Liberal Fascism: the uses and abuses of the F-word [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jonah Goldberg | For nearly a century the political left has controlled the commanding heights of intellectual discourse by asserting, contrary to the evidence, that the left holds a monopoly on political virtue. The further you move from the left on the political spectrum, it is asserted, the closer you get to evil. "Fascism" has long served as the central prop in this drama. Fascism and evil are interchangeable terms, we are told. The reality is that while fascism may be evil, it h
After the Good Life, the Impasse: human resources, time out, and the precarious present [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Lauren Berlant | This lecture draws on two films of Laurent Cantet - Human Resources (1999) and Time Out (2001) - to engage the new affective languages of the contemporary economic atmosphere, languages of anxiety, contingency and precarity. Lauren Berlant is George M Pullman Professor, Department of English, University of Chicago. Sadie Wearing is lecturer in gender theory, culture and media at the Gender Institute, LSE.
"Russian Railways" as the locomotive of the Russian Economy" [Audio]
Speaker(s): Vladimir Yakunin | Vladimir I. Yakunin, president of "Russian Railways" will deliver a speech covering three main topics in the context of his company: economic science, market awareness and development.
The Islamic Republic of Iran After 30 Years [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Fred Halliday | Thirty years after the fall of the Shah of Iran and the advent of Ayatollah Khomeini to power, the Iranian revolution continues to exert a dynamic ideological and political influence across the Middle East. In a retrospective analysis of the revolutionary period itself, some of whose decisive moments he witnessed at first hand, and of the subsequent development of the Islamic Republic Professor Fred Halliday will attempt to set these dramatic events in conte
LSE Literary Weekend - In Conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist [Audio]
Speaker(s): Hans Ulrich Obrist, Adrian Searle | Editor's note: Unfortunately, owing to technical difficulties, the last few minutes of this event are missing from the audio podcast. Hans Ulrich Obrist was born in Zurich in May 1968. He joined the Serpentine Gallery as Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects in April 2006. Prior to this he was Curator of the Musie d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris since 2000, as well as curator of museum in progress, Vien
What should the next G20 meeting do? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox, Will Hutton; Professor Danny Quah | The upcoming meeting of the G20 in London in early April 2009 is crucial for the development of policies to stabilise the world economy and reform the international financial architecture. What will the G20 do and what should it do? Will Hutton, Danny Quah, Mick Cox and David Held debate the issues.
Social Justice and Sustainability: arguments from political theory [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Simon Caney, Professor Paul Kelly; Baroness Onora O'Neill | Three distinguished political philosophers examine and discuss how theories of social justice and sustainability can be related to each other.
A Lecture by President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev - in English [Audio]
Speaker(s): President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev | Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev was elected President of the Russian Federation in March 2008. In November 2005 he was elected First Deputy Prime Minister, previous to this he was Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.
Progressive Governance: Greece and the New International Order [Audio]
Speaker(s): George Papandreou | George A. Papandreou is president of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and president of Socialist International. He was minister of foreign affairs from 1999 to 2004, a period that saw inter alia a new rapprochement with Turkey. He has served as minister for national education and religious affairs on two occasions (1988-89; 1994-96).He is the son and grandson of two Greek prime ministers. In 2006 he became president of the Socialist International. The la
Wars, Guns and Votes: democracy in dangerous places [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Paul Collier | Award-winning author Paul Collier investigates the violence and poverty in the countries at the bottom of the world economy that are home to a billion people and asks why the democratic process in these countries so often fails.
A Billion People Decide their Future - a panel discussion on Indian Elections [Audio]
Speaker(s): Lord Professor Meghand Desai, Dr Sharmila Bose | The fifteenth General Election in India, the world's largest democracy, with currently 714 million registered voters, is happening in five phases between 16 April and 13 May. The panel will discuss the most exciting election in India since Independence.
The Winning Side of an Image [Audio]
Speaker(s): Adam Broomberg, Oliver Chanarin | Documentary photography is problematic. Without a witness, a victim is alone and de-humanised. We also know that victims are made for, or even by, the camera. In presenting their work produced in Afghanistan, while embedded with the British Army last June, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin attempt to highlight and compensate for these blind spots. In addition to showing The Day Nobody Died, they also present extracts from The Red House, produced in
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ - the path to an Islamic Democracy [Audio]
Speaker(s): Hooman Majd | A brief summary of how Iran's political system works, examples of what is most misunderstood about Iran, its leadership and the events leading up to the election (describing some of Hooman's own experiences since he was there). Majd will explain why the election and its aftermath may actually be the best thing to happen to Iran in a very long time, and why the vision of an "Islamic Democracy" which some Iranian leaders have, may come about sooner now than if there had b
Turkey's Economy and the Global Economic Crisis [Audio]
Speaker(s): Ali Babacan | Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Ali Babacan will discuss the impact of the global economic crisis and Turkey's policy response. Ali Babacan is Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, a position he has held since May 2009. Prior to this he served as Turkish Foreign Minister from 2007-2009. He has been a member of parliament since 2002, serving as Minister of the Economy from 2002-2007, and was also appointed chief negotiator
Developing Rural Areas [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Esther Duflo | What are the constraints that prevent rural societies in developing countries from raising their standards of living? This event also explores the potential for policy change and new technologies to remove these constraints. Esther Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at MIT and a founder and director of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a research network specializing i
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
Bringing the Penal State Back In [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Loïc Wacquant | We need to bring the penal state back to the centre of the sociology of social inequality, public policy, and citizenship. Loïc Wacquant is professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley and Centre de Sociologie Européenne, Paris. Nicola Lacey is a professor of criminal law at LSE.
How to Control and Change Individual Behaviour: the world as installation [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Saadi Lahlou | Changing individual behavior is a major stake for policies and management, but humans think and act as social beings rather than rational agents. The lecture will introduce Installation Theory, the principles of which can be used for governance. Saadi Lahlou is director of the Institute of Social Psychology at LSE.
Should management be a social science or a design science? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Michael Barzelay | 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.
Digital Britain [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jeremy Hunt MP; Peter Bazalgette; Professor Robin Mansell; Sacha Deshmukh | Jeremy Hunt MP is the Shadow Communications Minister. Peter Bazalgette is a media entrepreneur. Robin Mansell is a professor of new media and the internet and head of the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE. Sacha Deshmukh is CEO of Mandate Communications. Charlie Beckett is Direcor of Polis. Jeremy Hunt will be joined by Professor Robin Mansell and Peter Bazalgette in a panel discussion about t
