The Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) is thrilled to announce that, for the second year in a row, we are placed 1^st for “overall student satisfaction” among Russell Group Politics Departments in the 2021 National Student Survey (NSS). This is a position that we are proud to have held for 4 out of the past 6 years.

In the NSS 2021, PAIS came top in every category among Russell Group Politics Departments:

• 1^st for Teaching
• 1^st for Learning Opportunities
• 1^st for Assessment and Feedback
• 1^st for Organisation and Management
• 1^st for Learning Resources
• 1^st for Learning Community
• 1^st for Student Voice
• 1^st for Academic Support

The 2021 results show that we are 1^st in the Russell Group on 20 of the 27 NSS questions and in 2^nd place on a further 5 questions.

For six years in a row, PAIS has ranked either 1^st or 2^nd on overall student satisfaction amongst the Russell Group. The 2021 outcomes reflect our best ever performance across all categories in our peer group; they demonstrate our close and effective partnership with the student body and our sustained commitment to the student experience.

Across all programmes with which we are involved - both single and joint honours - we achieved 84% overall satisfaction. The Russell Group average for Politics was 72%.

These impressive outcomes are due to an outstanding team effort among our fantastic students, academics, and professional services colleagues, and demonstrate a partnership which we are extremely proud of. Thank you to everyone for all your hard work and support for our teaching and student experience during a very challenging year for all concerned. We are pleased that our approach to blended delivery during restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic was appreciated by our students and we will continue to learn from student feedback to further enhance the student experience in 2021/22.

We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with our amazing students and dedicated staff to sustain and build on these strong results, which reflect our deep commitment to research-led teaching excellence. At the start of the new academic year, we will feed back in greater detail to all students and we will discuss and take forward ideas for further enhancement of the PAIS student experience via our Student Staff Liaison Committees (SSLCs).

In particular, we will intensify our work on liberating and decolonising the curriculum, employability and building a sense of community and belonging. We will support and promote student wellbeing and work with partner Departments to ensure continued excellence across all programmes, in particular joint degrees.

*See the Office for Students website for more details and the full data. The results are based on the official Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH) subject breakdowns and the 20 Russell Group institutions which met the publications threshold for Politics.

Professor Franklyn Lisk has recently published a research study, carried out on behalf of the African Development Bank.

This research study was commissioned by the Office of the President, African Development Bank (AfDB), as a ‘knowledge product’ on a new model of a geographically demarcated and integrated agro-industrial ecosystem that the Bank had developed and termed Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone(SAPZ). As the consultant selected for the study, I was required to provide relevant information concerning planning and implementation and policy guidance that can be used by the Bank for the design and programming of the SAPZ as a flagship spatial solution aimed at agricultural transformation and rural development in its 54 member-states across Africa. The study frames the SAPZ model within the institutional mandate of the AfDB as a regional development financing agency; defines and explains key conceptual and strategic (legal, institutional, regulatory and policy) issues; makes use of a political economy framework to illustrate critical factors involved in implementation of the model, such as the role of the state and its engagement with private investors; and presents and evaluates empirical evidence from 8 different country case-studies drawn from existing agro-industrial experiences in the region, as the basis for recommendations pertaining to drivers of success and common pitfalls to avoid. The main ‘takeaways’ from the study are that the SAPZ model has great potential to stimulate structural change with employment opportunities, promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, aid transitioning to internationally-competitive and green industrial development, and support regional trade and integration.

You can read the research study here.

Two Coventry school pupils have addressed a prestigious United Nations conference thanks to the support of the University of Warwick’s Colonial Hangover project.

Just five student teams were chosen from around the world to speak. Harvir Dhatt [15] and Aadam Vohra [15] of Lyng Hall School, part of the Finham Park Multi Academy Trust, represented the UK with their presentation at the 12th Annual Global Student Conference on slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.

This year’s theme was “Ending Slavery’s Legacy of Racism: A Global Imperative for Justice.”

Harvir and Aadam spoke about the links between Coventry and the transatlantic slave trade – which the Colonial Hangover project helps local school students to explore - and also reflected on their own experiences as young men of Indian and Pakistani heritage.

Addressing representatives from 28 countries and H.E. Mr. Alie Kabba, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, Harvir said: “Coventry’s legacy still remains unknown to many of the population living in it. Until I had conducted my research for this presentation I hadn't realised how close to home this legacy had existed. It prompted me to question, have I remained too silent?”

