LSE: Public lectures and events

Speaker(s): Professor Neta C. Crawford | The Pentagon was a leader, in the 1980s and 1990s, in the United States in recognising climate change as a looming security concern. The US Department of Defence has thus prepared for climate change with plans for responding to climate caused disruption to operations. The DoD is also predicting and preparing for climate change caused war. What are the security threats that will flow from climate change? Is ‘climate war’ inevitable? The DOD is also the US government’s largest fuel user and perhaps the world’s largest institutional greenhouse gas emitter — with annual emissions larger than the annual emissions of many countries. Tracking the causes and trends DOD fuel use from 1975 to 2018 and linking it to military doctrine shows a strategic disconnect: the Pentagon’s fuel use and military doctrine undermines its security objectives. What explains this? Neta C. Crawford is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Boston University. She is also a co-director of the Costs of War Project based at Brown University and Boston University. Crawford has served on the Governing Council of the American Political Science Association and the editorial board of the American Political Science Review. She is currently on the editorial board of Journal of Political Philosophy and Bristol Studies in International Theory. She is the author of more than four dozen academic articles and her books include Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization and Humanitarian Intervention (Cambridge University Press) and Accountability for Killing: Moral Responsibility for Collateral Damage in America's Post-9/11 Wars (Oxford University Press). Karen E Smith is Professor of International Relations and Head of the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Director of the European Foreign Policy Unit (within the International Relations Department). LSE Shape the World Series - to celebrate the completion of LSE’s newest building, a series of public events organised by some of the academic departments who are now housed in the Centre Building will take place this term. The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) is now in its 92nd year, making it one of the oldest as well as largest in the world. The twitter hashtag for this event is #PartofLSE

Speaker(s): Professor Jane Green, Ana Oppenheim, Polly Toynbee | What do the results of the British general election mean for Labour and the left? A panel of leading analysts and activists discuss. Jane Green (@ProfJaneGreen) is Director of the Gwilym Gibbon Centre for Public Policy, Oxford, Co-Director of the British Election Study, Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College and an election analyst for ITV News. Ana Oppenheim (@AnaOpp) is a Momentum activist and co-founder of the Labour Campaign for Free Movement. Polly Toynbee (@pollytoynbee) is an author and Guardian columnist. Robin Archer is Associate Professor (Reader) in Political Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE. 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. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSELabour

Speaker(s): Dr Gerard Lyons, Vicky Pryce, Professor John Van Reenen | This panel discussion will focus on assessing the likely impacts of any Brexit outcome on the UK economy, across sectors and regions. How robust are the economic forecasts? What might change their predictions? Gerard Lyons (@DrGerardLyons) is a leading international economist. He is chief economic strategist at challenger wealth manager Netwealth and on the Board of Bank of China (UK), and is on a number of advisory boards, including Vivid Economics, Warwick Business School and the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE and Imperial. Vicky Pryce (@realVickyPryce) is Chief Economic Adviser, Centre for Economics and Business Research and an alumna of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her new book is Women vs Capitalism: Why We Can't Have It All in a Free Market Economy. John Van Reenen (@johnvanreenen) is Ronald Coase Chair in Economics and Professor in Economics, Department of Economics, LSE. Waltraud Schelkle is Professor in Political Economy at the European Institute, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEBrexit

Speaker(s): Professor Lee Elliot Major, Dr Sam Friedman, Dr Katharina Hecht | This event will launch a report from a research project at the International Inequalities Institute supported by the Sutton Trust to investigate whether British elites are pulling ahead, not just economically but also socially. Economic research has demonstrated that the richest 1 per cent in terms of income in the UK have increased their relative advantage since the 1980s but we know less about whether their social mobility and self-identities are becoming more exclusive and hence whether there is a more general process of ‘elites pulling away’. Lee Elliot Major (@Lem_Exeter) is Professor of Social Mobility, University of Exeter and Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE. Sam Friedman (@SamFriedmanSoc) is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, LSE. Katharina Hecht is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and a Visiting Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute (III). Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology at LSE and Director of the International Inequalities Institute. The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Noga Levy-Rapoport, David Powell | What is the green new deal and do we need it? Noga Levy-Rapoport (@Noga_LR)is a core organiser for the UK Student Climate Network. David Powell (@powellds) is Head of Environment and Green Transition, New Economics Foundation. Robin Archer is the Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme. 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. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEGreenNewDeal Podcast A podcast of this event is available to download from What is the Case For a Green New Deal? Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Speaker(s): Noga Levy-Rapoport, David Powell | Noga Levy-Rapoport (@Noga_LR)is a core organiser for the UK Student Climate Network. David Powell (@powellds) is Head of Environment and Green Transition, New Economics Foundation. Robin Archer is the Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme. 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. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEGreenNewDeal

