Spring 2014 | Public lectures and events | Video

Contributor(s): Professor Ian Morris | If you had been born 20,000 years ago, you would have faced a one in ten or even one in five chance of dying violently. But in the century since 1914—despite its two world wars, atomic bombs, and multiple genocides—that risk has fallen to barely one in 100. Why? The answer is uncomfortable: despite all its horrors, over the long run war itself has made the world a safer and richer place, because war alone has proved able to create larger societies that pacify themselves internally. This talk looks at how this paradoxical process has unfolded and what it means for the 21st century. Ian Morris is Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of classics and professor of history at Stanford University and a fellow of the Stanford Archaeology Center. He directs Stanford's archaeological excavations at Monte Polizzo, Sicily, and has published ten books including Why the West Rules – For Now and War: What is it good for?. This event marks the publication of his latest book War: What is it good for?: The role of conflict in civilisation, from primates to robots.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Partha Chatterjee | This lecture deals with four strands of trans-regional political movement in India’s anti-colonial history. The first is that of Islamic jihad which took inspiration from Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi’s campaigns in Sind, Afghanistan and Punjab in the early 19th century, was a submerged current in the 1857 revolt, sought to restore the Ottoman Khilafat after World War I and assumed the somewhat quixotic form of Obaidulla Sindhi’s attempt in the 1920s to mount an anti-British jihad from Kabul, Moscow and Ankara. The second consists of the international connections and alliances of nationalist armed revolutionaries, from the Ghadar party, Britain and US-based organizers such as Hardayal and Savarkar, the connections of the Bengal revolutionaries with Germany, the Irish rebels and anarchist groups in Europe, to the alliance of Subhas Chandra Bose with Germany and Japan during World War II. The third were the strong connections of Indian communists with the international communist movement. Finally, there were important critics such as Tagore who deplored the narrow self-aggrandizement of nationalism and pleaded for an opening to world humanity. All of these strands, with their possibilities and limits, continue to be vibrant today. Professor Chatterjee's lecture will inaugurate the Internationalism, Cosmopolitanism and the Politics of Solidarity research group convened by Dr Ayça Çubukçu at LSE's Centre for the Study of Human Rights. Partha Chatterjee is a professor of anthropology and of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies at Columbia University and a Professor of Political Science at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Calcutta, India. He is a political theorist and historian and divides his time between Columbia University and the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, where he was the director from 1997 to 2007. A major focus of Partha Chatterjee’s work is nationalism, but in order to follow his thoughts on this topic, one must simultaneously think also of colonialism, post-colonialism, modernity, and the idea of the nation-state, and also summon up, simultaneously with that cluster of concepts, a not-nationalist and counter-colonial viewpoint about what these terms actually represent (or could actually represent), with special reference to India. His books include: The Politics of the Governed: Considerations on Political Society in Most of the World (2004); A Princely Impostor? The Strange and Universal History of the Kumar of Bhawal (2002); A Possible India: Essays in Political Criticism (1997); The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories (1993), and Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? (1993). He is also a poet, playwright, and actor.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun, Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Professor Arne Westad, Professor Tao Wenzhao, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Professor Ricky Burdett, Datuk Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Mike Douglass, Professor Danny Quah, Azman Mokhtar… | The LSE Asia Forum is an important and very public part of the School's strategy to enhance its long standing relationship with the rapidly developing Asian region. LSE has historically attracted many very talented students and staff from all major Asian countries. The School has a large and distinguished group of alumni in the region and has been active in building partnerships with business and governments for many years. The LSE Asia Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together LSE's key partners in the region. The Forum provides an opportunity for analysis of different perspectives on the economic, social, political and cultural contributions Asia is making to global development. The 6th Asia Forum entitled 'Building Asian futures: integration, welfare and growth?' took place on 2-3 April 2014 at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contributor(s): Professor David Harvey | You thought capitalism was permanent? Think again. Leading Marxist thinker Professor David Harvey unravels the contradictions at the heart of capitalism – its drive, for example, to accumulate capital beyond the means of investing it. David Harvey (@profdavidharvey) is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the Graduate Centre of the City University of New York. This event marks the publication of Professor Harvey’s new book, Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism. Murray Low is associate professor of human geography in the Department of Geography & Environment at LSE.

