2024 Events

Feeding the machine: the hidden human labour powering AI
Hosted by the Data Science Institute and the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 4 December 2024

Speakers:
Professor Mark Graham, Director of Fairwork and Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
Dr James Muldoon, Reader in Management at the University of Essex, Research Associate at the University of Oxford and Head of Digital Research at the Autonomy think tank
Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch, British Academy Global Professor and Distinguished Policy Fellow, International Inequalities Institute, LSE

Authors Mark Graham and James Muldoon were joined by Kirsten Sehnbruch to discuss the impact of AI on global inequalities, and what we need to do, individually and collectively, to fight for a more just digital future.

From rage to riches: how fixing wealth inequality defeats populism
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 27 November 2024

Speakers:
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill & Solihull North
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Distinguished Policy Fellow, LSE III
Professor Jonathan Hopkin, Professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Government, LSE

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

Populist movements have harnessed frustrations over wealth concentration, wage stagnation, and declining economic mobility to gain political traction.

This panel asked: what are the big choices needed to assuage voters’ anger with bold measures that spread ownership of wealth? What does this mean for the choices we make, or the promises that politicians make to us?

Fragments of home: refugee housing, humanitarian design and the politics of shelter
Hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment and the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 19 November 2024

Speakers:
Dr Tom Scott-Smith, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre and Associate Professor of Forced Migration, University of Oxford
Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council
Dr Myfanwy James, Assistant Professor in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies, LSE

Chair:
Professor Neil Lee, Professor of Economic Geography, LSE

In this talk, Tom Scott-Smith drew on his new book to discuss how humanitarians, architects, and government authorities have sought to provide shelter to refugees. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research into these shelters, he reflected on their political implications, opening up much bigger questions about humanitarian action.

The most unequal region in the world: combatting inequality in Latin America
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 29 October 2024

Speakers:
Dr Valentina Contreras, Research Officer, LSE III
Professor Julián Messina, Professor, Universidad de Alicante
Dr Sebastián Nieto Parra, Head of Latin America and the Caribbean, OECD Development Centre
Professor Andrés Velasco, Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy, LSE

Chair:
Professor Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies and Director, LSE III

The Latin America and Caribbean Inequality Review (LACIR) convenes high-level scholars to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of the inequality problem in Latin America.

This event presented the scale of the problem of inequality in Latin America and pointed to some of the possible ways out of this ‘inequality trap’. Bringing together scholars and policymakers, the event explored solutions and strategies to combat inequality in the region.

The case for a four-day week
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 23 October 2024

Speakers:
Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign
Fran Heathcote, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch, British Academy Global Professor and Distinguished Policy Fellow, LSE III

Chair:
Dr Tania Burchardt, Associate Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), Deputy Director of STICERD, and Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, LSE

This event discussed how businesses, charities, and councils can reap the benefits of introducing smarter working. The panel explored evidence for the benefits of introducing a four-day week, and discussed practical ways to make the change.

Women, Jobs and Growth - South Asia Regional Update Oct 2024
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 16 October 2024

Speakers:
Franziska Ohnsorge, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia
Maurizio Bussolo, World Bank Deputy Chief Economist for South Asia

Chair:
Professor Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Professor of Development Economics, Queen Mary University of London and Visiting Professor, LSE III

This edition of the South Asia Development Update examined in detail the issue of female labour force participation. With about two-thirds of the region’s working-age women out of the labour force, raising female employment rates to those of men could increase per capita income by as much as one-half. Measures to accelerate job creation, remove obstacles to women working, and equalize gender rights would be more effective if combined with a shift toward social norms that looked more favourably on working women.

Richer and more equal: a new history of wealth in the west
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 16 October 2024

Speaker:
Professor Daniel Waldenström, Professor of Economics, Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN Stockholm)

Chair:
Professor Francisco H G Ferreira, Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies and Director of LSE International Inequalities Institute

In this talk, Daniel Waldenström discussed the implications of the rise of the middle class in the late 1800s. Unfettered capitalism, he argues, doesn’t have to lead to boundless inequality.

