It’s Tuesday and the football may be done, but politics never stops.
Diplomacy and Leadership in a Democracy
14 July, 17:00 BST
With the continual rise of authoritarian leadership around the world, it may seem that democracy is in peril. How will this global shift impact diplomacy and international relations for the US and other democracies around the world?
David Bakradze, Ambassador of Georgia to the United States, Alexander Downes, Associate Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, and former U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) will share their views on what it means to defend democracy, build diplomatic relations across the political spectrum, and how the landscape of international relations is shifting as a result of COVID-19 and other major forces.
Can public media be antiracist?
14 July, 18:00 BST
For anyone alert to how structural racism works in the UK, it’s clear our media are part of the problem. Whether they’re pushing racial stereotypes in news and dramas, mistreating their racialised workers, or just not talking about the things that matter to minoritised communities, media play a central role in upholding white supremacy. Our public media, such as the BBC and Channel 4, are often just as culpable of this as commercial media – despite being owned by all of us and having obligations to serve all communities.
This event will go beyond the usual solutions – diversity initiatives or complaints mechanisms that might make our media slightly less racist – and consider what an actively antiracist public media could look like. How could it be funded, how could it be truly accountable, and how could different communities participate equitably? What relationship would it have to the nation state – given Britain’s imperial legacy, could a ‘British’ institution ever be antiracist ? And what kind of digital tools could truly empower racialised communities to struggle for their rights and humanity?
UK-India Relations: Transformation, Not Evolution
15 July, 12:00 BST
Join us with Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India, and Poonam Gupta OBE, for a discussion of the future of UK relations with India and the key issues involving our countries.
On Confucianism and Political Meritocracy with Professor Daniel A. Bell
China and the World will be holding a semi-structured conversation with Professor Daniel A. Bell on Confucianism and political meritocracy in China. Topics include: Confucianism, political meritocracy, Marxism, legitimacy, and reform. We will be focusing on Professor Bell’s more recent works The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy? and Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World.
Guerrilla Democracy: Mobile Power and Revolution
20 July, 18:30 BST
Join us on the launch day of the new book ‘Guerrilla Democracy: Mobile Power and Revolution in the 21st Century‘ from Dr Peter Bloom and OUBS academics Dr Owain Smolović Jones and Dr Jamie Woodcock.
Hosted by acclaimed author and labour journalist Sarah Jaffe, the event will discuss key themes from the book and their relevance for contemporary work and social struggles:
- Has the liberating potential of big data and digital media been dealt a fatal blow by the nightmare of election meddling, privacy invasion and the oppressions of the gig economy?
- Is there still a pathway for liberation and emancipation through digital technology and what does that look like?
- Who is the Guerrilla Democrat and how can we all cultivate our inner guerrillas?
Sarah and the authors will be discussing these issues and more in relation to current struggles – from Deliveroo, Uber and refuse worker strikes through to battles for human dignity and justice in the face of oppressive state power.