World Humanist Congress | Freedom of thought and expression: Forging a 21st century enlightenment Giving the gift of offence Speaker: Martin Rowson | Chair: Sara Passmore Session overview: In a world where it is all too common for people to claim a right not to be offended, especially in their religious identities, how far can free speech go? Do we risk giving away too much when we ‘respect feelings’? More particularly, what is the role of cartoons as visual journalism? How does satire help us to explore current events? What responsibilities does the cartoonist have when it comes to people taking offence? It is clear that in a civilised society we need to be able to express our views without censorship. In this session multi-award winning cartoonist and writer Martin Rowson, who has been called the ‘scourge of the political establishment’, will focus on the role of the “offensive” secular cartoonist. About the Speaker: Martin Rowson is a British editorial cartoonist and novelist. His genre is political satire and his style is scathing and graphic. He characterizes his work as “visual journalism”. His cartoons appear frequently in The Guardian and The Independent. His books include graphic adaptations of The Waste Land and Tristram Shandy. About the Congress: The World Humanist Congress, held every three years, is a unique event bringing together humanists from over forty countries under the auspices of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. In August 2014 the British Humanist Association hosted the World Humanist Congress in the beautiful and historic city of Oxford. Edited by: Daniel Collier Additional thanks to: Jon Bagge, Craig Duncan, Charlotte John, Jason Weidner and Jade Hoffman.

• published: 29 Sep 2014
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