From Tahir to Trafalgar?

LUP Forum: “From Tahir to Trafalgar? Protest, Petrol Bombs, Policy”
Tuesday 5th April, 2011

What is happening on the streets of London?! More than 250,000 people, from a wide range of economic, social, and generational backgrounds (toddlers to off duty police officers to grandmothers) marched through central London last Saturday in fiery protest against government spending cuts.

Much of the event was peaceful, upbeat, even carnivalesque. Some of it was aggressive (occupation of elite institutions like Fortnum & Mason) and violent (Trafalgar Square burning; hundreds of arrests). Are these mass protests against government spending cuts related to the fires of popular revolution sweeping across the Middle East?

Is the violence perpetrated by a lunatic fringe of yobs, as the government claims, or does it reflect a more pervasive outrage against government repudiation of fundamental social services and citizen rights? Will the protests force changes in government policy?

The time to engage with these stunning developments has come upon us all, and the London Program will do so by hosting a Forum on the most pressing geopolitical issue of our day. LUP students do not need to advance book: just be there!

Forum Panelists:

Moderator: London Undergraduate Program Director Greg Kucich;

Forum Panelists: LUP Professor Richard Heffernan; LUP Student Veronica Vos; LUP Professor Clive Bloom; LUP Student Patrick Covney.

Photos of the event:

LUP Forum: “From Tahir to Trafalgar? Protest, Petrol Bombs, Policy”