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Burleigh | How have Britain and Russia dealt with loss of empire and what impact has it had on their self-understanding and politics? Britain and Russia have often been extremely suspicious of each other’s intentions, yet they share some fundamental things in common, beyond an unhealthy preoccupation with secret agents. Some claim that after 60 years Britain has still not adjusted to the post imperial era, and that this is reflected in Brexit - with its inability to accept that Ireland is a separate country, not to mention calls for an ‘Anglosphere’ or Empire 2.0 as an alternative to EU membership. The Russian loss of empire was a much more sudden affair in the early 1990s as 13 states became independent and Russia emerged from the polyglot Soviet carapace. Some claim that Russia is suffering from phantom limb syndrome, with President Putin pillaging the imperial past to create a new Russian identity, which does not mask the failure of his regime to diversify and modernise the Russian economy. The lecture will show how the imperial theme can be used to illumine trends in both societies. Michael Burleigh (@BurlM11) is the first Engelsberg Chair for 2019/20 at LSE IDEAS. Michael is a historian who focuses primarily on Nazi Germany. He is the author of The Third Reich: a new history, which won the 2001 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. His most recent book is The Best of Times, the Worst of Times. He has also won a British Film Institute Award for Archival Achievement and a New York Film and Television Festival Award Bronze Medal. Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE. LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEIDEAS

Speaker(s): Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Dr Wangui wa Goro, Dr Romina Istratii, | A crucial conversation with leading thinkers on current attempts to decolonise Eurocentric knowledge systems in Africa, and their role in challenging the enduring effects of colonialism in African and global society. To kick-start 2020’s acclaimed Africa Talks series, we are delighted to host Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Dr Wangui wa Goro and Dr Romina Istratii to discuss decolonisation and African knowledge systems. Across Africa, governments, universities and activist groups are making spirited efforts to decolonise the Eurocentric systems of knowledge that continue to pervade the continent. But what does this mean and how can it be achieved? More than transforming how knowledge is taught and produced in the academy, the ‘decolonisation of African knowledge systems’ can be seen as a tool in a wider toolbox aimed at challenging the incessant sway of colonialism on understanding present-day African society. The speakers will examine some of the progress made in decolonising Africa’s knowledge systems, discussing present ideas on how these systems can be rethought, re-framed and reconstructed, and the complicated role played by global North-South knowledge exchange programmes in attempts to further the continent’s epistemological agency.

Speaker(s): Professor Cass R. Sunstein | How does social change happen? Why is it so hard to anticipate? A key reason is the existence of hidden preferences, which may or may not be unleashed. Cass R. Sunstein (@CassSunstein) is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. His latest book is How Change Happens. To pre-order a copy of How Change Happens, which can be collected from independent bookshop Pages of Hackney at the event, please go to How Change Happens. Paul Dolan (@profpauldolan) is Professor of Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics. He is Head of Department in Psychological and Behavioural Science and Director of the EMSc in Behavioural Science. He is author of the Sunday Times best-selling book Happiness by Design, and Happy Ever After. The Department of Psychological & Behavioural Science (@LSE_PBS) is a growing community of researchers, intellectuals, and students who investigate the human mind and behaviour in a societal context. Our department conducts cutting-edge psychological and behavioural research that is both based in and applied to the real world. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEHowChangeHappens This event forms part of the “Shape the World” series, held in the run up to the LSE Festival, a week-long series of events taking place from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, free to attend and open to all, exploring how social sciences can make the world a better place. The full programme will be available online from January 2020. Video The recording of the Facebook Live of this event is available to watch at How Change Happens. Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Speaker(s): Professor Randall Abate, Dr Emily Barritt, Tessa Khan, Professor Hari Osofsky, Professor Jaqueline Peel, Dr Joana Setzer, Megan Bowman | Climate change litigation continues to expand across jurisdictions as a tool to strengthen climate action. But are courts prepared to protect the rights of future generations, wildlife and natural resources – collectively referred to as “the voiceless” - from the impacts of global climate change? This panel brings together leading scholars and practitioners in the field of climate litigation to discuss the potential and challenges for the law in addressing climate change. Randall Abate is Professor in the Department of Political Science and Sociology, Monmouth University. Emily Barritt (@emilymbarritt) is Lecturer in Tort Law and the Co-Director of the Transnational Law Institute at Kings College London. Megan Bowman is Associate Professor in Law, King’s College London, The Dickson Poon School of Law. Tessa Khan is a lawyer with the Urgenda Foundation and co-founder of the Climate Litigation Network. Hari Osofsky (@HariOsofsky) is Dean of Penn State Law and the Penn State School of International Affairs. Jaqueline Peel is Professor of Law, University of Melbourne. Joana Setzer (@JoanaSetzer) is Research Fellow, Grantham Research Institute, LSE. Veerle Heyvaert is Professor of Law, LSE. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEClimateLitigation This event forms part of the “Shape the World” series, held in the run up to the LSE Festival, a week-long series of events taking place from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, free to attend and open to all, exploring how social sciences can make the world a better place. The full programme will be available online from January 2020.

