WALTER HUMES
on the intellectual
life of a city
A hunger for ideas
Some months ago I was invited to contribute to the 2009-10 lecture programme of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow. It was an honour to be asked and I readily agreed, offering a lecture entitled ‘Education, Citizenship and Democracy; the threat of corporate culture’.
I had been vaguely aware of the existence of the society but knew little about its origins or current activities. It dates from 1802 and was originally established ‘for the discussion of subjects connected solely with the Arts and Sciences’. During the early years scientific topics tended to dominate. This was not surprising in view of the massive social, economic and technological changes that were taking place in 19th-century Britain. The rapid growth of population, the massive expansion of cities such as Glasgow, and the many advances in manufacturing, all meant that practical solutions were being sought for a range of pressing problems. Thus subjects for discussion included public health, sewage, water supply, heating and lighting, transport, fires and explosions, safety on the railways and at sea. As the society developed, topics dealing with architecture and the fine arts, philosophy and theology, and sociology and history were more strongly represented. This year’s programme includes lectures on prison reform, women in the theatre, Darwin and creationism, national libraries, and sustainable communities.
Membership of the society has fluctuated over the years, with a peak of more than 1,000 in the period after the First World War, no doubt reflecting the demand for new ideas to meet the task of post-war reconstruction. Current membership remains very healthy and lectures regularly attract attendances of over 300. The age profile of the audience tends to be on the ‘mature’ side: many of the regulars are retired professional people who take a keen interest in developments in their own and other fields. For this reason I decided it might be prudent not to use a line I sometimes employ in lectures. I thought it would be tempting fate to say ‘I try to be sensitive to signs that some members of the audience may be giving up the will to live’.
On the day of my lecture, I was naturally a little anxious that my contribution would be of interest to those attending. My apprehension was somewhat dissipated by a casual comment from a former colleague who had come along. Before the start I had been fitted with a head microphone of the kind used by pop stars: it is a lightweight plastic device which hooks round the ear, is taped to the cheek and, from the front, is barely visible. My former colleague took one look at me as she entered the lecture theatre and said ‘Very Madonna’. I knew I was among friends.
My central argument was that a healthy democracy requires a wide range of public, private and voluntary institutions representing different aims and values, but that this diversity was at risk because of the extent to which ‘corporate culture’ had come to dominate all sectors of society, including schools and universities. Corporate culture exhibits a number of dangerous characteristics: it values organisational loyalty above truth; it employs boastful rhetoric which often masks reality; it subjects staff to constant restructuring in order to shape them into the desired corporate image; it promotes a form of ‘groupthink’ which discourages creativity and individuality; above all, it erodes trust, respect and intellectual freedom. I argued that academics had to show greater courage in opposing these trends within universities but that they also needed to be more outward-looking. They should be prepared to take on the role of public intellectuals and, on occasion, challenge political power. Although I provoked some disagreement, the range and quality of questions I received at the end of the lecture indicated a pleasing level of engagement with the issues.
The Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow has made an important contribution to the intellectual life of the city for more than 200 years. Its continuing success indicates that, despite all the concerns that are expressed about cultural ‘dumbing down’, there is an appetite for ideas among a significant minority of the population. This is reflected in other ways: in the work of writers and artists who operate outside the mainstream; in the activities of many organisations that depend for their survival on the voluntary efforts of individuals rather than official support from central or local government; in campaigning groups that lobby for reform in important areas of social provision (eg, care of the elderly, public transport, renewable energy); and in the growing interest in online publications (such as Scottish Review) which provide an alternative source of ideas to those controlled by the political and media establishment. At a time when public disenchantment with so many of the official agencies of society is high, this kind of informal social activism should give us some hope for the future.
12.11.09
Issue no 168
The woman from Kabul
Afghanistan and remembrance I
Kenneth Roy
on a visitor who personified
the qualities of the Afghan
[click here]
The white poppy
Afghanistan and remembrance II
David Mackenzie
and Andrew Sarle
[click here]
Islay McLeod’s straw poll
Who is going to win in
Glasgow tonight? We have
the result in advance
[click here]
The gentry’s cloth
Peter MacAulay
People wove tweed when
there was no other work
[click here]
A hunger for ideas
Walter Humes
on the intellectual
life of a city
[click here]
More than a bus operator
Richard Benjamin
leaps to the defence of
Ann Gloag. Sort of
[click here]
Next edition:
Tuesday