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Are universities creating a new political divide?

Hosted by the Ralph Miliband Programme

In-person and online public event (Old Theatre, Old Building)

Speakers

Professor Jonathan Hopkin

Professor Jonathan Hopkin

Dr Elizabeth Simon

Dr Elizabeth Simon

Professor Maria Sobolewska

Professor Maria Sobolewska

Chair

Dr Robin Archer

Dr Robin Archer

In many countries, referendums, elections, activism, and surveys of political attitudes all seem to show a large and growing gap between highly educated university graduates and those whose education finished at school. Is the level of education now becoming a central political cleavage? And is it displacing long-established cleavages like social class?

We will hear both from those who think it is and from those who are more sceptical.

Meet our speakers and chair

Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) has held lectureships at the Universities of Bradford, Durham and Birmingham before joining LSE in 2004. His research has mostly focused on parties and elections in Western Europe (and specifically Italy, Spain and the UK), with particular attention to corruption, political finance, and territorial politics. He is the author of Party Formation and Democratic Transition in Spain.

Elizabeth Simon (@elizabeth_sim0n) is a postdoctoral researcher in British Politics. She is based in the Mile End Institute and Queen Mary’s School of Politics and International Relations. Elizabeth’s research considers how educational attainment and other key socio-demographic variables (including age, housing tenure and geographical location), inequalities and identity formation impact the ways individuals think and vote in Britain today.

Maria Sobolewska (@ProfSobolewska) is Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester and works on the political integration and representation of ethnic minorities in Britain and in a comparative perspective, public perceptions of ethnicity, immigrants and integration. Maria's last book Brexitland with Rob Ford won the 2022 WJM Mackenzie Prize for the best book published in political science from the Political Science Association.

Robin Archer is the Director of the postgraduate programme in political sociology and the Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Ralph Miliband Programme (@rmilibandlse) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEMiliband

Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

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This public event is free and open to all. This event will be a hybrid event, with an in-person audience and an online audience. 

For the in-person event: No ticket or pre-registration is required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For any queries see LSE Events FAQ.

For the online event: Register for this event via LSE Live at Are universities creating a new political divide?

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