Contributor(s): James Dawson, Kate Kingsley, Geraldine McCaughrean, Jon Robinson | The culmination of the 2013-14 LSE and First Story creative writing competition sees a panel of award-winning young adult authors discussing self-portraits - how much of themselves do they include in their writing? James Dawson (@_jamesdawson), author of dark teen thrillers Hollow Pike and Cruel Summer, grew up in West Yorkshire, writing imaginary episodes of Doctor Who. He later turned his talent to journalism, interviewing luminaries such as Steps and Atomic Kitten before writing a weekly serial in a Brighton newspaper. Until recently, James worked as a teacher, specialising in PSHCE and behaviour. He is most proud of his work surrounding bullying and family diversity. He now writes full time in London and is published by Indigo/Orion. Kate Kingsley (@KateKingsley) is the author of Young, Loaded & Fabulous, a scandalous YA series about mean teens at British boarding school. After growing up between London and New York City, Kate started her writing career at GQ magazine. She has been published in places like The Sunday Times Magazine and the New York Times. Geraldine McCaughrean (@GMcCaughrean) is one of today's most successful and highly regarded children's authors. She has won the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children's Book Award (three times), the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Smarties Bronze Award (four times) and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award. In 2005 she was chosen from over 100 other authors to write the official sequel to J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Peter Pan in Scarlet was published in 2006 to wide critical acclaim. Geraldine’s latest novel, The Middle of Nowhere, is published by Usborne Publishing and is out now. Jon Robinson (@jonstoryteller) is author of Nowhere, the first novel in a captivating new conspiracy thriller series. When he's not writing, he volunteers for a leading Alzheimer’s charity.

Contributor(s): Alan Rusbridger, Ian Katz, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman, Tom Giles, Luke Lewis… | The 5th Polis Journalism Conference on the topic of Transparency and Accountability was the biggest and most successful yet. The LSE now hosts the UK's most important annual gathering of international journalists. There were at least 700 attendees throughout the day to watch more than 40 speakers from the media industry. Highlights of the conference included keynotes by Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian and Ian Katz, Editor of BBC Newsnight in conversation with Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News. Other panellists included Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, Tom Giles of BBC Panorama and Luke Lewis, Editor of Buzzfeed UK. The conference also generated significant buzz on social media including 661 tweets by over 400 Twitter users and our conference hashtag #polis14 was trending on twitter for the entire day. Podcasts and video of the conference will be available on the Polis blog, along with photos of the conference and interviews with conference speakers.

Contributor(s): Alan Rusbridger, Ian Katz, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman, Tom Giles, Luke Lewis… | The 5th Polis Journalism Conference on the topic of Transparency and Accountability was the biggest and most successful yet. The LSE now hosts the UK's most important annual gathering of international journalists. There were at least 700 attendees throughout the day to watch more than 40 speakers from the media industry. Highlights of the conference included keynotes by Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian and Ian Katz, Editor of BBC Newsnight in conversation with Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News. Other panellists included Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, Tom Giles of BBC Panorama and Luke Lewis, Editor of Buzzfeed UK. The conference also generated significant buzz on social media including 661 tweets by over 400 Twitter users and our conference hashtag #polis14 was trending on twitter for the entire day. Podcasts and video of the conference will be available on the Polis blog, along with photos of the conference and interviews with conference speakers.

Contributor(s): Alan Rusbridger, Ian Katz, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman, Tom Giles, Luke Lewis… | The 5th Polis Journalism Conference on the topic of Transparency and Accountability was the biggest and most successful yet. The LSE now hosts the UK's most important annual gathering of international journalists. There were at least 700 attendees throughout the day to watch more than 40 speakers from the media industry. Highlights of the conference included keynotes by Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian and Ian Katz, Editor of BBC Newsnight in conversation with Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News. Other panellists included Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, Tom Giles of BBC Panorama and Luke Lewis, Editor of Buzzfeed UK. The conference also generated significant buzz on social media including 661 tweets by over 400 Twitter users and our conference hashtag #polis14 was trending on twitter for the entire day. Podcasts and video of the conference will be available on the Polis blog, along with photos of the conference and interviews with conference speakers.

