Winter Term 2024

PAKISTAN ELECTIONS 2024

NAVIGATING THE IMPACT ON PAKISTAN'S DEMOCRACY

Tuesday, 26 March 2024 | 6.15pm UK | 11.15pm Pakistan

CLEMENT HOUSE (CLM) 3.02

HYBRID

The recent general elections in Pakistan have been marred by controversy over its official results, with accusations of vote-rigging irregularities. This event will discuss the implications of this election for Pakistan's fragile democracy, and how it may be strengthened.

SPEAKERS: Salman Akram Raja (@salmanAraja; online) is a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and contested the recent elections as a candidate of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party; Dr Ayesha Siddiqa (@iamthedrifter) is Senior Fellow in War Studies, King's College London, and is author of Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy (2007; 2016).

DISCUSSANT: Dr Zahid Mumtaz (@zahid36330) is Fellow in the Department of Social Policy at LSE; his research interests are in international social & public policy, with a focus on Pakistan.

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

This event is in collaboration with the Department of Social Policy, LSE.

Please click here to watch a recording of the event.

Image © Element5 Digital, 2018, Unsplash.

FACT & FICTION

DYNAMICS OF JIHADISM IN PAKISTAN

Wednesday, 20 March 2024 | 3pm UK | 8pm Pakistan

ONLINE ONLY

A panel discussion with the author of Jihadism in Pakistan: Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and the Local Militants (2023), and experts, on the dynamics of the many extremist groups in Pakistan, their complex relationship with Pakistan's state & security agencies, and how these groups have remained ubiquitous against the odds.

SPEAKERS: Abdul Basit is Senior Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, National University of Singapore, and co-author of Dynamics of Taliban Insurgency in FATA (2013); Dr Antonio Giustozzi (@AntonioGiustoz2) is Visiting Fellow at the LSE South Asia Centre, and is affiliated with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), London. He is author of Jihadism in Pakistan: Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Local Militants (2023) -- the book being discussed at this event; Dr Farzana Shaikh (@DrFarzanaShaik1) is Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House, London, and an expert on South Asian security issues; Abubakar Siddque (@sid_abu) is a journalist at RFE/RL's 'Radio Azadi', specialises in the coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Afghanistan and Pakistan (2014).

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

Please click here to watch a recording of the event.

INEQUALITIES IN SOUTH ASIAN ADVICESCAPES

Wednesday, 13 March 2024 | 3pm UK | 8.30pm Sri Lanka | 9pm Bangladesh

ONLINE ONLY

A panel discussion, drawing on an LSE-AFSEE research project on entrepreneurship advice in Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, and its important implications for the reproduction of rural-urban & social inequalities even as it supports economic growth.

SPEAKERS: Dr Rebecca Bowers (@reb_bowers) is Visiting Fellow in Anthropology, LSE; Dr Luke Heslop (@LAHeslop) is Lecturer in Anthropology & Global Challenges, Brunel University, London; David Lewis (@lewisd100) is Professor of Anthropology & Development at LSE; Tasmiah Rahman (@TasmiahRahman7) is Associate Director, Skills Development Programme, BRAC, Dhaka; Anjali Sarker (@anjalisarker) is Programme Manager at The Oxford Character Project, University of Oxford; Anushka Wijesinha (@anushwij) is Co-Founder & Director, Centre for a Smart Future, Colombo.

CO-CHAIRS: Alnoor Bhimani (@AlnoorBhimani) is Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE), Professor of Management Accounting at LSE, and author of, amongst others, Financial Management for Technology Start-Ups: A Handbook for Growth (2017); Deborah James FBA (@djameslse) is Professor of Anthropology at LSE, author of Money from Nothing: Indebtedness and Aspiration in South Africa (2014), and has recently completed an ESRC-funded project titled 'An Ethnography of Advice: Between Market, Society and the Declining Welfare State'.

This event is in collaboration with the LSE Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) program, part of the LSE International Inequalities Institute.

Please click here to watch a recording of the event.

Image © Riccardo Annandale, 2016, Unsplash.

SOUTH BY SOUTHEAST? BURMA/MYANMAR THROUGH INDONESIAN & INDIAN OCEAN LENSES, DARKLY

Wednesday, 6 March 2024 | Pankhurst House (LSE), Room 2.01 | 12noon UK

HYBRID (Registration details below)

This lecture spotlights commonalities & divergences between Burma/Myanmar & the Netherlands East India/Indonesia, situating Myanmar in the broader historical context of the Indian Ocean, and thus of South and Southeast Asia.

SPEAKER: John Sidel is Sir Patrick Gillam Chair Professor in International and Comparative Politics at LSE, Director, LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, with research specialism in Indonesia and the Philippines. His most recent monograph is Republicanism, Communism, Islam: Cosmopolitan Origins of Revolution in Southeast Asia (2021).

DISCUSSANTS: Michael Charney (@mikecharneyuk) is Professor of Asian & Military History at SOAS, and author of A History of Modern Burma (2015); Dr Anja Karlsson Franck (@anja_franck) is Associate Professor in Peace & Development Studies at the University of Gothenburg with research interest in borders & international migration in Southeast Asia, and co-author, most recently, of 'Hacking Migration Control: Repurposing and Reprogramming Deportability' (2023); Dr Avinash Paliwal (@PaliwalAvi) is Reader in International Relations at SOAS, and author of India's Near East: A New History (forthcoming 2024).

