15/10/2011 GMT
Why centres and peripheries of countries as diverse as Pakistan, Yemen and the UK are drifting apart and what are the consequences.
Have we got it wrong with the concept of the clash of civilisations? Distinguished Pakistani scholar and diplomat Akbar Ahmed says the real fault lines in today’s world are not between countries or religions but within them and that we should pay more attention to the often violent struggles between the centre and the periphery.
British geographer Doreen Massey sees a growing geographical divide in British society and says that the way forward is to tackle the financial power of the City of London.
And what might the future place of European culture be as emerging countries begin to offer new centres of gravity? Art curator Augustus Casely-Hayford says his recent tour across Africa made him think it's high time we woke up to the new world of multi-polar culture.
Illustration by Emily Kasriel: People at the periphery using art to fight back.
Last on
Chapters
Part 1
Akbar Ahmed: Centre and periphery drifting apart
Duration: 17:14
60 Second Idea
Let’s have a moveable Prime Meridian
Duration: 05:46
Part 2
Doreen Massey: London versus the rest of the UK
Duration: 09:31
Augustus Casely-Hayford
Augustus Casely-Hayford: New confidence in African art
Duration: 07:58
Broadcasts
- Sat 15 Oct 201108:05GMTBBC World Service Online
- Sat 15 Oct 201121:05GMTBBC World Service Online
- Sun 16 Oct 201101:05GMTBBC World Service Online
- Sun 16 Oct 201114:05GMTBBC World Service Online
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The Forum
The programme that explains the present by exploring the past

