Merthyr Rising Festival 2015

The Waun Common Debates

30^th May 2015, 10am – 3pm

At

Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil

Tickets £5 (Limited number of Free tickets for Staff and Students)

The Strong Communities, Healthier People (SCHeP) initiative, one of Cardiff University’s Flagship Engagement Projects, is sponsoring the Waun Common Debates as part of the Merthyr Rising Festival 2015. These will commemorate the spirit of the original debates held during the Merthyr Rising.  On 30 May 1831 at the Waun Common above Dowlais a mass meeting of over 2,000 workers from Merthyr and Monmouthshire discussed:-

• Petitioning the King for Reform
• The abolition of the Court of Requests
• The state of wages in the iron industry

In the spirit of these original debates the contemporary Waun debates will explore radical ideas of our age and question what is considered to be orthodox thinking.

The Strong Communities Healthier People session will question the modern concept of economic austerity and how it is constructed and reported. Contributors include:

• Ross Ashcroft who established and maintains the Renegade Economist web site that questions traditional explanations of economic matters. (www.Renegadeeconomist.com)
• Professor Steve Keen author of Debunking Economics (http://www.debunkingeconomics.com) which questions neo-classical explanations and models of economics.
• Dr Mike Berry from Cardiff University (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/contactsandpeople/profiles/berry-mike.html) who will be presenting on his work on how the financial crisis was reported by the mainstream media in the UK.

The session will be chaired by Dr Martin O’Neill from the School of Social Sciences and the community engagement lead for SCHeP.

In the spirit of the egalitarianism, radicalism and revolutionary spirit of the original Waun debates this event will seek to foster lively exploration of current economic and political issues.The event is free to attend.

Twitter @SCHePCardiff

FREE TRAVEL TO THE EVENT IS AVAILABLE:

To encourage  university staff and students to join in the debates with local residents, workers and activists free entry and coach transport has been organised to the Waun Debates.  The coach will depart at 9am outside the students union and will return at 4.30pm.  Coach availability is limited and a seat needs to be booked with Mel Evans on Evansm6@cardiff.ac.uk .  Allocation will be on a first come first served basis.