As far right groups gain a foothold across Europe and big name politicians peddle worrying hate speech across the Atlantic, this current affairs panel discussion is more relevant than ever. Our guests include Islamic scholar, ambassador Akbar S Ahmed, Matthew Feldman, a specialist in fascist ideology and far-right culture; Aristotle Kallis, leading expert in the history of fascism; Sufyan Gulam Ismail, founder of MEND and Nick Toczek, author of ‘Haiters, Baiters and Would-Be Dictators: Anti-Semitism and the UK Far-Right’. They’ll discuss the global advance of far right views, once thin on the ground but now apparently making headway: who is out there, what are they saying, and – most importantly – why? International security expert Paul Rogers chairs.

 

 

Contributors

Akbar S Ahmed

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic studies at American University in Washington, DC and the former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland. He is the author of over a dozen award-winning books and has been called ‘the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam’ by the BBC.

Matthew Feldman

Matthew Feldman is Professor in the Modern History of Ideas at Teesside University, where he also co-directs the Centre for Fascist, Anti-fascist and Post-fascist Studies. He specialises in fascist ideology, far-right cultures in Europe and the US, and ‘lone-wolf’ terrorism, and is widely consulted by media, policing and policy-making bodies.

 

Aristotle Kallis

Aristotle Kallis is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Lancaster University. His publications include ‘National Socialist Propaganda and the Second World War’ and ‘The Fascism Reader’, as well as articles and essays on the history of fascism, genocide, and propaganda.

Nick Toczek

Nick Toczek is a writer and performer from Bradford. Throughout the 1970s and 80s he toured with bands and as a poet, and ran both music and poetry clubs in Yorkshire, becoming an integral part of the Ranting scene. Since the mid-90s Nick has been a best-selling children’s writer. He is also a professional close-up magician, a skilled puppeteer, a prolific print journalist and an experienced broadcaster.

Photo by Gaynor Toczek

Paul Rogers

Paul Rogers is Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University. He trained originally as a biologist, lectured at Imperial College and worked in East Africa on tropical crop research before working on environmental conflicts and joining Peace Studies in 1979. His research is on the changing causes of international conflict, especially in relation to political violence, socio-economic divisions and environmental limits to growth.

Sufyan Gulam Ismail

Sufyan Gulam Ismail is an award-winning Serial Entrepreneur and Philanthropist and was recently ranked amongst the 500 most influential Muslims in the World. Sufyan has also authored various briefing papers and part-authorised a university textbook on Islamic finance. In 2014, Sufyan formally retired from full-time business activity to focus on philanthropic adventures with a key focus on tackling Islamophobia.  To this end he was the founder of MEND which specialises in tackling Islamophobia via a dual approach of advocacy in Westminster and media engagement as well as improving media and political literacy of grass roots British Muslims across the UK.