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In an opinion article published in The Times last week, Nigel Biggar argues that public debate over the social recognition of different identities, and of gender identity in particular, has gone too far.
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The Times published an op-ed essay by Nigel Biggar arguing that free academic inquiry is undermined by a lack of civility in public debates between university scholars and urging a recovery of ‘habits of self-restraint’ for the sake of both the universities and democratic society more widely. The article prompted a response from Kim Wagner and James McDougall in The Times Higher Education Supplement,…
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Following Nigel Biggar’s extended response in The Times to the Open Letter criticising the “Ethics and Empire” project, a number of influential figures have emerged to express their support for his proposed reappraisal of Britain’s colonial legacy. On 27 December, the former chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, wrote a letter to The Times sharply criticising the claim that Prof. Biggar was asking ‘the…
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In a recently published essay on patriotism and loyality for the recently launched project “These Islands”, Nigel Biggar discusses the differences between Protestant and Catholic stances towards nationhood in European countries.
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In an article for the first issue in 2018 of the Oxford Magazine, Nigel Biggar takes stock of the controversy surrounding the McDonald Centre’s “Ethics and Empire” project and considers in particular its implications for the academic freedom of students as well as professors. The Oxford Magazine is not an official publication of the University of Oxford, but an independent…
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The 30 November publication of Prof Nigel Biggar’s essay on Britain’s colonial past in The Times, together with the announcement on this website of the McDonald Centre’s “Ethics and Empire” project, has provoked strong reactions from a number of students and academics in Oxford. Common Ground Oxford, a group of undergraduates protesting the ‘structures of racism, classism and colonialism’ that purportedly…
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In a recent issue of the prestigious Third World Quarterly , the political scientist Bruce Gilley published an article exploring the positive case for colonialism. The article provoked an intense backlash from several quarters and forced Gilley to withdraw it. In a recent op-ed essay for The Times , Nigel Biggar defended Gilley’s approach by noting that dispassionate scrutiny of the historical record uncovers many positive aspects…
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Today saw the publication of an essay by Nigel Biggar for These Islands, an organisation dedicated to articulating and promoting an appreciation of the virtues of the United Kingdom. The essay offers an account of three things that the U.K. is good for: the better external security of liberal democracy in Europe, a degree of multinational solidarity of which the E.U.…