How to handle rapid change in societies ? Make the moderate majority matter

Tensions are rising worldwide as countries experience rapid change provoked by migration, technology and globalisation – from Europe to the Middle East, Asia to the Americas. The ways in which societies work and the identities that people hold are ever more contested, risking conflict and chaos. In particular, a serious and antagonistic gap is growing between the religious and the secular, and between people increasingly attached to their roots and traditions and others invested in a global environment.

So how to break out of this deadlock? By strengthening the voices of the moderates – the silent majority who fluctuate between these aspirations and want to make them compatible rather than antagonistic. Here Jean-Christophe Bas offers insights from two decades experience at the World Bank, the United Nations and the Council of Europe, with tangible and scalable stories from around the world to show that there is hope to live together in peace beyond our differences.

Speakers
Jean-Christophe Bas

Date and time
11 Nov 2015, 2:00pm – 2:35pm

Venue
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum: Studio