Room for Discussion

Few academic books ever become bestsellers, and even fewer dramatically change global political discussions. Prof. Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century (2013) did both. The book traced the history of income and wealth inequality in the developed world, arguing that inequality is an important feature – and not an accident- of capitalism. Most importantly, his work brought economic inequality back...

2020 was a year of crisis and shock, and there is still much about how the pandemic will change our societies that we do not know. We're talking to Tom Standage, deputy editor at the Economist, to get an insight into how the repercussions of this past year could play out. Mr. Standage has a degree in computer science and engineering and he has been a science and technology writer for The Guardian...

Mrs. Hirsi Ali spent her youth in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya before seeking asylum in the Netherlands. In that country, she received the refugee status and fought her way to Leiden University where she studied political sciences. She became a protagonist in the fight for (Muslim) women’s rights, including the fight against forced marriages and female genital mutilation. Starting at...

How can we incentivize businesses to act sustainably? Are multinationals the problem or solution to climate change? What are the social responsibilities of large corporations? Paul Polman, former CEO of consumer goods multinational Unilever, is a leading figure in the corporate sustainability movement. Since his departure from Unilever, he has founded the IMAGINE organization to eradicate poverty,...

Branko Milanovic is one of the leading experts on income inequality and poverty. Formerly a lead economist at the research department of the World Bank, he now teaches at the City University of New York and London School of Economics, amongst others. He is perhaps most well known for publishing the ‘hottest’ chart in economics, the famous elephant curve, which describes how globalization has affec...

The Covid-19 Pandemic, a once in a lifetime economic recession, and digitalization. These are issues that everyone has heard about. Tied to all of these issues, however, is a little known but important financial institution - the Bank for International Settlements. Also known as the “Central Bank of Central Banks”, the BIS’s role in all these issues is crucial but little understood. Why do we need...

De Coronacrisis heeft ons leven al maanden in de greep. De noodsituatie die in essentie een gezondheidscrisis is, transformeert zich naar een economische crisis met faillissementen en werkloosheid als gevolg. Studenten beginnen zich zorgen te maken over de toekomst: lagere kansen op werkgelegenheid, hoge schulden en een recessie in het vooruitzicht. In hoeverre betalen jongeren het bonnetje voor d...

We lezen veel over criminaliteit in het nieuws. Zware misdaad is aan de orde van de dag, steeds vaker lijkt georganiseerde criminaliteit hier ook deel van uit te maken. Criminele activiteiten lijken steeds verder door te sijpelen in de samenleving. Klopt dit beeld van toenemende criminaliteit? Hoe heeft zware criminaliteit en georganiseerde misdaad zich ontwikkeld de afgelopen jaren? En wat beteke...

Must Central Banks go green? If so how? Why hasn't there been any inflation this year after gigantic stimulus packages? Is inflation gonna happen in the future? And why is there such a large discrepancy between the stock market and the real economy? These questions and more will be discussed with Olaf Sleijpen, executive director of the Dutch central bank and alternate member of the governing coun...

We are honoured to announce that we will be interviewing Lucette ter Borg and Carola Houtekamer. Two renowned investigative journalists for the NRC who wrote the article on Julian Andeweg that is the inspiration for this interview. Besides being an award-winning novelist, Lucette ter Borg is also a well-known art critic writing mainly on the Dutch art scene. She has recently also published work on...

Professor Jack Goldstone is the man who over ten years ago developed a model that predicted the onset of massive social unrest in the United States beginning “around 2020". Incidentally, just two days ago Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In this age of social unrest, from the George Floyd protests in the US, to the yellow vest protests in France and anti-lockdown protests in Germany, acr...

Vaccination is a big topic with the current Covid crisis happening in the whole world. Most talkshows, columns and interviews talk with medical experts about the implementation and the impact they will have on society. However, in this interview, Room for Discussion wants to explore the ethical and legal sides of this topic. Mandatory vaccination, vaccination passports, vaccination sceptics, all t...

For the last 20 years questions of immigration and identity have been at the heart of our politics, yet we have made almost no progress. Why is Özdil not a Dutch name? How did the Netherlands become more ethnically segregated than America? Why are riots in the Schilderswijk an integration problem, but riots in Urk not? To answer these questions, we’ve invited Zihni Özdil, historian, columnist and...

