School of Social and Political Science

Q-Step Seminar - Death by Assumption: How an Obsession is Slowly Killing Social Science

Social science aims to explain human behaviour. Yet, an obsession with causality has turned a vital theoretical concept into a statistical fixation.

Democracy Promotion Under Threat of Terrorism: Experimental Evidence and Policy Implications

This seminar examines two fundamental questions: (1) how terrorism reshapes citizens’ democratic attitudes and (2) whether targeted democracy-promotion interventions can shore up democratic values in contexts of chronic terrorism and under autocratic rule. Drawing on original experimental evidence from Burkina Faso.

Shedding light on knowledge graphs: How Airbnb’s data structure economizes place

This talk will explore Knowledge graphs (KGs) as – quite literally – the dark side of platform markets, in both what they produce and how they operate below the interface.

The Energy Transition and Voter Partisanship

Bitter partisanship has slowed the transition to net zero carbon emissions in the United States, where the Republican Party has turned sharply against prioritizing renewable energy in policymaking.

The dilemma of power imbalance in the food supply chain – the place for regulation?

This presentation will examine a range of regulatory responses to power imbalance in the food supply chain at EU level and UK levels, and assess their effectiveness and likelihood of success in increasing fairness in the food supply chain.

Q-Step Seminars - Wealth differences in inheritance timing, types, and values in Europe

Open to all, no registration required.

Parasites, Prostitutes, and Poets

Inaugural lecture: Professor George Palattiyil

Carrying Tomorrow: Hope in Exile and the Will to Begin Again

In a world fractured by conflict, climate change, and growing hostility towards displaced peoples, refugee lives are often narrated through a lens of crisis and despair. But behind the headlines and across the borders, another story unfolds — one of fierce resilience, quiet resistance, and the will to begin again.

Entangled Medical Futures: Workshop on Plural Medicine in Highland Asia

A three-day interdisciplinary workshop exploring plural medicine, traditional healing, and climate-altered care systems in Highland Asia.

CSAS Seminar: The Fabrication of Homeland Security: authoritarianisms and policing across India and Palestine/Israel

Writing the 'Woman Question' in Science: Feminist Challenges, Reflections and Musings

Writing the 'Woman Question' in Science: Feminist Challenges, Reflections and Musings with Dr Gita Chadha, Azim Premji University.

Hypermobile ghettos in a digital world of work: online work as bounded liberation among refugees and other entrapped populations (CANCELLED)