Aadam spoke about examples of racism in today’s society such as the abuse directed towards footballers like Marcus Rashford and asked the delegates to consider whether this was a legacy of slavery – “although slavery, as a constitution, has been abolished, the deep-rooted attitudes still have prevalence today.”

“It is vital that we learn to appreciate and value all people regardless of race, religion, skin colour, gender, and respect our differences as points of celebration rather than of division,” Aadam concluded.

Dr Shahnaz Akhter, Research Fellow of the Colonial Hangover project, based within the Department of Politics and International Studies at Warwick, said: “In their presentation Harvir and Aadam focused on placing their local and personal history within the context of the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. Over the year they have really engaged with the work that the United Nations outreach programme on the transatlantic slave trade and slavery does, and their presentation highlighted why it is so important that we continue these conversations on the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. These legacies often form part of our everyday environment and the Colonial Hangover project works with schools to examine these hidden legacies.”

Reflecting on the conference, Aadam said: “I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to voice my beliefs and share the history of slavery in my home of Coventry and also my motherland of South Asia. All of the presentations were thought-provoking and inspiring pieces of academic work.”

Harvir said: “I offer my heart-felt thanks towards everyone at the conference, it was an honour to speak in front of so many members about a topic which is not only important but something I am passionate about. Everyone’s presentation was enlightening – the charisma in their work meant I came away with transformed views of the wider issues.”

Mrs Cathy Smith, Associate Headteacher at Lyng Hall, said: “The inspirational and professional delivery and subject matter was both thought-provoking and a pleasure to witness. I’m incredibly proud of the students who represented Lyng Hall on a truly global stage, ably facilitated by our own Miss Lisa Hagan, Director of English, who co-ordinated the project with Colonial Hangover at Warwick University.”

17 June 2021

PHOTO CAPTION: the tomb of Myrtilla in Warwickshire, one of the oldest graves of an enslaved black person in the UK, which was discussed by Aadam in his presentation. Credit: Dr Shahnaz Akhter.

• Watch the UN Conference here: http://webtv.un.org/live-now/watch/12th-annual-global-student-conference-on-slavery- and-the-transatlantic-slave-trade/6258128966001
• More about Colonial Hangover: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/about/outreach/colonialhangover/
• more about the UN Remember Slavery Programme https://www.un.org/en/events/slaveryremembranceday/index.shtml
• More about Myrtilla .

Stuart Elden's book The Early Foucault has been published by Polity Press.

It was not until 1961 that Foucault published his first major book, History of Madness. He had already been working as an academic for a decade, teaching in Lille and Paris, writing, organizing cultural programmes and lecturing in Uppsala, Warsaw and Hamburg. Although he published little in this period, Foucault wrote much more, some of which has been preserved and only recently become available to researchers. Drawing on archives in France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA, this is the most detailed study yet of Foucault’s early career. It recounts his debt to teachers including Louis Althusser, Jean Hyppolite, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean Wahl; his diploma thesis on Hegel; and his early teaching career. It explores his initial encounters with Georges Canguilhem, Jacques Lacan, and Georges Dumézil, and analyses his sustained reading of Friedrich Nietzsche, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. Also included are detailed discussions of his translations of Ludwig Binswanger, Victor von Weizsäcker, and Immanuel Kant; his clinical work with Georges and Jacqueline Verdeaux; and his cultural work outside of France.Investigating how Foucault came to write History of Madness, Stuart Elden shows this great thinker’s deep engagement with phenomenology, anthropology and psychology. An outstanding, meticulous work of intellectual history, The Early Foucault sheds new light on the formation of a major twentieth-century figure.

This is the third of a series of books tracing the intellectual history of Foucault's entire career. Foucault's Last Decade was published in 2016 and Foucault: The Birth of Power in 2017. Stuart is currently researching the final book in the series on Foucault's work in the 1960s which he hopes to complete in 2022.

There is a post about the research and writing of the book on the Polity blog and a lot more detail on Stuart's website.

Medact's upcoming report Racism, mental health and pre-crime policing: the ethics of Vulnerability Support Hubs is based on documents obtained through a series of long-running Freedom of Information requests. It exposes how a counterterrorism police-led project blurs the boundaries between security and care in disturbing and dangerous ways. We will hear from the three report co-authors and other experts in the field:

• Dr Hilary Aked – Medact’s Research and Policy Manager
• Dr Tarek Younis – Cultural and critical clinical psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology at Middlesex University
• Dr Charlotte Heath Kelly – Reader in Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick
• Vicki Nash ─ Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at Mind

Please register for the event at Medact's website: https://www.medact.org/event/vsh-report-launch/