Common Humanity: Making 'us vs. them' history

Sir David Cannadine, one of Britain’s most distinguished historians visits the RSA to provide a new paradigm for historical understanding that emphasises our commonalities, rather than our differences.

 

RSA Keynote

Religion. Nation. Race. Class. Gender.

Many of our historical and political narratives have dramatised our differences and created stark ‘us vs. them’ conflicts. Great works of history have divided the world into categories of opposing groups, further entrenching our attitudes and shaping how we view our present political landscape. Artificial binaries are established and reinforced by the media today – hardline ‘yes’ vs. ‘no’ perspectives seem to be the only viable positions to take on any given issue.

Is there another way of reading and writing our past that describes what we all have in common, rather than what divides us?

Sir David Cannadine, one of Britain’s greatest and most distinguished historians visits the RSA to provide a new paradigm for historical understanding that emphasises our commonalities, rather than our differences.

Speaker: Sir David Cannadine, historian and author.

Chair: Roman Krznaric, a cultural thinker and founding faculty member of  in London