Orwell Day: The New Surveillance Era

Wednesday 01 July 2020 @ 8PM

Free

Online

In a world that is profoundly transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our partners at the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona are holding Orwell Day again this year with two discussions referring to the present relevance of Orwell’s work.

The Orwell Day is an initiative developed since its beginnings with the Orwell Day Collective and that is celebrated in collaboration with the PEN Català and The Orwell Foundation. This activity is part of Orwell Day. Find out more about the programme on the CCCB website. You can watch both discussions on your telescreens via the embedded videos below.

“On the one hand, the present crisis has placed at the centre of debate the security/freedom dichotomy, in a context in which the possibilities of population control for health reasons are expanding. On the other, the exceptional situation of confinement has meant that screens have become a very important way of connecting the world, thus opening up a scenario that makes the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four a classic that is more relevant than ever.”

 

1) Wednesday July 1st 8pm UK time:
Marta Peirano and Peter Pomerantsev
Technology, Digital Surveillance, and Disinformation

2) Thursday July 2 8pm UK time:
Dorian Lynskey and Jordi Puntí
The Present Relevance of 1984

Dorian Lynskey’s ‘The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell’s 1984’ was longlisted for the 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Writing.