Born to rule: the making and remaking of the British elite
Hosted by LSE Department of Sociology and the International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 3 October 2024

Speaker:
Professor Sam Friedman, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE
Hashi Mohamed, Barrister, Landmark Chambers
Professor Aaron Reeves, Professor of Sociology, LSE Department of Sociology
Professor Lauren Rivera, Peter G. Peterson Chair of Corporate Ethics, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Economist, Writer and Commentator

Chair:
Professor Suzanne Hall, Professor of Sociology and Head of Department, LSE Department of Sociology

Think of the British elite and familiar caricatures spring to mind. But are today’s power brokers a conservative chumocracy, born to privilege and anointed at Eton and Oxford? Or is a new progressive elite emerging with different values and political instincts? Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman combed through a trove of data in search of an answer, scrutinizing the profiles, interests, and careers of over 125,000 members of the British elite from the late 1890s to today. At the heart of this meticulously researched study is the historical database of Who’s Who, but the authors also mined genealogical records, examined probate data, and interviewed over 200 leading figures from a wide range of backgrounds and professions to uncover who runs Britain, how they think, and what they want.

Fathers in a Motherland: Imagining Fatherhood in Colonial India
Hosted by the Ayahs and Amahs Research Network

Friday 14 June 2024

Speaker:
Professor Swapna M. Banerjee, Professor of South Asian History, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Utilizing pedagogic literature, scientific journals, autobiographies, correspondences, and published essays, Fathers in a Motherland documents the different ways the authority and power of the father was invoked and constituted both metaphorically and in everyday experiences in Colonial India.

Power, politics, and belonging: the lasting impacts of colonialism
Hosted by LSE Festival: Power and Politics

Saturday 15 June 2024

Speakers:
Professor Neil Cummins, Professor of Economic History in the Department of Economic History at LSE
 Leah Eryenyu, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity
Dr Maël Lavenaire, Research Fellow in Racial Inequality in the International Inequalities Institute at LSE

Chair:
Dr Sara Camacho-Felix, Assistant Professor (Education) in the International Inequalities Institute at LSE

Politics of power and wealth have had a huge impact on the structuring of inequalities across the globe. As the racial and ethnic inequalities that we see today stem from centuries of discrimination and marginalisation, in order to tackle them, we will need to understand how they have been embedded in the very structures of our societies.

This panel examined examples of racial and ethnic inequalities from the 19th century to the present day in an attempt to unravel the legacy of past injustices and investigate the link between power, politics, and belonging.

Defending democracy: building solidarity with persecuted writers, journalists, and artists
Hosted by LSE Festival: Power and Politics

Saturday 15 June 2024

Speakers:
Ross Holder, Head of the Asia/ Pacific Region at PEN International
Professor Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology at LSE
Salman Usmani, writer, editor, and digital communications specialist

Chair:
Dr Ayca Cubucku, Associate Professor in Human Rights and Co-Director of LSE Human Rights at LSE

This panel addressed critical questions about the persecution of writers, academics, journalists and artists across the globe, including: how do we protect the freedom of speech and the freedom of dissent that is crucial for democracy? What is the role of global financial institutions and regimes in the crackdown on dissent in faraway places? What role do international human rights organisations, cultural spaces and educational institutions have in protecting the spaces of democracy globally?

Cart before the Horse? Unpacking the Pathways between Social Norms, Opportunities and Women's Work
Seminar hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 5 June 2024

Speaker:
Ashwini Deshpande, Visiting Fellow, III (joint with Anisha Sharma, Ashoka University)

Chair:
Naila Kabeer, Faculty Associate, III; Professor of Gender and Development, Department of International Development

This talk presented evidence on the specific constraints on women's participation in paid work in India, arising from low demand for female labour, arguing that it needs to be understood within the wider context of insufficient productive employment opportunities. The findings highlight the importance of intersectionality in the analysis of the interplay between norms and opportunities.

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

Tuesday 4 June 2024

Speakers:
Dr Fadhel Kaboub,Associate Professor of Economics, Denison University
Dr Sivan Kartha, Equitable Transitions Program Director, SEI US
Madhumitha Ardhanari, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity

Chair:
Nafkote Dabi, Climate Change Policy Lead, Oxfam International

The super-rich are burning our world. The world confronts twin crises; climate breakdown and runaway inequality. The richest people, corporations and countries are destroying the world with their huge carbon emissions. Meanwhile, people living in poverty, those experiencing marginalisation, and countries in the Global South are those impacted the hardest. The world needs an equal transformation. Only a radical reduction in inequality, transformative climate action and fundamentally shifting our economic goals as a society can deliver wellbeing for all within a liveable planet.

Visions of inequality: from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War
Hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 30 May 2024

Speaker:
Professor Branko Milanovic, Research Professor at the Graduate Center at City University of New York (CUNY), Senior Scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at CUNY, and Visiting Professor at the International Inequalities Institute at LSE

Chair:
Professor Facundo Alvaredo, Co-Director of the World Inequality Database and the World Inequality Lab

This event launched Branko Milanovic's book, Visions of Inequality.

