Other News

We are delighted to announce that the UK Political Studies Association has launched a new prize in recognition of Professor Shirin Rai’s "significant contributions to the discipline of feminist International Relations and International Political Economy."

The Shirin M. Rai dissertation prize, for the best dissertation in International Relations, has now officially been launched. A blog announcing the PSA’s new framework for prizes and awards, and further information about the application process, can be accessed here: https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa/news/new-psa-prizes-and-awards-framework.

While many professional associations name prizes after those who have retired, the PSA’s new framework is designed to acknowledge active and leading scholars in the discipline; very many congratulations to Shirin on this hugely impressive accolade, which is yet further recognition of her leading status in the discipline and an important projection of PAIS’ standing in the field.

The Politics Society recently hosted Baroness D'Souza, former Lord Speaker, who discussed her vision for the House of Lords.

The event was filmed by RaW and is available to view below:

After her talk, she also was interviewed by RaW, you can find the link for the interview here.

Annual IPE Lecture: Both Sides, Now: Paradigms, Power, Psychology, and Pragmatism at the Midpoint of Crisis

Wesley Widmaier, Griffith University, Australia

2nd November, 17:00-18:30, MS.04 (Zeeman Building)

This year's Annual IPE Lecture offers an overview of IPE and IR debates on ideas, crises and change from a social psychological constructivist perspective. Wes Widmaier is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at Griffith University. His research interests include International Political Economy, International Relations Theory, in particular constructivist thought, and the specific role of wars and crises as mechanisms of large-scale change. Wes is also the editor-in-chief of the Review of International Political Economy.

In an article for The Guardian, PAIS PhD researcher Ragnar Weilandt argues that remainers' sudden love for the EU looks like plain hypocrisy.

Professor Franklyn Lisk was invited by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to participate as a panellist in their sponsored event to mark the launch of the Continental Free Trade Area for Africa (CFTA) at the WTO Public Forum in Geneva, 26-28 September 2017.

The CFTA discussions were focused on reducing trade costs, expanding Africa’s economic and market space and driving regional competitiveness and efficiency, and at the same time ensuring that attention is not diverted away from important human rights implications of trade liberalisation.

Specifically, Professor Lisk’s intervention drew attention to likelihood that liberalisation of trade will impact differently on diverse socio-economic groups due to unequal access to assets, credit and economic opportunities, and that different types of workers ( in the context of industrialisation resulting from trade liberalisation) will also be differentially impacted depending on their skill-level or whether the sector or industry that they are employed in expands or contracts as a result of liberalisation.

Therefore, from the standpoint of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the CFTA, should also pay particular attention to mechanisms aimed at promoting human rights in addition to seeking to reduce poverty in Africa.