Public events

Upcoming public events

Why we need a fairer Britain
Wednesday 14 October 2026, 6.30 to 8.00pm. In-person and online public event. LSE campus (venue TBC).
Speakers:
Will Snell, Founding Chief Executive, Fairness Foundation
Professor Kate Pickett, Professor for the Public Understanding of Social Science and Director of the Born in Bradford Centre for Social Change, University of York
Professor Aaron Reeves, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE
Chair:
Professor Armine Ishkanian, Professor of Social Policy, Department of Social Policy and Excecutive Director, Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity, LSE
Britain is grossly unfair, disfigured by a broken social contract and unsustainable levels of inequality. How can we build a more equal country? In The Fair Necessities, Will Snell argues that unfair inequality undermines everything from faith in government to economic growth, yet a fairer country is within reach. Drawing on cutting-edge research and interviews with public figures, the book sets out the moral, political and policy cases for tackling inequality and explains how to build a broad, cross-party consensus for a fairer society.
Bringing together leading experts from academia, policy, and civil society, this event will examine how inequality lies at the heart of our problems in contemporary Britain. Our speakers will explore what a genuinely fair society might look like — from the reform of public services and the tax system to housing, work, and opportunity — and ask what it will take to make it happen.
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The good, the black and the boujee: how black Britain became middle class
Tuesday 20 October 2026, 6.30 to 8.00pm. In-person and online public event. LSE campus (venue TBC).
Speakers:
Symeon Brown, Home Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News
Aamna Mohdin, Community Affairs Correspondent, The Guardian
Dr Clive Chijioke Nwonka, Associate Professor in Film, Culture and Society, School of European Languages, Culture and Society and Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE III
A landmark portrait of modern Britain, The Good, the Black and the Boujee is a critical reckoning with the pursuit of ‘black excellence’. From broadcasters and lawyers to content creators, actors and politicians, black professionals appear to have become leaders of Britain’s most visible, profitable and culture-defining industries. Yet educated black professionals say racism is entrenched and rising to the top has never been harder.
Symeon Brown unravels the web of class and gender that shapes black Britain today, reconciling cultural and political conversations surrounding black British identity with the present reality. Whether dissecting the preference of educated black women to be single, the rise of black Conservative power brokers, or how the assimilation of black elites masks the barriers facing the black working class, Brown renders visible the psychological and material cost of class aspiration. This event will explore how race, capital and identity entwine – and what is lost, gained and discovered through social mobility.
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How do Britain’s private schools reproduce privilege?
Co-hosted by LSE Department of Sociology
Wednesday 28 October 2026, 6.30 to 8.00pm. In-person and online public event. LSE campus (venue TBC).
Speakers:
Tiwa Adebayo, Journalist, Bloomberg News
Professor Annette Lareau, Emeritus Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
Professor Lee Elliot Major, Professor of Social Mobility, University of Exeter and Associate, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE
Dr Emma Taylor, Lecturer in Education, King’s Academy, King’s College London
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Professorial Research Fellow, LSE III
It is no secret that the alumni of Britain’s elite schools remain disproportionately represented in positions of power and influence. But what is it about these institutions that gives their students such a lasting advantage? This event marks the launch of An Elite Education: How Privilege is Produced in a Private School by Emma Taylor.
Drawing on an in-depth ethnography of one of Britain’s most prestigious private schools, Taylor explores how these institutions cultivate the dispositions that propel students into elite universities and professions. Central to the book is the concept of audacity, a carefully nurtured sense of privilege that is often mistaken for merit. Beneath the formal façade of architecture, traditions and rituals lies a complex web of everyday interactions through which students learn to assert themselves without fear of consequence. Bringing together a panel of key scholars and activists in the field, this event will examine how such taken-for-granted dispositions continue to shape access to opportunity and the reproduction of privilege in Britain.
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Addressing the adverse consequences of inequality
John Hills Memorial Lecture
Wednesday 25 November 2026, 6.30 to 8.00pm. In-person and online public event. Sheikh Zayed Theatre, LSE Cheng Kin Ku Building.
Speaker:
Professor Sir Richard Blundell, David Ricardo Chair of Political Economy, UCL
Chair:
Professor Francisco H G Ferreira, Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies and Director of the International Inequalities Institute, LSE
In many advanced economies, including the UK, progress towards a fairer society appears to have stalled. Deep structural forces – including weak earnings growth, rising wealth divides, regional disparities and declining social mobility – are reshaping life chances and fuelling political discontent. Drawing on the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, this lecture examines the dimensions of inequality spanning income, work, wealth, place and health.
It will focus on three key challenges: the entrenched inequalities in wealth and housing between generations and places, the gap in skills and human capital among those with low levels of educational attainment, and the extreme regional divides that are increasingly harmful to both social mobility and productivity. This inaugural John Hills Memorial Lecture argues that tackling these concerns requires going beyond redistribution through the tax and benefit system. It demands a new approach to work, skills, and innovation, with a focus on policies that shape opportunities before inequalities take root.
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Trigger points: inequality and political polarisation in contemporary society
Tuesday 8 December 2026, 5.30 to 7.00pm. In-person and online public event. LSE campus (venue TBC).
Speakers:
Professor Steffen Mau, Director, Max Planck Institute of Political and Social Science and Professor of Macrosociology, Humboldt-University of Berlin
Dr Sacha Hilhorst, Hallsworth Fellow, University of Manchester
Professor Jonathan Hopkin, Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Government at LSE
Chair:
Professor Naila Kabeer, Emeritus Professor of Gender and Development, Department of International Development, LSE
Today’s political debates are fiercely polarised. But looking beyond the headlines, ordinary citizens hold much more nuanced, less divided views. Drawing on rich survey data and group discussions, Trigger Points maps four major areas of conflict: migration, climate change, diversity, and economic justice. Across these conflicts, most citizens take positions that are middle-of-the-road, contradictory, or undecided. It is only certain ‘trigger points' – like gendered pronouns or refugee admissions – that predictably ignite tensions and deep disagreement. Political entrepreneurs know this and weaponize trigger points for their agenda. Yet the real key to contemporary conflicts, the book argues, lies in social inequality.
After examining the key insights from the book, our panel will reflect on the lessons learned for the UK context and what the book’s arguments reveal about inequality, polarisation and public debate in Britain today.
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Previous public events

Catch up on all of our past events here.