Name: When do we have a duty to protest?
Start: 2026-06-18T16:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-06-18T17:00:00+01:00
Location: Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation

Join Prof. Colin Tyler as he examines the growing restrictions on protest, their impact on citizens, and when we have a duty to protest.
About this Event

Protest has long been a core part of the democratic ideal. Yet, many people are worried by recent changes to the law in England and Wales and the prosecution of environmental campaigners and others. Join us for this talk, where Professor Colin Tyler looks at restrictions that are gradually being placed on our right to protest, and the implications that it has for us as conscientious citizens. It is concerned particularly with exploring the conditions under which we have a duty to protest.

Colin Tyler is Professor of Applied Ethics and Political Theory at the University of Hull, where he is also the Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Business School. Colin is also an Associate of the Wilberforce Institute. His current research focuses on the ethical basis of protest, and pluralised moral panics including around the trans debate. He has published more than 70 books, articles and other peer-reviewed outputs. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Science and the Royal Historical Society.

We are delighted to be partnering once again with Hull Museums to offer attendees at our public lectures the chance to visit Wilberforce House Museum next door before joining us for the event.

Lectures will begin at 4 pm and will take place at our home in Oriel Chambers, 27 High Street, Hull, HU1 1NE. We are very grateful to Hull Museums for their generous support of the Wilberforce Institute’s public lecture programme, and we hope many of you will take the opportunity to explore their fascinating exhibitions beforehand.

Refreshments will be available from 3:45 pm, and we warmly invite you to stay afterwards for a glass of wine and the chance to chat with our speaker.

A limited number of in-person tickets are available. If you are unable to join us in Hull, you can still enjoy the lecture online – please select the appropriate ticket type when booking.