Living Freedom Summer School 2025
Supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme.
Author: Felice Basboll, history student, Living Freedom alumnus and Project Assistant.
We can celebrate some significant victories for the cause of freedom in recent weeks – for women’s rights and for free speech on campus, and against the trend to treat psychological harm as grounds for criminalising dissent.
But responses to such gains make it clear that we cannot rely on the courts or on legislation to protect our freedoms.
The UK Supreme Court may recognise biological reality, but organisations, politicians and even members of the judiciary seem determined to make the law bend to their own political prejudices. The universities free speech act may prevail, but institutions such as University of Sussex still seek to restrain free expression. The High Court can elevate tolerance over taking offence, but that same speech will still be recorded as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI).
Without a culture of free speech permeating throughout society, freedom is difficult to realise and sustain. Building that culture ideally needs to start with winning a new generation of young people to the cause of free speech.
This is where Living Freedom Summer School comes in. Open to everyone between the ages of 18 and 30, and supported by the Free Speech Union in the form of a special scholarships programme, this three-day residential event takes place in London in June.
This is the place to be for any young person who is interested in dissecting, debating and discussing the challenges to – and opportunities for – realising freedom today.
Of course, making the case for freedom today can be difficult – not least because freedom related questions are invariably inseparable from the antagonisms of the culture wars, from gender to race to religion.
Living Freedom creates a space where people are not just free, but positively encouraged, to challenge ideas – and be open to being challenged on their own views – all without fear of being cancelled.
Yet it’s not just a case of engaging with – rather than escaping – the culture wars. Freedom presents a challenge to us all, because it is genuinely difficult to work out where we should stand on issues.
Take calls to ban misinformation – an important topic this year. It seems clear we need to fight online censorship and the mission creep of bodies such as Ofcom. But in a world disdainful of authority, does this risk a worrying free for all – as Douglas Murray recently pointed out to the alternative media giant Joe Rogan? What is the role of expertise? Is a diverse media necessarily a trustworthy media? And in the fight for truth, how best do we challenge untruths? These are complex issues that anyone fighting for free speech must be able to answer.
We can help find at least some of the answers if we return to first principles – this is why some of our lecturers will look at the foundations of freedom – concepts like privacy, citizenship, and dissent. We’ll also track the origins of many contemporary debates – for example, looking at the roots of narcissism or the evolution of hate speech laws from their origins in the aftermath of World War II.
And through panels and workshops there will be no shortage of time to look at a vast array of 21st century issues, from how to reclaim freedom given the straitjacket of wellbeing and mental health to what we should make of claims that, from OnlyFans to online influencers, the digital world is destroying our youth.
At the end of the day, the point is that YOU get to have your say. But also with the onus on you – and on all of us collectively – to work out the answers.
Don’t just take our word for it. Past participants reflected that this is a school for “open debate, honest discussion, and the persistent encouragement of individual thought.” And that we bring together “the friendliest and most open people”, all “with interesting (and often conflicting!) ideas but all united by their passion for freedom and debate.”
Every generation must renew freedom for its own time. Living Freedom gives young people the tools to do precisely that. Don’t miss out – apply now!
Living Freedom Summer School takes place in London, June 26 to 28. For more information and to apply, see here.
