Dr Augusto Zimmermann, WALTA President, has been invited to participate as a panellist at the forthcoming Disrupted Festival of Ideas.
Organised by the State Library of Western Australia, the Disrupted Festival will be held on Saturday 7 November as a day of free events including panel discussions and discussions centred around the theme of ‘a better world’.
Dr Zimmermann will be one the participants of the panel for an timely discussion concerning the meaning of “Cancel Culture”.
- WHEN: 7 November 2020, from 5.45 pm to 6.45 pm
- WHERE: Main Stage – Perth Cultural Centre (Cnr Francis and William St, Northbridge, WA 6003)
Other panellists include:
- Margaret Allen (Chief Executive Officer, WA State Library)
- Kai Schweizer (sexologist and LGBTQIA+ specialist)
- Catherine Archer (Senior Lecturer, Murdoch University)
- Graeme Paton (Reseacher, Murdoch University)
The panel explores what Cancel Culture actually means. It will be seeking to address the following questions:
- What is cancel culture? Does Cancel Culture actually exist?
- Is it just a term utilised by power brokers to crush dissent by militant millennials?
- Or is Cancel Culture a real thing and a threat to nuanced debate and the safe exchange of ideas?
Dr Zimmermann is also professor and Head of Law at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education. He is an internationally known legal scholar and is broadly recognised as one of the nation’s strongest proponents of free speech.
“Nobody denies the harm of hate speech, but it makes a foolish assumption that free speech favours those with more power. Anyone who has a basic knowledge of history knows very well that protecting free speech is about giving voice to the powerless against the more powerful established interests”, Dr Zimmermann says.
According to Dr Zimmermann: ‘The powerful left-wing establishment have a particular interest in preserving the status quo by suppressing reasonable debate and the free-exchange of ideas. These left-wing reactionaries have been doing it before we knew it as “cancel culture”, back when it was just called ‘political correctness’.”
On the other hand, Dr Zimmermann also says: “Although most culture-cancelling comes from the radical left, conservatives may also engage in this behaviour, as well. I can’t tell you how many times so called conservatives have demanded my tertiary institution, and even the church I have been attending, that I should be reprimanded for expressing opinions they happen to disagree”.
WALTA invites everyone who truly loves freedom and real tolerance to attend this significant event and hear what our distinguished President has to say about this important topic.