Benedicte Ficq is een van de beste strafpleiters van Nederland. Ze verdedigde beruchte namen zoals Dino Soerel, Marcel Teunissen, Badr Hari en Jan-Dirk Paarlberg, en is ze deel van het team dat Ridouan Taghi bijstaat. Daarnaast houdt ze grote vervuilers en bedrijven die gezondheidsproblemen veroorzaken aansprakelijk. Zo spande zij een paar jaar geleden een grote zaak aan tegen de tabaksindustrie,...

We worden nu al een jaar getergd door de Corona crisis. HORECA en andere sectoren hebben het zwaar, maar wat zijn de precieze economische gevolgen van de corona crisis, en hoe komen we daar weer bovenop? Wat doet de overheid? En is dat verstandig? Zitten wij zo met een enorme staatsschuld of maakt dat eigenlijk niet zoveel uit? Bas Jacobs is professor Overheidsfinanciën aan de Erasmus Universiteit...

Whether its Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border, Turkey’s confrontations with Greece and France or the retreat of the United States from Europe, the strength of the NATO alliance is being challenged at every turn. Where does this place European Security? To answer this question, we’ve invited former Secretary General of NATO and former Dutch minister of foreign affairs, Jaap de Hoop Sch...

Halsema studeerde Algemene Sociale Wetenschappen (ASW) met een specialisatie in Criminologie aan de Universiteit Utrecht. Ze was tot 1997 lid van de Partij van de Arbeid, maar verruilde deze voor GroenLinks toen ze door Paul Rosenmöller werd gevraagd zich voor die partij te kandideren voor de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen van 1998. Met plek 3 op de lijst haalde ze eenvoudig een zetel. In 2003 werd ze f...

Op 28 mei interviewen wij schrijver en Nederlands student Lale Gül. Zij schreef een autobiografische roman over haar ervaringen in een conservatief Turks Islamitisch huishouden. Na het publiceren van haar boek werd ze overspoelt met haar reacties en zelfs bedreigingen. De gespannen situatie thuis bereikte ook een hoogtepunt, waardoor Gül haar ouderlijk huis moest verlaten. In voorgaande interviews...

We are honoured to welcome the next President of the European Council, and former prime minister of Belgium, Charles Michel. Mr. Michel does not only have a significant relationship with the European Union, but he also has his own personal relationship with the University of Amsterdam as a former alumnus. The interview will not only touch upon the president-elect’s prior experience at the UvA, but...

Deirdre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She was also a visiting Professor of Philosophy for 5 years at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. How can we think of liberalism in the 21st century? What kind of transformations has the idea of liberalism faced over the course of history, and to what extent...

Jill Lepore is Professor of American History at Harvard University and a journalist at The New Yorker. She specialises in American history, specifically early American history and undocumented history. During our interview with Lepore, we will focus on history as a subject and the implications it has had for society today. How do politicians like Donald Trump use history? How has the way we rememb...

Dan Ariely joins us as we discuss the irrational behaviours that underpin our actions and the implications that they have for society, as well as the solutions employed to address them. In addition, we will talk about global societal issues that are a result of our own irrational behaviour. From inequality to the online dating market; we will try to pin down how structures that can correct for our...

The Democratic Party is changing. From establishment to non-establishment; from centrists to progressive; from universal basic income to abolishment of private insurance, it seems odd that *one* party can encompass the vast differences in policy proposals, sentiments, and ideologies that are taking place within it under *one* name. With the election of President Donald Trump we’ve seen dramatic ov...

The interview will touch upon the economic and political dynamics between Europe and China. We will attempt to understand how China’s actions within Europe are shaped by its world vision. In addition, we will ask how the domestic and internal politics between these two regions contribute to these dynamics. We are joined by Ties Dams and Alexandr Lagazzi. Ties Dams is a writer and strategist. He ha...

H.E. Mr. Ranieri Sabatucci, is the Ambassador and Head of the European Union Delegation to the African Union. In his 30 years with the European Institutions, he has covered thematic areas ranging from trade and development to Political and Peace and Security, having worked out of Brussels, Dar-Es Salaam and Pretoria. The interview revolved around the relationship between the European Union and the...