Political Evil and the Challenge of Forgiveness

A series of events on the theme 'Political Evil and the Challenge of Forgiveness' are taking place in York on the 2nd, 3rd and 10th June.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, there is no scarcity of political events that one can easily associate with the label “evil”. Genocide, totalitarianism, and torture are just some of the many faces of evil that continue to confront us today. Understanding the complex nature of atrocities is an essential precondition for learning from past mistakes and preventing future catastrophes. 

In organising this series of events, we were guided by Hannah Arendt’s great insight that storytelling can best disclose the complexity of evil and of complicity in it. The two films and the academic workshop problematize the various faces of political evil and highlight the challenges it poses to forgiveness. Our hope is that they will engage the audience in a nuanced reflection about the individual’s responsibility and capacity to resist and overcome political evil in its multiple impersonations. 

Full details can be found here. 

Panel discussion on Ukraine

There will be a special panel discussion taking place tomorrow on the events in Ukraine. It is a joint event held by the Department of Politics and the University of York European Union Society.

On the panel:

· Dr Nina Caspersen – Senior Lecturer at York

· Dr Nick Ritchie - Senior Lecturer at York

· Professor Peter Rutland – Wesleyan University, and visiting fellow at York

The event will take place on Friday 7th March at 1pm in room B/B/003. All are welcome.

Bob Goodin on Rough Justice - 29th January

Professor Bob Goodin from the University of Essex will be giving the first departmental seminar of the new term. His topic will be 'Rough Justice'. Professor Goodin is the founding editor of the Journal of Political Philosophy and is world-renowned for his work in political theory and public policy.

The seminar begins at 12:15pm on Wednesday 29th January in D/104. All are welcome.