The Ethics of Action for Change: An Enquiry into the Rights and Wrongs of Activism

In partnership with Think Together Sheffield

What change do you want to see in the world? What lengths would you go to make that change happen? Is it ever acceptable to break the law to achieve social change? To what extent should the law protect or restrict our right to protest?

If you’ve ever considered these or other questions about the power and responsibility of being an active citizen, activist or changemaker, you will enjoy this workshop. Facilitated by members of Think Together Sheffield, we will explore and discuss the ethics of taking action for change.

Using an accessible, philosophical approach to thinking, we will facilitate group discussion into a deeper understanding of the ethics of different approaches used in activism. Starting with a consideration of the boundary between violent and non-violent action, participants will develop questions to pursue an inquiry into the ethics of taking action for change.

While the final agenda will be set by participants on the day, questions might include: What does it mean to be an active citizen? What kinds of actions are available to us? How do we determine whether they work? How do we decide which actions are justified?

The session will be highly interactive, giving participants the opportunity to share their ideas to make progress in the topic. We will use breakout rooms for some parts of the discussion. Think Together Sheffield will be recording the session and excerpts may be used in the future on their website.

This is community philosophy, so the speakers are the participants!

The session will be facilitated by members of Think Together Sheffield, a partnership of teachers, trainers, facilitators and academics who use philosophy in their work to enhance learning, communication and wellbeing.