Is a faith shaped peace only powerful for the 1930s, not 2030s?

This event is in person and will be followed by a Q&A and drinks reception.

Join us for this special event with John Cooper of the Fellowship of Reconciliation as he delivers the George Lansbury Memorial Trust’s annual lecture, hosted by LSE Library. George Lansbury’s political witness was deeply shaped by his faith. This found root in the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which supported and encouraged his pacifism. His faith gave him answers to queries raised by the horrors of newly mechanised warfare, but could it help answer some of today’s challenges? And in an era of continued conflict in the Middle East, increasing multiculturalism, and rising Christian Nationalism, is it healthy to mix faith and politics?

Join us for a drink after the talk, where there will be an opportunity to view the Library’s current exhibition.

LSE Library
The British Library of Political and Economic Science (@LSELibrary) was founded in 1896, a year after the London School of Economics and Political Science. It has been based in the Lionel Robbins Building since 1978 and houses many world-class collections, including The Women's Library. The Library’s archives include the Papers of George Lansbury (which have been digitised and are freely available online), as well as the Fellowship of Reconciliation (London Union) and national branch, which are available to all.

George Lansbury Memorial Trust
The George Lansbury Memorial Trust was founded in 2012 to commemorate the life, work and legacy of George Lansbury (1859–1940). A pioneering campaigner for peace, women’s rights, local democracy and improvements in labour conditions, Lansbury was an adopted East Ender who made a great contribution to local as well as national life. George Lansbury, MP for Bow & Bromley, led the Labour Party from 1932–1935 and spent his political life campaigning for social justice, women’s rights and world disarmament. The Lansbury Estate in Poplar is named after him. It was built as part of the 1951 Festival of Britain, as an example of ‘housing for the people’ after the Second World War. https://www.georgelansbury.org.uk/the-trust/

Fellowship of Reconciliation
FoR is an international movement of people who commit themselves to active nonviolence as a way of life and as a means of personal, social, economic and political transformation. Based in the Christian tradition, we were founded in 1914, and have permanent representation at the UN. Their current work centres around equipping our members to promote nonviolence in their own churches, to send the message that Jesus was a radical peacemaker and that Christianity is a faith of nonviolence and of love in action. FoR and its members are active in bearing witness against war and its preparation. We champion disarmament and are focusing especially on nuclear weapons and armed drones. You can read more of this work at for.org.uk/

Biographies:

Speaker: John Cooper - John started work for the Fellowship in November 2018 as Development Manager and in that time has laid the groundwork for a podcast, begun to explore questions of diversity in the peace movement, written a strategy for the Fellowship’s campaigning and advocacy work and spent time talking and listening with other groups in the peace movement. John previously worked for FoR as a fundraiser for their International Peacemaker Fund. His varied church-based career has also included working for Christian Aid, the Joint Public Issues Team and All We Can (then Methodist Relief and Development Fund). He has a commitment to an active church that engages on issues in the public square. He is training to be a local preacher in the Methodist Church and a member of The Cotteridge Church, in South Birmingham.

Chair: Reverend James Walters – James Walters is founding director of the LSE Faith Centre and LSE Religion and Global Society. Professor Walters studied theology at Cambridge University and writes on the interface of theology, philosophy, and political science. He has published five books including Loving Your Neighbour in an Age of Religious Conflict (Jessica Kingsley 2019), Religious Imaginations: How Narratives of Faith are Shaping Today’s World (ed. Gingko Library 2018) and a theological engagement with the work of the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. Professor Walters is a priest in the Church of England. He is an honorary canon of Chichester Cathedral in West Sussex, a member of the Academic Board of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Examination in Theology, and a member of the governing council of Westcott House Theological College.