Contributor(s): Alan Rusbridger, Ian Katz, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman, Tom Giles, Luke Lewis… | The 5th Polis Journalism Conference on the topic of Transparency and Accountability was the biggest and most successful yet. The LSE now hosts the UK's most important annual gathering of international journalists. There were at least 700 attendees throughout the day to watch more than 40 speakers from the media industry. Highlights of the conference included keynotes by Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian and Ian Katz, Editor of BBC Newsnight in conversation with Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News. Other panellists included Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, Tom Giles of BBC Panorama and Luke Lewis, Editor of Buzzfeed UK. The conference also generated significant buzz on social media including 661 tweets by over 400 Twitter users and our conference hashtag #polis14 was trending on twitter for the entire day. Podcasts and video of the conference will be available on the Polis blog, along with photos of the conference and interviews with conference speakers.

Contributor(s): Alan Rusbridger, Ian Katz, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman, Tom Giles, Luke Lewis… | The 5th Polis Journalism Conference on the topic of Transparency and Accountability was the biggest and most successful yet. The LSE now hosts the UK's most important annual gathering of international journalists. There were at least 700 attendees throughout the day to watch more than 40 speakers from the media industry. Highlights of the conference included keynotes by Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian and Ian Katz, Editor of BBC Newsnight in conversation with Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News. Other panellists included Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, Tom Giles of BBC Panorama and Luke Lewis, Editor of Buzzfeed UK. The conference also generated significant buzz on social media including 661 tweets by over 400 Twitter users and our conference hashtag #polis14 was trending on twitter for the entire day. Podcasts and video of the conference will be available on the Polis blog, along with photos of the conference and interviews with conference speakers.

Contributor(s): Michael Bromwich, Al Bhimani, David Otley, Chris Ford, Alasdair Macnab, Falconer Mitchell, Warwick Hunt, Henri Dekker, George Grosz, Alasdair Macnab, Kenneth Simmonds | The 35th annual MARG Conference will take place on Thursday 27 March 2014 at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The theme for the 2014 conference is 'Management Accounting and Strategic Partnerships.' Speakers include David Otley and Chris Ford (Lancaster University Management School) who will speak on ‘Princes, Property Developers, Commandos and Charities: Lessons from an Unusual Strategic Alliance’, Henri Dekker (VU University Amsterdam) who will discuss ‘Managing Risky Relations’, Alasdair Macnab (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) and Falconer Mitchell (University of Edinburgh) who will speak on ‘Outcome Costing’ and Warwick Hunt (PwC UK) who will speak on 'Strategic Alliances: Cultures, Networks and Global Challenges'. There will be a panel discussion session titled 'Do Strategic Alliances Suggest New Strategies and New Accounting' in the afternoon with the opportunity for questions throughout the day. The CIMA Distinguished Practitioner Lecture will be presented by Keith Luck (CIMA Vice President) who will discuss 'How Management Accounting and Strategic Partnerships combine to deliver success - a practitioner’s perspective'.

Contributor(s): Michael Bromwich, Al Bhimani, David Otley, Chris Ford, Alasdair Macnab, Falconer Mitchell, Warwick Hunt, Henri Dekker, George Grosz, Alasdair Macnab, Kenneth Simmonds | The 35th annual MARG Conference will take place on Thursday 27 March 2014 at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The theme for the 2014 conference is 'Management Accounting and Strategic Partnerships.' Speakers include David Otley and Chris Ford (Lancaster University Management School) who will speak on ‘Princes, Property Developers, Commandos and Charities: Lessons from an Unusual Strategic Alliance’, Henri Dekker (VU University Amsterdam) who will discuss ‘Managing Risky Relations’, Alasdair Macnab (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) and Falconer Mitchell (University of Edinburgh) who will speak on ‘Outcome Costing’ and Warwick Hunt (PwC UK) who will speak on 'Strategic Alliances: Cultures, Networks and Global Challenges'. There will be a panel discussion session titled 'Do Strategic Alliances Suggest New Strategies and New Accounting' in the afternoon with the opportunity for questions throughout the day. The CIMA Distinguished Practitioner Lecture will be presented by Keith Luck (CIMA Vice President) who will discuss 'How Management Accounting and Strategic Partnerships combine to deliver success - a practitioner’s perspective'.