Events

Democracy and the right to protest in the UK
Hosted by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity and the International Inequalities Institute

Monday 24 March 2025 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. LSE Lecture Theatre, Centre Building. 

Speakers: 
Richard Martin, Assistant Professor of Law, LSE Law School
Sam Nadel, PhD candidate, Department of Social Policy, LSE 
Pascale Frazer-Carroll, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, campaigner and social impact director

Chair:
George Kunnath, Associate Professor (Education) and Lifelong Engagement Lead, AFSEE 

Throughout history, protests have been a key tactic for activists and movements to express discontent and push for change.

Today, however, the democratic space for protests and collective mobilisation is rapidly shrinking. From more forceful and frequent crackdowns on protesting to introducing new legislation to restrict protest and prosecute individuals, governments across the world, including the UK, are increasingly finding new ways to suppress protest and silence critical voices.   

This panel will discuss why protests matter, what the shrinking of democratic space means for social movements and activists, and what can be done to protect freedom of speech and the right to protest.

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Hope for Changemakers: Evidence and Narratives
Inequalities Seminar Series

Tuesday 25 March 2025, 12.45pm – 1.45pm. In-person and online event. Graham Wallas Room, Old Building. 

Speaker:
Dr Irene Guijt, Head of Evidence and Strategic Learning, Oxfam GB

In organisations seeking progressive change - whether civil society, the UN or businesses - the default rationale involves highlighting problems. What it is, who is affected, how many and how badly. To speak about the depth and extent of systemic risks in our polycrisis is not hard - it is the stuff of headlines that dominate. It is also what is communicated most by international NGOs to appeal to citizens' deep concern for others and persuade them to act for a better world. 

Despite peddling these multiple colliding disasters, the social currency of changemakers is hope. We appeal to people to have - and sustain - hope in others and organisations that they can make change happen. We suggest solutions that reduce suffering and rectify injustice. 

This hope is not false hope. Evidence of all kinds exists - ideas that have scaled, individuals that have formed alliances, institutions that have dared, quantitative data on long term upward trends. But such examples are often seen as anecdotal and seem to pale into insignificance given the extent of the polycrisis. Evidence alone - whether on crisis or transformation - does not lead to change. What makes change possible is identifying and pursuing opportunities illuminated by evidence that offers grounded hope. 

The seminar will explore two questions:

1. What evidence exists that can give grounded hope of progressive change? 
2. How do changemakers harness hope as part of their efforts? 

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Art World Ethnography or How to study VIPs when you are not one
Inequalities Seminar Series

Tuesday 1 April 2025, 12.45pm – 1.45pm. In-person and online event. Room 2.06, Cheng Kin Ku Building. 

Speaker:
Dr Leili Sreberny-Mohammadi, LSE Fellow in Culture and Society, Department of Sociology

A multi-sited ethnography of the art world may include art world actors working across various professions, such as artist or dealer, and in different spaces, such as studios and galleries. The art world is informal but also very hierarchal, with power differences baked into various kinds of events such as private dinners and VIP tiers at art fairs. Art collectors occupy the top tier of this world. What methods can researchers employ to capture the lifeworld’s of art world VIPS, in the ethnographic tradition? In this talk I will discuss the various methods I have employed to “study up” in the art world and the implications and limitations for ethnography rooted in participant observation. I consider the complex researcher position in regards to wealth, the practical impact of limited research budgets and the potential strategies for occupying the spaces where art world interlocutors gather. I propose a “methodological wealth” and unpack the various ways I performed wealth in order to access elite spaces. Alongside this I will discuss the routes, through introductions and relationships with other art worlds interlocutors such as dealers and critics, that helped navigate my access to collectors.

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International Workshop on Perceptions of Inequality

The Perceptions of Inequality Research Programme at the International Inequalities Institute at LSE is delighted to announce an in-person workshop on perceptions of inequality, taking place on 20th May 2025 at LSE.  

We are accepting extended abstracts or full papers on any aspects of perceptions of inequality.

Deadline for the submission of papers or extended abstracts is 15th February, 2025.

Papers that are presented at the workshop will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization.

In case of any questions, please email j.t.dirksen@lse.ac.uk