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

This event is in collaboration with LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre.

Please click here to watch a recording of the event.

Image © Dan Gold, Unsplash.

CULTURAL NATIONALISM AND THE MAKING OF BANGLADESH

Wednesday, 28 February 2024 | 3pm UK | 9pm Bangladesh

ONLINE ONLY

A discussion of the unique nature & secular underpinnings of Bengali cultural nationalism in the making of Bangladesh from East Pakistan.

SPEAKER: Fakrul Alam is Professor & Director, Sheikh Mujib Research Institute for Peace & Liberty, and Supernumerary Professor in the Department of English, University of Dhaka. Amongst his several publications are a translation of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's The Unfinished Memoirs (2012).

DISCUSSANT: Gurpreet Mahajan recently retired as Professor from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; her several publications include The Multicultural Path: Issues of Diversity and Discrimination in Democracy (2002).

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

This event is in collaboration with Banglar Pathshala Foundation, Dhaka.

Image © copyright unknown; cropped version of original used under the LSE Creative Commons License/Fair Use policy for academic purposes.

Please click here to watch a recording of the event.

THE POLITICS OF CULTURE: Art & Resistance in Myanmar

Wednesday, 14 February 2024 | 3pm UK | 9.30pm Myanmar

ONLINE ONLY

A panel discussion, drawing on the current LSE Exhibition 'Not Another Protest Exhibition: Myanmar in Revolt and Feminist Art Practice', to discuss political symbolism in cultural practices, and how art is/can be used to navigate repressive state practices in Myanmar today.

SPEAKER: Chuu Wai (IG: @chuu_wai) is a Burmese artist, and was involved in street protests following the military coup in Myanmar in 2021; her art focuses on female identity, and has been working with handcrafted materials like htamain and longyi (traditional, long, wrap-skirt) fabrics and garments. The LSE Exhibition 'Not Another Protest Exhibition: Myanmar in Revolt and Feminist Art Practice' , highlights some of her recent work.

DISCUSSANTS: Minn Tent Bo is an independent analyst working on democracy and human rights in Myanmar, with particular interest in majoritarian nationalism, gender-based violence, and legal frameworks; Gumring Hkangda (@hkangda) is a PhD Research Scholar at The University of Manchester, and is interested in Kachin material culture/objects as repositories of personal and collective histories from a turbulent political context; Sara Wong (@saramariewong) is a PhD Research Scholar at LSE, curator of the LSE Exhibition 'Not Another Protest Exhibition: Myanmar in Revolt and Feminist Art Practice' , and is interested in creative practices/visual culture and transnational politics, focussing on the Myanmar diaspora.

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

This event was not recorded.

FACT & FICTION

BRANDS, ADVERTS & CAPITALISM IN COLONIAL INDIA

Wednesday, 31 January 2024 | 10am ET | 3pm UK | 8.30pm India

ONLINE ONLY

A discussion on a recently published title which discusses product branding, advertisements, 'modern' conjugality, and indigenous capitalism in colonial India.

SPEAKERS: David Arnold is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Warwick, and author of Burning the Dead: Hindu Nationhood and the Construction of a Global Tradition (2021); Douglas Haynes is Professor of History at Dartmouth College, NH, USA, and author of The Emergence of Brand-name Capitalism in Late Colonial India: Advertising & the Making of Modern Conjugality (2022) -- the book being discussed at this event; Dr Ravinder Kaur is Associate Professor of Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen, and author of Brand New Nation: Capitalist Dreams and Nationalist Designs in Twenty-First-Century India (2020); Prashant Kidambi is Professor of Urban History at the University of Leicester, and author most recently of Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire (2019).

DISCUSSANT: William T. S. Mazzarella is Neukom Family Professor of Anthropology & of Social Sciences, University of Chicago, and currently Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. He is author, most recently, of The Mana of Mass Society (2017).

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

Please click here to watch a recording of the event.

Digi-FinancialInclusion_event_2024-Portrait

DIGITALISATION & FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN INDIA

Wednesday, 24 January 2024 | 3pm UK | 8.30pm India

ONLINE ONLY

Digital India is a key initiative seeking to provide economic and social inclusion for all its people. Much evidence exists that empowering marginalised communities through Digital Literacy, e-Governance, Fintech platforms and Skill-building can positively impact their lives. But many remain technologically disconnected, forging digital gaps that are counter to Digital India’s aims. What remedies exist to counter this? What commercial, technological and policy options are to be pursued? What direction should Digital India now take?

SPEAKERS: Jayshree Bajoria (@jayshreebajoria) is Associate Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch in London; she is the author of 'India's Digital Governance "Model" Fails on Rights' (2023); Mahmudul Hasan Laskar (IG: @m_hasanlaskar) is Assistant Professor in Sociology, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, and author of 'Examining the Emergence of Digital Society and the Digital Divide in India: A Comparative Emergence between Urban and Rural Areas' (2023); Aditya Singh FRSA FRAS FRAI is Professor and Director, Athena School of Management, Mumbai; also see 'Digital Transformation in India: Its Impact on Business and Society' (2021).

CHAIR: Alnoor Bhimani (@AlnoorBhimani) is Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE), and Professor of Management Accounting at LSE. He is author, most recently, of Accounting Disrupted: How Digitalization in Changing Finance (2021).