School of Social and Political Science

Jeremy Greene: The Doctor Who Wasn't There

Jeremy Greene (John Hopkins University) will discuss his latest book, The Doctor Who Wasn't There, which traces the long arc of enthusiasm for - and skepticism of - electronic media in health and medicine.

South Asian Anthropocenes & Singhvi Lecture

This workshop brings together academics & practitioners in Scotland who work on nature-society issues in South Asia

The ‘Rogue’ Doctor: Runaway Temporality in Assisted Conception in India

In rural Haryana, India, the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) specialist, Dr Rajeshi, is identified as the ‘rogue doctor’ in providing, and facilitating, assisted conception to elderly infertile couples who are otherwise refused IVF by other doctors and fertility specialists.

Environmental upgrading in global value chains: a critique with reference to the soy-beef complex

The expanding and highly environmentally destructive Soy-Beef complex represents a paragon of value chain capitalism.

Liberal Diversity Narratives in Electoral Politics Today

In July 2022, eight candidates were nominated in the Conservative Party’s race for a new leader. With four non-white nominees, some described the race as “the most diverse in Western political history”. While Conservative Party leaders boasted about “diverse” representation, they did so by emphasizing the colour-blindness or post-racialism of Conservative politics. That is, the candidates’ racial difference mattered in order to declare that race does not matter. This presentation investigates this paradox.

Herman van Rompuy - Europe beyond the watershed: how to turn fear into hope

A lecture by Herman Van Rompuy, former Belgian Prime Minister and first permanent President of the European Council (2009-2014)

Annual Goffman Lecture

The ‘Goffmanesque’ - Why Study Erving Goffman? Michael Hviid Jacobsen, Professor of Sociology, Aalborg University, Denmark

Heritage in the Body: embodied ecologies of health in times of change

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among indigenous Maya and Garifuna communities in Belize, New York City and Los Angeles, this paper forefronts the therapeutics of sensory experience in traditional healing modalities and conceptions of the well body.

The mental health challenges and Well-being of University Staff

Current issues and challenges in child welfare – Finnish perspective

This lecture focuses on the changes in Finnish child welfare and the ongoing reform in child welfare legislation.

Women drive cars too

Care for Sale: An Ethnography of Latin American Domestic and Sex Workers