"How do you see income distribution in your time, and how and why do you expect it to change?"

That is the question Branko Milanovic imagines posing to six of history's most influential economists: François Quesnay, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Vilfredo Pareto, and Simon Kuznets. Probing their works in the context of their lives, he charts the evolution of thinking about inequality, showing just how much views have varied among ages and societies.

Labour Inequalities Bound In Histories Of The Colonial And Postcolonial: A Workshop On Impact And Knowledge Exchange
Hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Monday 20 May - Tuesday 21 May 2024

This workshop aimed to deepen theoretical knowledge of the impacts of colonialism by exploring marginalized and disadvantaged cohorts who remained invisible at the formal close of empire in South Asia (1947 onwards) and the aftermath. Categories who have gone unnoticed, unaccounted, and remained hidden or have escaped our attention. What was the relationship of these groups to the colonial state, economy, and civic society? How did they confront colonial practices? What kind of knowledge systems, skill sets, labour and world views were they able to offer that met with biases and omissions?

Please find the programme here.

The sixth suspect: Stephen Lawrence, investigative journalism and racial inequality
Hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 16 May 2024

Speakers:
Daniel De Simone, BBC News correspondent 
Dr Clive Nwonka, Associate Professor in Film, Culture and Society, UCL Institute for Advanced Studies
Cllr Ann-Marie Cousins, Independent Councillor for Abbey Wood

Chair:
Professor Shakuntala Banaji, Professor of Media, Culture and Social Change, Department of Media and Communications at LSE

In his first public talk, BBC correspondent Daniel De Simone offered previously unheard insights into his two-year investigation into the killing of Stephen Lawrence. The discussion also included an exploration of the potential of contemporary investigative journalism practices in uncovering historical institutional failings and intervening in structural racial inequalities.

Data grab: the new colonialism of big tech and how to fight back
Hosted by the Department of Media and Communications and the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 14 May 2024

Speakers:
Professor Nick Couldry, Professor of Media Communications and Social Theory, Department of Media and Communications, LSE
Professor Ulises A Mejias, Professor of Communication Studies at SUNY Oswego

Chair:
Professor Myria Georgiou, Professor of Media and Communications, Department of Media and Communications, LSE

This public event celebrated the launch of Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back with the authors. In this searing, cutting-edge guide, two leading global researchers – and leading proponents of the concept of data colonialism – reveal how history can help us both to understand the emerging future and to fight back.

How do we campaign around wealth inequality?
Co-hosted by International Inequalities Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Monday 13 May 2025

Speakers:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE
Faiza Shaheen, Visiting Professor in Practice, International Inequalities Institute
Shabna Begum, Interim CEO of the Runnymede Trust

In the shadow of a UK general election, this public event took stock of the politics of wealth inequality and reflected on how to build political awareness and expand campaigning action. Mindful that divisive ‘culture war’ agendas are being used to fragment and distract campaigning which centres fundamental socio-economic inequality, panellists considered how to shift political debate in more progressive directions.

Why wealth inequality matters: an expert roundtable
Workshop co-hosted by International Inequalities Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Monday 13 May 2024

This closed roundtable event presented new and cutting-edge research from the LSE International Inequalities Institute demonstrating the systemic problems that wealth inequality is generating in the UK. The aim was to equip policymakers, journalists and civil society groups with key insights that can be used for campaigning work and in spreading awareness so that the issues can inform campaigning in the run up to the General Election.

Workshop on climate change and inequality
Workshop hosted by International Inequalities Institute, and Queen Mary's, University of London

Friday 10 May 2024

The Research Circle for the Study of Inequality and Poverty (QMUL) and the International Inequalities Institute (LSE) hosted a workshop on climate change and inequality with a keynote address by Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the Department of Economics and Chair of Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics.

Human Rights: The Case for the Defence
Hosted by International Inequalities Institute, LSE Human Rights and the Wollstonecraft Society

Tuesday 7 May 2024

Speaker:
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, leading British human rights lawyer and campaigner and legislator in the House of Lords
Professor Conor Gearty, Professor of Human Rights Law at LSE and a barrister in practice at Matrix Chambers
Bee Rowlatt, writer and public speaker, and a programmer of events at the British Library

Chair: Professor Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science

At the 2024 Wollstonecraft Society Lecture, we were joined by Shami Chakrabarti, lawyer, parliamentarian and leading British human rights defender. Chakrabarti discussed her latest book Human Rights: The Case for the Defence, which shows us why human rights are essential for our future.

