Events

How women win the Latin American presidency

Part of the Inequalities Seminar Series

Tuesday 5 December 12.30 to 1.30pm. Online and in-person public event. LSE Centre Building (CBG), Room 2.04. 

Speaker:
Dr Catherine Reyes-Housholder, Assistant Professor, Instituto de Ciencia Política, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

The most difficult kind of political power for women to obtain arguably is the most important: the presidency. How do women win presidential elections? I answer this question by turning to Latin America, a region characterized by powerful presidents and democratic competition. This talk, in turn, develops a two-stage theory of how women win the presidency. I maintain that party nominations (Stage 1) constitute the central black box of women’s victories. Candidates’ traits, which are often gendered, play a crucial role in parties’ decision-making over who to nominate for president. Once the nominations are fixed, presidential elections for women generally function as referendum on parties in power (Stage 2). The key to understanding how women win the presidency therefore lies in understanding how they secure the nomination of major political parties. 

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A Lecture by Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute, Oxfam GB and the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity

Wednesday 6 December 5.30pm - 7.00pm. In-person and online event. Room TBC. 

Join us for this special event with LSE alumna Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados.

Mia Amor Mottley (@miaamormottley) became Barbados' eighth and first female Prime Minister on May 25, 2018. Ms Mottley was elected to the Parliament of Barbados in September 1994 as part of the new Barbados Labour Party Government. Prior to that, she served as one of two Opposition Senators between 1991 and 1994. One of the youngest persons ever to be assigned a ministerial portfolio, Ms. Mottley was appointed Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture from 1994 to 2001. She later served as Attorney General and Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados from 2001 to 2008 and was the first female to hold that position.

Ms Mottley is an Attorney-at-law with a degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, specialising in advocacy. She is also a Barrister of the Bar of England and Wales. In 2002, she became a member of the Local Privy Council. She was also admitted to the Inner Bar, becoming the youngest ever Queens Counsel in Barbados.

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The Inequality of Wealth: Why it matters and how to fix it

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 17 January 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Old Building (OLD) Theatre. 

Speakers:
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill

Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE

Chair:
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Course Tutor in the Department of Sociology, LSE

The super-rich have never had it so good. But millions of us can’t afford a home, an education or a pension. And unless we change course soon, the future will be worse. Much worse. Yet, it doesn’t have to be like this. In his new book The Inequality of Wealth: why it matters and how to fix it, former Treasury Minister, Liam Byrne, explains the fast-accelerating inequality of wealth; warns how it threatens our society, economy, and politics; shows where economics got it wrong – and lays out a path back to common sense, with five practical new ways to rebuild an old ideal: the wealth-owning democracy. Liam Byrne draws on conversations and debates with former prime ministers, presidents and policymakers around the world together with experts at the OECD, World Bank, and IMF to argue that, after twenty years of statistics and slogans, it's time for solutions that aren’t just radical but plausible and achievable as well. Liam will discuss the themes of his new book with LSE's Mike Savage.

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Solidarity economics: why mutuality and movements matter

Hosted by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity and the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 23 January 2024 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Centre Building (CBG), Auditorium. 

Speakers:
Professor Manuel Pastor, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California

T.O. Molefe, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity and a writer and editor with an affinity for transformative social research

Chair:
Professor Armine Ishkanian, Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme at LSE International Inequalities Institute

Traditional economics is built on the assumption of self-interested individuals seeking to maximize personal gain, but that is far from the whole story. Sharing, caring, and a desire to uphold the collective good are also powerful motives. In a world on fire – facing threats to multiracial democracy, tensions from rising economic inequality, and even the existential threat of climate change, can we build an alternative economics based on cooperation?

In this lecture Manuel Pastor, joined by T.O. Molefe, will discuss his newest book Solidarity Economics: why mutuality and movements matter. He will introduce the concept of solidarity economics, which is rooted in the idea that equity is key to prosperity and social movements are crucial to the reconfiguration of power in our politics and show how we can use solidarity economics to build a fairer economy that can generate prosperity and preserve the planet.

