A discussion with Chris Patten and Coline Covington Hosted by Gerard Fromm

On 6th January 2021 more than 50 pro-Democracy activists were arrested in Hong Kong. That same day pro-Trump rioters stormed Capitol Hill in Washington, DC accusing the US Government of “stealing” the vote. The juxtaposition of these events raises questions about why democracy is under attack, what happens when people feel they have no voice and no future, and the growing appeal of authoritarianism. The most fundamental issue that confronts us is how liberal democracy will survive if it is attacked both from outside – from Russia and China for example – and from within.

Please note: The event will be recorded and available to watch for one month. A link and password will be emailed to all those registered after the event to access the recording.

Chris Patten was a British Minister, the last Governor of Hong Kong and a European Commissioner for External Relations. Since 2003 he has been Chancellor of Oxford University. He has written several books the last of which, First Confession, was published in 2016.

Coline Covington is a Jungian Analyst and a Fellow of International Dialogue Initiative. She was chair of the British Psychoanalytic Council and Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Her recent book For Goodness Sake: Bravery, Patriotism and Identity highlights the importance of our political beliefs to our personal identity and sense of self.

Gerard Fromm is a Distinguished Scholar of the Erikson Institute at the Austen Riggs Center. He is the current president of the International Dialogue Initiative and a past president of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations.

This event is co-sponsored by International Dialogue Initiative and Phoenix Publishing House.

The fourth SAP Du Maurier film event will be “The Birds” (1963), directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock and based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier. Hitchcock fashioned a major work of cinematic art in which he makes strikingly real the malevolent menace of the birds to seem like manifestations of his characters’ mental unease. Their psychological backgrounds suggest the presence of emotional traumas and fractured histories.

Du Maurier’s inspiration for the story was the sight of a farmer in the next-door farm in the wilds of Cornwall being attacked by a flock of gulls as he ploughed a field. With its dark, elemental tone, she provides no real explanation for the plague of birds and the apocalyptic violence it describes. It seemed to anticipate, with no little prescience, imminent large-scale environmental catastrophe. Rooted perhaps in scientific explanation or cosmic punishment for humanity’s sins, the indeterminancy of the cause of the birds’ aggression contributes to the story’s disturbing potency. In the context of the current Coronavirus pandemic and the increasingly alarming threats of Global Climate Warming, the existential dread depicted in the film remains highly relevant today.

These aspects and more will be discussed in a panel with Dr. Coline Covington (Jungian Analyst), Rupert Tower (Jungian Analyst and grandson of the late Daphne du Maurier) and Christopher Perry (Chair/Jungian Analyst). Participants are requested to watch the film prior to the event. It is available on Amazon Prime Video and many streaming sites including Peacock, VUDU and YouTube.

CPD event Tickets: £16 Non-Members, £12 (SAP Members); £14 (Students/Trainees) per person.