An Ambivalent Ideal: Challenges to an Ethic of Solidarity

2024: Recognizing Strangers: Solidarity and Christian Ethics

This year the Bampton Lectures will be given by the Rt Revd Dr Rowan Williams PC, FBA, FRSL, FLSW. A former Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop of Wales, Rowan Williams has written extensively on faith in the public square. In these lectures, Dr Williams will return to the theme of solidarity, exploring its roots in Catholic Social Thought and exploring how a solidarity-shaped ethic might serve to address some of the issues at the heart of our public life. 

The lectures will take place on Tuesday 27 February and Tuesday 5 March 2024. For graduate students, there will be an additional seminar to discuss the themes of the lectures. Further details are available from the Faculty of Theology and Religion.

 An Ambivalent Ideal: Challenges to an Ethic of Solidarity
Tuesday 27 February at 11.30am at the University Church

Does the ideal presuppose too smoothly convergent an idea of social interests? How is actual conflict of interest negotiated in this framework? The lecture will examine critiques of some aspects of a solidarity-shaped ethic from various writers, including Kenneth Leech and Gillian Rose, and will look at ways of clarifying the discourse around the subject to allow for a more critical and nuanced model.