Press Release: Classical Liberalism in the 21st Century

8 August 2011

Tuesday 10 March 2009

THE BELOFF CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF LIBERTY

hosts

“Classical Liberalism in the 21st Century”:

A Symposium in Honour of Professor Norman P Barry

Department of Economics and International Studies, University of Buckingham

12 / 13 March 2009

The Beloff Centre for the Study of Liberty* at The University of Buckingham will be hosting a conference entitled “Classical Liberalism in the 21st Century: A Symposium in Honour of Norman P Barry” on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 March 2009. Speakers will include:

  • Dr Terence Kealey, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Buckingham
  • Professor Martin Ricketts, Dean of Humanities at The University of Buckingham
  • Professor Philip Booth, City University, London and Institute of Economic Affairs
  • Dr Elaine Sternberg, University of Florida
  • Professor David Henderson, University of Westminster
  • Professor Mustafa Erdogan, Gazi University
  • Professor Charles Rowley, Professor of Economics, George Mason University and General Director of the Locke Institute.

The conference will consider the sustainability of the classical liberal position in the early 21st Century and discuss the contribution of the late Professor Barry’s life and work in the defence of this position.

Professor Norman Barry was a political theorist with an interest in political economy and in the connections between politics, ethics and economics. A graduate of the University of Exeter, he lectured in Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast and at Birmingham Polytechnic before being appointed as a Reader in Politics at the University College at Buckingham in 1982. Norman Barry was awarded a Chair in Social and Political Theory in 1984.

As one of the foremost exponents of classical liberal theory in the United Kingdom, Professor Barry built the reputation of the Department of Politics at The University of Buckingham and his work as a scholar of Friedrich von Hayek and as a social and political theorist is reflected in his national and international reputation in this field. He received the ‘Liberty in Theory’ Lifetime Award from the Libertarian Alliance in 2005. Professor Barry suffered for many years from multiple sclerosis but continued to teach until 2007. He died on 21 October 2008.

Buckingham is the only university independent of direct government support in the United Kingdom and has used its independence to pioneer a distinctive approach to higher education.

*Max Beloff and his colleagues founded the University College at Buckingham in 1973 as a University free of Government regulation. The Royal Charter was awarded in 1983. In January 2005 a Centre for the Study of Liberty was created in memory of Lord Beloff.