Vice-Chancellor’s Open Lecture presented by Lord Hain

Dear students and colleagues

You are formally invited to the Vice-Chancellor’s Open Lecture, which takes place on Monday, 24 July 2017, at the New Lecture Theatre, Upper Campus. The lecture, entitled “Trump, Brexit and Globalisation” will be presented by the Right Honourable Lord Peter Hain of Neath, a well-known anti-apartheid campaigner, facilitator of the Northern Ireland peace process and recipient of the Grand Companion of OR Tambo (silver).

The Vice-Chancellor’s Open Lectures provide an opportunity for anyone in the Cape Town community, whether they are connected to the university or not, to have the benefit of hearing first-hand from academics, researchers and other social role players who have distinguished themselves in their areas of expertise. Attendance is free of charge as the series is one of the ways that the university seeks to give back to the Cape Town community.

Lord Hain argues that if populist backlashes against political elites in the USA and Europe mean producing US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and Brexit, and mean that globalisation and free trade are unsustainable, the neoliberal world economic order must change.

He was a Labour MP for Neath between 1991 and 2015, and a Senior Minister for 12 years in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments, during which time he served as Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, secretary of state for Work and Pensions and as Leader of the House of Commons. Lord Hain was also Europe Minister, Foreign Minister and Energy Minister. He chaired the UN Security Council and negotiated international treaties curbing nuclear proliferation and banning the conflict-inducing trade in blood diamonds.

Lord Hain’s childhood was spent in apartheid South Africa, a period that came to an end when his parents were forced into exile in 1966. A leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Anti-Nazi League in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s, he obtained degrees at Queen Mary College, London, and the University of Sussex.

Over his nearly 50 years in politics, Lord Hain has written or edited 21 books – including a biography of former President Nelson Mandela, Mandela (2010); his own memoirs, Outside In (2012); Ad & Wal: Values, duty, sacrifice in apartheid South Africa (2014); and Back to the Future of Socialism (2015). He is also the author of numerous pamphlets and media articles, and he has appeared widely on radio and television, as well as being an experienced public speaker.

Please RSVP by Thursday, 20 July 2017.

Contact Megan White or call 021 650 3730 for further information.

Sincerely

Dr Max Price
Vice-Chancellor

Read previous communications:

• From the VC’s Desk
• Campus Announcements