FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND SOCIETY | Lecture
Lecture: Honorary doctor Linda Woodhead
Thursday 15 October, 09:15 - 10:00
Orkanen, OR: C128, Nordenskiöldsgatan 10.
‘Foul arsehole’: Offence and the future of courtesy
Welcome to an open lecture with Linda Woodhead, new honorary doctor at the Faculty of Education and Society.
About the lecture
Offence seems to be on the rise, judging by online content and political rhetoric. This lecture will suggest, however, that it is not the quantity of offence (or offenders) that is increasing so much as its intensity and our response to it.
One task of the lecture is to illuminate the cultural, institutional and technological factors driving the current climate of offence. Woodhead considers the incentives that now exist for both giving and taking offence, using universities as an example (and mentioning ‘free speech’). She relates this to the past role of the churches in dealing with ‘sins of the tongue’, which has been replaced with attempts to provide more liberal, secular alternatives.
The second task is to offer an account of offence that sees it as parasitic on everyday practices and expectations of courtesy (courtesy being something more fundamental than ‘politeness’).
The lecture ends on an optimistic note: with a reminder that everyday courtesy is much more important than the rhetoric of politics or social media, and that courtesy is still alive and well.
Linda Woodhead
Linda Woodhead is a sociologist of religion. Woodhead’s research has focused on issues of secularisation, diversity, contemporary spirituality, and women’s religiosity. She has been based at King’s College London since 2021.
