Local people are invited to a new monthly event to discuss issues that are central to society, kicking off with Euroscepticism, tonight, Monday 28 January at the Raven Pub, Bath.
The Open Café is a new initiative to encourage people in the local community to engage with ideas in a relaxed and informal environment, with the evening opened by a guest speaker.
Dr Nick Startin, a lecturer in French & European Studies in the University’s Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, will open the first meeting. His research focuses on the Far Right in Contemporary Europe and on the impact of Euroscepticism on nation states.
He said: “Opposition to the EU (commonly known as Euroscepticism) has become an increasingly persistent and embedded phenomenon across the EU 27. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty, when ‘Europe’ embraced a political dynamic, was a watershed moment in galvanizing
opposition in the UK and beyond.
“More recently the crisis in the Eurozone has further re-enforced hostility across the continent as Europe’s political leaders have struggled to resolve the sovereign debt crisis. As recent events in the UK have illustrated Euroscepticism is increasingly moving from the margins to the mainstream.
“The purpose of the discussion is to demonstrate how and why Euroscepticism has become such a persistent phenomenon in many member states and to analyse the potential consequences for the UK and Europe as a whole.”
The Open Café starts at 8pm in the Raven Pub and will run on the fourth Monday of every month. For more information please visit the Open Cafe website or or contact the organisers by email.