#MeToo and Freedom of Expression – dilemmas and the potential for lasting change

January 25 2018

Fritt Ord and the Institute for Social Research invite the public to the debate on #MeToo and Freedom of Expression on Thursday, 25 January 2018, from 6 – 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord premises, featuring Sissel Trygstad, Hannah Helseth, Sofie Høgestøl, Kjersti Horn, Arne Jensen, Anja Sletteland, Silas Harrebye and Åsa Linderborg. Arnfinn Midtbøen will moderate.

The #MeToo campaign has been epoch-making in rendering visible the scope of sexual harassment in cultural life, politics, the world of academia and the media. What opportunities are there for the #MeToo campaign to facilitate cultural and institutional change? Does the medias’ focus on individuals complicate such change? What consequences can the MeToo campaign have for whistleblowing, law and order, and press ethics? We invite the public to a debate on the #MeToo campaign’s dilemmas and the potential for lasting change in a Scandinavian perspective.

Programme:
6 – 7.30 p.m.:
Welcome by Grete Brochmann, Chair of the Board, Fritt Ord Foundation

Speakers:
Sissel Trygstad: “Can whistleblowing stop harassment?”
sociologist and Head of Research at Fafo

Hannah Helseth: “Stripped male power and airing dirty laundry in public”
gender researcher and sociologist

Sofie Høgestøl: “#MeToo: A sidelong glance from politics and the world of academia”
member of the Liberal Party, deputy member of the Nobel Committee and research fellow at Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

Kjersti Horn: “#MeToo and the theatre”
director at the National Theatre

Arne Jensen: “#MeToo in the media”
secretary general of the Association of Norwegian Editors

8 – 9 p.m.
Speakers:
Anja Sletteland: “Norway: A revolution run by the book”
PhD in Human Geography, on the editorial debate staff for the Norwegian daily Klassekampen

Silas Harrebye: “What is the most important criticism of #MeToo and why should we heed it?”
lecturer/associate professor at the Department of Social Sciences and Business at Roskilde University

Åsa Linderborg: “#MeToo – religion or revolution?”
chief cultural editor of the Swedish daily Aftonbladet, historian and author

Moderator:
Arnfinn Midtbøen, researcher at the Institute for Social Research

The event is open to the general public. Welcome!
Link to the Facebook event: MeToo and Freedom of Expression

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