African Whistle-blowers: fighting corruption from the inside [Audio]
Speaker(s): John Githongo | Efforts to tackle corruption in Africa tend to focus on international initiatives, but it is local struggles for public accountability that often have the most impact. John Githongo, a former journalist and management consultant, was the Kenyan Permanent Secretary in charge of Governance and Ethics from 2003-2005, and a founding member of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International.
Seeking Justice for Crimes Against Humanity: the Case of Argentina [Audio]
Speaker(s): Judge Sergio Gabriel Torres | Under the military government of 1976-1983, Argentina suffered massive and systematic violations of human rights, the consequences of which still linger today. Sergio Torres is a federal judge, presiding over a case that involves more than 800 incidents of illegal detentions, torture, disappearances and deaths. Chetan Bhatt is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, LSE.
Sustainability Living in Practice [Audio]
Speaker(s): Satish Kumar | When he was nine Satish joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks. At 18, he became a campaigner for land reform, working to turn Gandhi's vision of renewed India and a peaceful world into reality. Satish Kumar is a visiting fellow at Schumacher College, a residential centre for study of ecological and spiritual values. He founded the Small School, with ecological and spiritual values in its curriculum.
Hegemony and International Society [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Ian Clark | International relations theory is weak on how international order is managed under a preponderance of power. This lecture explores the notion of hegemony as a theoretical solution, and develops the thought of Martin Wight in this respect. Ian Clark is E H Carr Professor of International Politics at the University of Aberystwyth and a fellow of the British Academy.
Galileo and the Infinite Universe: science, heresy, and the Inquisition [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor David Wootton | Galileo was convicted in 1633 of defending Copernicanism, but he was also seeking to undermine Christianity. Professor Wootton will show that Galileo was no Christian, and that he welcomed the idea of an infinite universe with other inhabited worlds because he wanted to show that the universe was not made for man. David Wootton is Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York, author of Bad Medicine: doctors doing harm since Hippocrates and most
SIPRI Yearbook 2010 Seminar on Nuclear Weapons in Europe [Audio]
Speaker(s): Lord Browne, Dr Bates Gill, Professor Mary Kaldor, Baroness Shirley Williams | London launch of the 2010 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook on Nuclear Weapons in Europe, which this year considers world military expenditure increases despite the financial crisis. Lord Browne of Ladyton is convenor of the Top Level Group. He served as parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office 2001-03; Secretary of State for: Defence 2006-08, Scotland
2011 Global Civil Society Yearbook launch [Audio]
Speaker(s): Pierre Calame, Judy El-Bushra, Dr Hakan Seckinelgin | The 2011 Yearbook provides a critical examination of the ways global civil society promotes and delivers social justice. How does the 'global' make a difference to traditional concepts of social justice? Pierre Calame is director of the Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer for the Progress of Humankind. Judy El-Bushra is Programme Manager of Africa Great Lakes Region and Researcher at International Alert. Hakan Seckinelgin is a lectur
Latvia Turns the Corner [Audio]
Speaker(s): Valdis Dombrovskis | After years of unsustainable growth and profligate spending, in 2009 Latvia experienced the deepest economic crisis in the European Union, with a GDP fall of 18%. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis came to power facing the daunting task of averting bankruptcy. Severe austerity measures, combined with an international loan package, have yielded results – in 2010 Latvia's recession ended and economic growth is expected to resume in 2011. In this lecture, the Prime
The economics of Palestinian-Israeli peace [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Ephraim Kleiman | Ephraim Kleiman is Don Patinkin Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holds a PhD from the London School of Economics. After serving briefly with the Israel Finance Ministry, he joined the Economics Department of the Hebrew University in 1963. He has held visiting appointments at universities and research institutes in the U.S., the U.K, Sweden and Australia. He has
Income Distribution and Social Change after 50 years [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Sir Tony Atkinson | Fifty years ago, it was believed that income inequality was falling and that poverty had largely been eliminated. This lecture returns to Richard Titmuss' masterly crossexamination of the evidence about income inequality and argues that we have much to learn, but also to add. Tony Atkinson is the centennial professor at LSE. His most recent book is Top Incomes: a global perspective.
Out of Europe? The United States in an Asian age [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox, Professor Arne Westad | Niall Ferguson argues that the world is now being shaped more by the emerging economies of the East than by the once dominant West. But within the West another kind of power shift is taking place, one that leads to the growing irrelevance of Europe. Is this true? And does it really matter? Michael Cox is professor of international relations at LSE and codirector of LSE IDEAS. Arne Westad is professor of international history at LSE and c
The Doha Round is Alive; and more important than ever [Audio]
Speaker(s): Lord Brittan | Since 2008 it has looked to many as if the Doha Round trade negotiations were dead, or at best comatose. At the G20 Summit last November, world leaders gave it a shot in the arm, and there are now significant signs of life in Geneva. If concluded, it would provide an insurance policy against future protectionism and economic benefits estimated at over $360 billion. The challenge is to realise the window of opportunity in 2011 in order to seal the deal. On the last day
The Human Sciences in the 'Age of Biology' – revitalising sociology [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Nikolas Rose | Thanks to the insights of genomics and neuroscience we now understand ourselves in radically new ways. Is a new figure of the human, and of the social, taking shape in the 21st century? Nikolas Rose is professor of sociology and director of BIOS at LSE.
The Evolution of the Individual [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith | The winner of the 2010 Lakatos Award (for his book Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection) will talk about the evolution of the individual. Peter Godfrey-Smith is a professor of philosophy at Harvard University and winner of the 2010 Lakatos Award.
Preventing Financial Meltdowns [Audio]
Speaker(s): Tim Harford | In this lecture, Tim Harford, the author, radio presenter and newspaper columnist looks at the lessons we can learn from the financial crisis and how the collapse of Lehman Brothers has close parallels in disasters such as Three Mile Island and Deepwater Horizon. This lecture marks the launch of Tim Harford's new book Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. Tim Harford is a member of the Financial Times editorial board. His column, "The Undercover Economist", whi
Indian herbal heritage and its rising global influence in economic growth [Audio]
Speaker(s): Shahnaz Husain | Over the last few years, India has become one of the fastest-growing economies. Shahnaz Husain's experience is in organic / Ayurvedic beauty care, which has become relevant to the modern world. The world is looking at holistic systems with enlightened eyes. There is a growing global market for alternative medicine and herbal products. Cultural industries also play an important role in the economy, in terms of economic growth, social stability, and generating employme
A Fair Trial for the Human Rights Act [Audio]
Speaker(s): Sadiq Khan MP | Sadiq Khan will explain Labour's approach to human rights. Sadiq Khan is shadow lord chancellor and shadow secretary of state for justice.
British luxury exports sparkle
June 30 - The luxury industry is worth £6 billion to the UK economy - and traditional British brands like Boodles jewelers say sales remain strong at home and abroad, but they're looking at expanding into new markets like the Far East. Joanna Partridge reports.
Factories gather steam
June 30 - Summary of business headlines: Midwest manufacturing expansion grows; Jobless claims dip; Justin Timberlake teams up to buy Myspace. Conway G. Gittens reports.
Fed's QE2 fades into the sunset
June 30 - Summary of business headlines: Federal Reserve's QE2 program ends, Harvard professor says no need for QE3; Greek parliament passes second austerity bill; Britons show outrage over public pension reforms. Stock rally in fourth day. Conway G. Gittens reports.
