CounterpointStimulating debate with the British Council

The influential French sociologist of culture, Pierre Bourdieu, famously referred to an ‘economy of cultural goods’. Inequalities in that type of economy, he argued, affect people and their life chances as much as the inequalities of income we are more used to reflecting upon.

Counterpoint is turning the spotlight on the interplay of culture and class today. In Culture and Class John Holden argues that it is essential we forge a new relationship between the two, asserting the central role of culture in the creation of a more egalitarian society. Free download of the pamphlet, and podcast of the launch debate, after the jump.

Counterpoint invites you to the launch of John Holden’s pamphlet Culture and Class at The Circus Space on 7 September. In a debate chaired by Catherine Fieschi, Director Counterpoint, the panel and guests will be discussing the urgent questions around the role of culture in the promotion of social justice, in the Creation Studio of the UK’s premier circus school.

It's not exactly a good time for Britain's far-right radical movements.

While the BNP is rocked by internal squabbling, the English Defence League is not doing well in its demonstrations or public image.

Counterpoint will publish Campus Radicalism online on September 27. The report, by researcher Nehal Panchamia, takes the pulse of radicalism across UK campuses today, discovering what it means to be a ‘student radical’ and the surprising role of the university in nurturing disengagement...

How is Cloud Culture transforming lives around the world? Counterpoint is in the running to present research into this question at SXSW interactive 2011. The research presented will challenge assumptions about the relationship between cultures and technology, highlighting the flow of ideas from the perceived global periphery to the perceived centre. Thank you to everyone who voted for or commented on our submission to the SXSW panelpicker. Maybe we'll see you in Austin!

de.bunked is ‘a diverse collective of performance makers established out of the MA in Advanced threatre Practice at Central School for Speech and Drama’ announced the brochure. But I have to say that nothing in the programme notes prepared me for the unusual and provoking evening directed by Rob Drummer at Bethnal Green’s People Show Studios, under the title, Whose Cloud is it anyway?

If events continue as they have been, historians are likely to look back one day and write about how Marmite (yes, the spread) brought down the BNP.

Yesterday, the Lancaster Unity blog revealed that the BNP's legal director Lee John Barnes has resigned from the party.

John Holden, author of Counterpoint's pamphlet Culture and Class (forthcoming, September 2010) talks to Elizabeth Silva, Professor of Sociology at the UK's Open University and co-author of Culture, Class, Distinction.

Students of all disciplines, civil society practitioners and other young professionals with an active interest in international affairs, culture and identity will be tackling the issue of nation branding – what it is, who does it, and how – at the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) event “The Future of Europe: National Brands and Regional Integration”.