Welcome to Beyond the Faultlines
Hello. Thanks for looking at ‘Beyond the Fault Lines’. Before reading further, a little personal background may help explain this site.
Hallo. Thanks for looking at ‘Beyond the Fault Lines’. Before reading further, a little personal background may help explain this site.
In my retirement from many years in the community sector and recently higher education, based in Melbourne, Australia, I have come to realize that underlying all my work has been the constant theme of acknowledging and grappling with complexity, and the importance of good faith debate, and respect for viewpoint diversity.
It seems to me to be alarmingly apparent that, as a society, our capacity to deal civilly and creatively with debate and complexity continues to elude us, perhaps more than ever - at great cost.
The ‘About’ section of this site explains that concern, and then invites readers to use Beyond the Faultlines as an opportunity to converse about issues that matter to them, in a curious, nuanced and respectful way. It concludes with an extended reflection on what I understand to be the meaning and value of nuanced discussion.
Assisting me with this site is Suzi Jamil, who spent over a decade working with top public intellectuals to bring rational discourse to live stages across the world.
At this time - March 2024 - the site is in its infancy and contains just a few articles selected by me and in some instances written by me. They are illustrative of the sort of material I hope readers will contribute so that the purpose of ‘Beyond the Fault Lines’ can become a reality.
Thank you.
Dr Michael Liffman, AM
I wish you well Michael. A forum like this for thoughtful comment from a wider audience is much needed given the tendency of most social media to descend to rant and name calling.