The East Kent Salon is a forum for debate, launched in 2019. It is part of a network based in cities including Manchester, London, Leeds, Liverpool and Zurich, and is inspired by the annual London 'Battle of Ideas' festival run by the Academy of Ideas.

We acknowledge a debt to the ‘enlightenment salons’ of the past, which emerged from the literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries. They hosted many of the great thinkers of the time, such as Diderot, Rousseau and Voltaire. The salons reflected the intellectual ferment of their age, and acted as the seeding ground for ideas that would usher in the new age of democracy and the freedoms which have shaped the society we live in. They were precursors of a 'public sphere' through which the public could be a part of debating and shaping the ideas of the age that in turn shape their lives.

This spirit is much needed in the present and for the future. In 2019 the value of free speech and democracy itself have been called into question, whilst online public fora often resemble echo chambers. By contrast the salon is a space where ideas can be put forward and where audiences can listen, discuss and argue back. Our discussions are always pitched towards an interested general public.

The salons are held at public venues in Canterbury and elsewhere in East Kent. Discussions will generally be introduced by speakers, but there will always be an emphasis on input from the audience. Events are designed to be conversational, ensuring that as many people as possible have the opportunity to speak their minds.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Book Launch: Joanna Williams discusses her latest book, 'How Woke Won: The Elitist Movement That Threatens Democracy, Tolerance and Reason'

For our post-Covid relaunch we are excited to have locally based social commentator and author Joanna Williams discussing her new book: How Woke Won: The Elitist Movement That Threatens Democracy, Tolerance and Reason (John Wilkes / Spiked 2022). 

Date: Tuesday 28th June, 7-9pm

Venue: The City Arms Tavern, Butchery Lane, Canterbury

Tickets: £5 on the door / please reserve if possible via Eventbrite.

Politics, academia & corporations now seem beholden to new orthodoxies around gender, race & identity. How Woke Won explores how we got here, and why what poses as a radical outlook is embraced by the privileged. Williams argues that those interested in a free, egalitarian & democratic society must tackle wokeness head-on.

Bring your thoughts on the phenomenon of 'woke'. In East Kent Salon style, the audience gets plenty of opportunity to contribute and question, as well as to listen.

Commendations for the book:

‘This book is the essential guide for our era of confusion and incoherence as moral revolutionaries tear down statues, institutions, and widely held values. With clear thinking and gripping storytelling, Williams explains how how a minority of the elites in Britain and America were able to intimidate the rest of the elites into silence or complicity, imposing a "revolution from above" that is anti-democratic and cruel. Anyone who wants to restore sanity, beauty, or simple humanity to our public life should read How Woke Won’. --Jonathan Haidt,  author of The Righteous Mind, Co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind.

‘A brave and lucid book’ – Robert Tombs

‘One of Britain’s sharpest writers on woke’ – Julia Hartley-Brewer

‘A searing read’ – Paul Embery

Joanna Williams is a columnist for Spiked and writes regularly for the Spectator and The Times. She also regularly appears on the BBC, Sky News, talkRADIO and GB News. Williams taught at the University of Kent for over 10 years and has extensive experience in think-tanks. She is the founder and director of Cieo, a new think-tank for a new political era. Her previous books include Women vs Feminism (Emerald, 2017), Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity (Palgrave, 2016) and Consuming Higher Education (Bloomsbury, 2012).

Get your copy here, or for Kindle, here.


at