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The Seaside: England's love affair

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 7 February 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Old Buillding (OLD) Theatre. 

Speaker:
Madeleine Bunting, writer, journalist, Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE International Inequalities Institute

Discussants:
Sheela Agarwal, Associate Head of School of Research and Innovation for Plymouth Business School and Co-Director of the Centre for Coastal Communities

Lord Steve Bassam, British Labour and Co-operative politician and a member of the House of Lords

Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE 

England invented the seaside resort as a place of pleasure and these towns became iconic in the nation's sense of identity for over a century, but for over four decades the rise of package holidays and cheap flights have eroded their economies. This has resulted in a 'salt fringe' of deprivation, low pay, poor health and low educational achievement and the worst social mobility in the country.

Despite persistent affection for many of these resorts which still attract millions of visitors, their chronic plight has failed to capture political engagement and investment. How can these resorts, with their wealth of cultural heritage, forge a new future?

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Symposium on Systems of Financial Secrecy 

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute and Open Ownership

Wednesday 21 February 10.00am - 6.00pm. In-person event. Centre Building (CBG), Room 1.07

This one-day symposium co-organised by the III and Open Ownership, will bring together academics and practitioners working on a cross-section of issues that relate to systems of financial secrecy to share recent and ongoing research and discuss relevant policy developments. Systems of financial secrecy comprise the structures, actors and practices that allow activities such as tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering to take place and to go undetected.

The programme will curate speakers from across multiple disciplines and sectors with the aim of identifying and strengthening linkages between different approaches to research and practice on financial secrecy. The learnings from the symposium will contribute to finding the best approaches of tackling financial secrecy and its negative effects on social and economic inequalities.

The symposium will include three sessions: 1) Systems of financial secrecy in the UK, 2) Sanctions and national security, 3) Taxation, corruption, and public funds.

It will be followed by a networking reception.

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How can we tackle inequalities through British public policy?

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 5 March 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Centre Building (CBG) Auditorium. 

Speakers:
Professor Neil Lee, Professor of Economic Geography at the Department of Geography and Environment

Inequality is at the heart of some of the most pressing issues facing people living in the UK today, from the cost-of-living crisis to racial inequity. With a general election on the horizon, it is more important than ever for policy to be informed by high quality research. By engaging with policymakers, practitioners and local communities, the International Inequalities Institute produces research that can influence policy in crucial ways. At this public event, researchers from across the International Inequalities Institute will discuss their work and how their findings could impact British public policy. Our panel of speakers will cover a range of topics, such as how we can improve the quality of employment, how to implement a levelling up agenda, and how we can tackle wealth inequality in the UK.

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The search for democracy in the world's largest democracy

Hosted by International Inequalities Institute, LSE Human Rights, Department of Anthropology and Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity

Tuesday 26 March 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Centre Building (CBG) Auditorium. 

Speaker:
Professor Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology, LSE

Discussants: Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, Avantha Chair and Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at the King's India Institute; Professor Tarun Khaitan, Professor (Chair) in Public Law, LSE; Priyanka Kotamraju, independent journalist from India

Chair:
Professor Deborah James, Professor in the Department of Anthropology, LSE 

Join us to launch and discuss Alpa Shah’s new book, The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the search for democracy in India.

As general elections fast approach in the world’s largest democracy, this event asks what democracy today must urgently ensure for our common future. In her latest book, Alpa Shah pulls back the curtain on Indian democracy to tell the remarkable and chilling story of the Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 human rights defenders (the BK-16) – professors, lawyers, artists – have been imprisoned, without credible evidence and without trial, as Maoist terrorists. The BK-16 were accused of inciting violence and plotting to kill the Indian prime minister. But Professor Shah finds a shocking case of cyber warfare - hacked emails, mobile phones and implantation of electronic evidence used to make the arrests. Diving deep into the lives of the BK-16, The Incarcerationsshows how the case is a bellwether for the collapse of democracy and why these events matter to all of us.

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