the American right, particularly the Christian Right, and has involved participant observation at large political gatherings, analysis of over ten thousand emails from lobbying organizations to constituents, educational material and elite interviews.

Angelia's books include Why Europe is lesbian and gay friendly (and why America never will be) (SUNY, 2013), Below the Belt (Continuum, 2000); A Simple Matter of Justice? (ed.,Continuum, 1994); and Activating Theory (co-ed, Lawrence & Wishart, 1993). Her work has appeared in various academic journals such as New Political Science, Politics & Religion, Politics & Gender, Contemporary Politics, Critical Social Policy, and the American Review of Politics. She is an experienced political commentator appearing on BBC World Service, BBC One News, BBC Breakfast Show, The Big Question, CBBC Newsround and various BBC Radio programmes.

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