Narrative Ethnography of Interstate Seasonal Migrant Women in Punjab, India
Seminar hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 25 April 2024

Speaker:
Dr. Niyathi R. Krishna, Sir Ratan Tata Post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow, III, LSE

Chair:
Dr. Ruth Kattumuri, Co-Founder, India Observatory, III, LSE

In this seminar, Dr. Niyathi R. Krishna presented her research on interstate seasonal migrant women in Punjab, India, conducted as part of the Sir Ratan Tata fellowship 2023-24. Her research attempts to unravel the gender order induced experiences in the lives of interstate seasonal labour migrant women in Punjab at various levels in the post pandemic period, as labourers, migrants, and people possessing multiple binds in terms of caste, class, and gender.

Sustainability, Inclusive Development and Dr B.R. Ambedkar - A celebration to mark 100 years of "The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution"
Invitation only event hosted by the India Observatory, International Inequalities Institute

Saturday 13 - Sunday 14 April 2024

Speakers:
Larry Kramer, President, LSE
Ravindra Kulkarni, VC University of Mumbai 
Lord Nicholas Stern, LSE
Lord Meghnad Desai; 
Virendra Sharma, MP

The India Observatory at International Inequalities Institute, in collaboration with University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India & Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI), Pune, India, is organised a two day conference titled 'Sustainability, Inclusive Development and Dr B.R. Ambedkar' to celebrate the centenary of Ambedkar's PhD at the LSE.

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

Speaker:
Professor Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology, LSE
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

This event launched Alpa Shah’s new book, The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the search for democracy in India.

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.  Diving deep into the lives of the BK-16, The Incarcerations shows how the case is a bellwether for the collapse of democracy.

The trading game
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 21 March 2024

Speaker:
Gary Stevenson, economist and author
Rebecca Gowland, International Director, Patriotic Millionaires

Chair:
Mike Savage, Professorial Research Fellow, International Inequalities Institute

This event launched Gary Stevenson's new book The Trading Game: A Confession.

Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken footballs on the streets of east London in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscrapers, Gary wanted something better. Then he won a competition run by a bank: 'The Trading Game'. The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? When the easiest way to make money is to bet on millions becoming poorer and poorer - and, as the economy starts slipping off a precipice, your own sanity starts slipping with it?

Gen-AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work
Seminar hosted by the III

Tuesday 14 March 2024

Speaker: Marina M. Tavares, Economist in the Climate Change Structural Reforms Division, International Monetary Fund

Discussants: Sir Christopher Pissarides, Regius Professor of Economics, LSE, and Professor of European Studies, University of Cyprus; David Zuluaga Martinez, Partner and member of the Public Sector practice, Boston Consulting Group; Christopher Martin, Senior Associate General Counsel, Boston Consulting Group

Chair: Kirsten Sehnbruch, Acting Director of the International Inequalities Institute, British Academy Global Professor and III Distinguished Policy Fellow

In this seminar Marina M. Tavares presented her paper "Gen-AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work".

How can we tackle inequalities through British public policy?
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 5 March 2024

Speakers:
Professor Neil Lee, Professor of Economic Geography at the Department of Geography and Environment
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE
Professor Tania Burchardt, Associate Professor, Department of Social Policy

Chair:
Professor Stephen Jenkins, Professor of Economic and Social Policy, Department of Social Policy

At this public event, researchers from across the III discussed their research and how their findings could impact British public policy. They covered 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.

The Inequality of Wealth: Why it matters and how to fix it
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 28 February 2024

Speakers:
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE
Katie Schmuecker, Principal Policy Adviser, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Chair:
Dr Kirsten Sehnbruch, British Academy Global Professor, Distinguished Policy Fellow, and Acting Director at the International Inequalities Institute

This event launched The Inequality of Wealth: why it matters and how to fix it, by former Treasury Minister Liam Byrne MP. Drawing on conversations and debates with former prime ministers, presidents and policymakers around the world together with experts at the OECD, World Bank, and IMF, the book arguse that, after twenty years of statistics and slogans, it's time for solutions that aren’t just radical but plausible and achievable as well.

The Seaside: England's love affair
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 7 February 2024

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

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

Speakers:
Professor Manuel Pastor, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California
T.O. Molefe, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity

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

In this lecture Manuel Pastor, joined by T.O. Molefe, discussed his newest book Solidarity Economics: why mutuality and movements matter. The book introduces the concept of solidarity economics, rooted in the idea that equity is key to prosperity and social movements are crucial to the reconfiguration of power in our politics.