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We have just emerged from, or perhaps we are still in, the age of doubt, which also went under the title of postmodernism. Doubt has seeped through the fabric of our society and left us powerless in the face of the now well-entrenched neo-liberal forces that proclaim Western-style democracy to be the best of all possible worlds. This is an argument made particularly risible after the recent events in Iraq and Palestine.

Stuart Sim proposes ("Why I...", June 4) that "society is in need of more doubt and less belief", but this is likely to produce contrary effects to those he is seeking, and it will not help us to "restore" the role of universities as critics of policy that inform public debate.

Rinella Cere
Sheffield Hallam University