Who Owns Fairtrade? A debate on who benefits, influences and controls Fairtrade [Audio]
Speaker(s): Pauline Tiffen, Rajah Banerjee; Kate Sebag; Katie Stafford; Dyborn Chinonga | The idea of fair trade has become increasingly popular amongst consumers and some producers. But who does fair-trade really benefit? The producers? The consumers? The Farmers? These are some of the issues that the panel will debate.
Many Voices: understanding the debate about preventing violent extremism [Audio]
Speaker(s): Hazel Blears MP | The tragic events of 7/7 illustrated the threat to our society posed by violent extremism. Preventing it is one of the defining challenges of our age. Hazel Blears will explore the tough choices government has to make - how to empower new voices to join the debate, how to support people standing up for shared values and how to equip communities with the skills, confidence, and resilience they need to be part of the solution. In June 2007, Hazel Blears became the Sec
LSE Literary Weekend - The Founders' Tradition: literature as social commentary [Audio]
Speaker(s): Mohsin Hamid, David Hare; Boyd Tonkin | This event marks the launch of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Weekend, the LSE's first ever Literary Festival, celebrating the completion of the New Academic Building. A discussion about not only the links between the social sciences and the arts, but the role of the arts in the LSE's past, present and future. Is literature relevant today?
China in International Society: can 'peaceful rise' succeed? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Barry Buzan | China has moved closer to international society on regional and global levels. The tide of history will probably favour China's peaceful rise, but the country will need to act to ensure this happens.
Thinking Like a Social Scientist: a lecture by Professor Gilat Levy [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Gilat Levy | In this lunchtime series lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.
Eastern DRC: what should the international community be doing? [Audio]
Speaker(s): David Leonard, General Olusegun Obasanjo; Professor James Putzel; Clare Short | With its most recent press release the Crisis States Research Centre (LSE) prompted fierce debate on the international response to the ongoing crisis in the Eastern DRC. Reactions to the arrest of the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda in Rwanda on 22 January are loud and divided, though international actions continue to follow the same three trends identified in the CSRC release. This response, says the CSRC, f
Majority Judgement: a completely new voting system. Part Three - Majority Judgement Compared with Ot
Speaker(s): Professor Michel Balinski | Balinski argues that, although the new Majority Judgement voting system is not perfect, Approval Voting fails in theory and in practice, and that Majority Judgement is better than Condorcet's and Borda's classical proposals, point-summing methods, first-past-the post and others.
What can the G20 do? The Case for Special Drawing Rights [Audio]
Speaker(s): George Soros | On the eve of the G20 summit, George Soros will argue that authorising an increase in SDRs is the most significant step that the G20 leaders could agree. This event will also launch the paperback edition George Soros latest book, The Crash of 2008 and What it Means: the New Paradigm for Financial Markets.
Changing Values for a Just and Sustainable World [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Peter Singer | We live in a world of great affluence as well as extreme poverty, and in which the rich nations play a disproportionate role in changing the planet's climate, from which the poor will suffer most. What values would best guide us to a more just and sustainable world? Can we realistically expect them to be put into practice?
Consolidating Kosovo's European Future: tracing next steps [Audio]
Speaker(s): Peter Feith | A look at Kosovo's achievements and challenges over the past year, highlighting the current state of play and the priorities and vision of the Kosovo government and its international partners as the country prepares for European Union membership.
All That Life Can Afford [Audio]
Speaker(s): Mishka Henner | What does poverty in London look like? And can photography expose the often hidden mechanisms that keep the rich divided from the poor? Mishka Henner discusses the making of his photographic essay, All That Life Can Afford, deconstructing its production to reveal the negotiations and obstacles involved in visualising poverty. Mishka Henner is a photographic artist based in Manchester, England.
Housing Markets and the Global Financial Crisis [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr André Broome, Professor Herman Schwartz, Professor Leonard Seabrooke, Professor Mat Watson | Residential property is the single largest asset in people's everyday lives and its associated mortgage debt constitutes one of the biggest financial assets in most economies. Yet political economy largely ignores both. We know that the kind of housing people occupy and their level of debt affects their preferences for the level of public spending, taxation, and inflation. Housing is inti
An Alternative to Statecraft: should diplomacy adapt to a new world environment? [Audio]
Speaker(s): His Excellency Georg Boomgaarden; Dr Mary Martin; Her Excellency Pilar Saborio | The European Union is designing a new external action service as part of the changes to foreign policy proposed under the Lisbon Treaty. This lecture examines the contemporary demands on diplomatic missions. Pilar Saborio is the ambassador of Costa Rica to the UK. Georg Boomgaarden is the ambassador of Germany to the UK. Nick Mabey is chief executive of E3G Third Generation Environmentalism. Mary Martin
Building windmills not walls - Hungary's approach in the economic storm [Audio]
Speaker(s): Gordon Bajnai | Gordon Bajnai has been the Prime Minister of Hungary since 14 April 2009. Prior to this between 2008-2009 he was a Minister in the Ministry for National Development and Economy. Between 2007-2008 he was a Minister for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. Prior to this he was CEO of Wallis Rt., an investment company from 2000-2005.
Cities and the Environment [Audio]
Speaker(s): Peter Head | By changing patterns of urban behaviour, cities can meet the challenges of climate change. How can advanced technologies help create sustainable cities and self-sufficient urban form?
Stuff White People Like - How to find social success with the urban-dwelling middle classes [Audio]
Speaker(s): Christian Lander | When Christian Lander started a blog as a joke he never imagined that his inside joke would turn into a New York Times Bestseller and a piece of internet history with more than 60 million hits to his site. Here Lander investigates, explains and offers advice for anyone wanting to interact with the caucasian persuasion and needing to understand their ways.
The International economy, and the process of the citizen's revolution in Ecuador [Audio]
Speaker(s): President Rafael Correa Delgado | Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado is the current President of the Republic of Ecuador after being re-elected for a second consecutive term in April 2009, he was first elected in late 2006. He served as Minister of Economy from April 2005- August 2005. President Correa Delgado has a Phd in Economics and a Masters in Economic Sciences both from the University of Illinois as well as a Master of Arts in EconomÃa from the Catholic University of Lovaina the N
Rules of Evidence [Audio]
Speaker(s): Hilary Mantel | Public figures who were once lawyers or law students will speak about how, if at all, their experience of studying, teaching or practising law has been of value to them in their other careers. Hilary Mantel is an award winning novelist and an LSE alumnus.
How Markets Fail: The Problem of Rational Irrationality [Audio]
Speaker(s): John Cassidy | What caused the recent global financial crisis? Some analysts blame greed, others stupidity, yet others myopia. The real problem is more fundamental, and it relates to the inner logic of a financially driven economy that generates perverse incentives and rewards damaging behaviour.
Social Theories of Risk and Economic Life [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Nigel Dodd | In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.