Speaker(s): Dr Ursula von der Leyen | Join us for a lecture by Ursula von der Leyen, LSE alumna and President of the European Commission. Prior to her current position she was Germany's Minister of Defence, a position she held from 2013-19. Before she was appointed Minister of Defence, she served as Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs since November 2009. From 2005 to 2009, she was Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Dr von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) studied at Göttingen and Münster, Hanover Medical School and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.

Speaker(s): Professor José Antonio Ocampo | This talk by José Antonio Ocampo will look at the different dimensions of IMF reform on the occasion of its 75th anniversary: the role of the international monetary system, global macroeconomic cooperation, prevention and management of crises, and the governance of the system. It will be based on his book, Resetting the International Monetary (Non)System. José Antonio Ocampo is Professor at Columbia University SIPA and a member of the Board of Directors at the Colombian Central Bank. Jean-Paul Faguet (@jpfaguet) is Professor of the Political Economy of Development at LSE, and Co-Programme Director of the MSc in Development Management. The Department of International Development (@LSE_ID) promotes interdisciplinary postgraduate teaching and research on processes of social, political and economic development and change. The Latin America and Caribbean Centre (@LSE_LACC) opened in January 2016 to serve as a focal point for LSE’s research and public engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean, the Centre builds upon the School’s long and important relationship with the region. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEIMFReforms

Speaker(s): Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz | We all have the sense that our economy tilts toward big business, but a few corporations have come to dominate entire sectors, contributing to skyrocketing inequality and slow growth. Too many have made their wealth through exploitation of others rather than through wealth creation. Professor Joseph Stiglitz will argue that we need to exploit the benefits of markets while taming their excesses, making sure that markets work for people and not the other way around. Joseph E. Stiglitz (@JosephEStiglitz) is University Professor at Columbia University, the winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, and a lead author of the 1995 IPCC report, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. At Columbia, Stiglitz co-chairs the Committee on Global Thought and is founder and co-president of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. His latest book, People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent, was released in April. To pre-order a copy of the book, which can be collected from independent bookshop Pages of Hackney at the event, please go to People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent. Nicholas Stern is Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at LSE. The LSE's United States Centre (@LSE_US) is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America. Our mission is to promote policy-relevant and internationally-oriented scholarship to meet the growing demand for fresh analysis and critical debate on the United States. witter Hashtag for this event: #LSEUSStiglitz This event is part of the LSE US Centre's Phelan Family Lecture series. Video The recording of the Facebook Live of this event is available to watch at Is Progressive Capitalism an Answer to America's Problems? Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Speaker(s): Professor Paul Embrechts | In its broad interpretation, “risk” is omnipresent in modern society. What does science, in particular mathematics, have to offer in a societal discourse on the topic? During the night of January 31 - February 1, 1953, a heavy winter storm battered the coastal areas of South West Holland and South East England killing over 2000 people. As a consequence, the Dutch started their famous Delta project. Paul Embrechts will discuss some of the scientific discourse related to the ensuing dike building process. The Twin Towers attack of 9/11 yields a very different kind of risk which will be contrasted with the flood event. Some methodological links to the financial crisis of 2006-2008 will be highlighted. The talk concludes with a discussion on the public communication and understanding of risk and the need for more interdisciplinary research. Paul Embrechts is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich) where he taught insurance and financial mathematics. Jan van den Heuvel (@JanvadeHe) is Head of the Department of Mathematics at LSE. The Department of Mathematics is internationally recognised for its teaching and research in the fields of discrete mathematics, game theory, financial mathematics and operations research. Twitter Hashtag for this

Speaker(s): Dr Swati Dhingra, Dr Spyros Economides, Dr Sara Hagemann, Professor Sara Hobolt | 2019 has been a momentous year for Europe, and 2020 promises more of the same. This public discussion will take stock of political, economic, and social events in Europe and the European Union during this past year and try to look forward to the next. Panelists will touch on issues such as the EP and national elections, the new leaders of EU institutions, Brexit, the European economy, Europe’s relationship with the US, and a number of others. Swati Dhingra (@swatdhingraLSE) is Associate Professor in Economics, Department of Economics, LSE. Spyros Economides is Associate Professor in International Relations and European Politics, European Institute, LSE. Sara Hagemann (@sarahagemann) is Academic Director, School of Public Policy, LSE. Sara Hobolt (@sarahobolt) is Sutherland Chair in European Institutions, Department of Government, LSE. Chris Anderson (@soccerquant) is Professor in European Politics and Policy at LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEEurope