Events

CONSTITUTION OF INDIA @ 75

GUARANTOR INSTITUTIONS & CONSTITUTIONS IN SOUTH ASIA

Wednesday, 29 January | 2-5pm | LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

REGISTRATION (FREE) ESSENTIAL

All Constitutions need to guarantee that fundamental norms will be complied with credibly. Constitutions — especially in the Global South — have accordingly established independent guarantor institutions (Election Commissions, Auditors-General, Human Rights Commissions, anti-corruption watchdogs, etc). This event, part of our series celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Constitution of India, will discuss the conditions in which guarantor institutions can work independently and effectively in South Asia.

SPEAKERS: Sara Hossain is Barrister-at-Law & Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and Honorary Executive Director of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST); Tarun Khaitan (@tarunkhaitan) is Professor (Chair) of Public Law at LSE, and co-editor of Constitutional Resilience in South Asia (2023); Dr Yasser Kureshi (@Y2Kureshi) is Departmental Lecturer in South Asian Studies, Oxford School of Global & Area Studies, University of Oxford, and author of Seeking Supremacy: The Pursuit of Judicial Power in Pakistan (2022); Dinesha Samararatne (@DineshaSam) is Professor in the Department of Public & International Law, University of Colombo, and co-editor of Constitutional Resilience in South Asia (2023).

CHAIR: Naufel Vilcassim is Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE) & Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management, LSE.  

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This event is in collaboration with LSE Law School.

Please register free by e-mail to southasiacentre@lse.ac.uk; venue & program details will be sent to all registered attendees on Tuesday, 28 January.

Banner image © The ‘Constitution of India @ 75’ logo is copyrighted by the LSE South Asia Centre, and may not be used by anyone for any purpose. It is adapted from the design of the Preamble of the Constitution of India (1950) by Oroon Das.  

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BANGLADESH: 6 Months On

Wednesday, 5 February | 3pm UK | 9pm Bangladesh

ONLINE

The ousting of Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in early August 2024 remains the most dramatic political event in South Asia in a year marked by important political changes in India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka as well. An Interim Government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Younus has been in charge since then, with general elections promised for later in 2025. Six months on, how is the Interim Government working towards a more inclusive and democratic political future?     

SPEAKERS: David Bergman (@TheDavidBergman) is a journalist, writer and commentator with a particular focus on Bangladesh, most regular columns in Netra News; Imtiaz A. Hussain is Professor in the Department of Global Studies & Governance, Independent University, Bangladesh; Amena Mohsin is Professor of International Relations, Dhaka University. 

DISCUSSANT: Paul Staniland (@pstanpolitics) is Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago, with research interests in political violence and international security focusing on South & Southeast Asia.  

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

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Please e-mail southasiacentre@lse.ac.uk to register free; the livestream link will be sent to all registered attendees on the day of the event. 

Banner image © Mojahid Mottakin, ‘School and College students Chanting Slogans in the Ongoing Anti-Quota Protests’, 2024, Unsplash. 

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GEOPOLITICS BEYOND BORDERS #8

2025: A New Global Order?

Wednesday, 12 February | 3pm UK | 4pm EU | 6pm Turkey | 8.30pm India

ONLINE

Recent political developments seriously challenge the Rules-Based International Order that has for long ordered global dynamics. Decisions and actions by China, India, Russia & Turkey indicate definite changes in any assumed balance of power. The Israel-Palestine war, the ousting of Assad in Syria and Hasina in Bangladesh (along with a strident anti-India sentiment), and the election of a Left-of-Centre President in Sri Lanka are equally important. Also, a new US President, the increasing popularity/success of Right-wing politics in France, Germany, Italy & elsewhere in Europe -- what will 2025 be like for South Asia's regional, and global, politics?

SPEAKERS: Michael Cox is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE, and author of The Post Cold War World: Turbulence and Change in World Politics Since the Fall (2018); Dr Ahmet Erdi Öztürk (@ahmeterdiozturk) is Senior Lecturer in Politics & International Relations at London Metropolitan University, and author of Religion, Identity & Power: Turkey and the Balkans in the Twenty-First Century (2021); Dr Sanjay Ruparelia (@SVRuparelia) is Associate Professor & Jarislowsky Democracy Chair in Politics & Public Administration, Toronto Metropolitan University & author of 'The Opportunities & Challenges of Courting India' (2023), part of his wider interest in the emergence of the evolving world order; Helene Sjursen is Research Professor, ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, and author of 'Rethinking Liberal Order: The EU and the Quest for Global Justice' (2023).

DISCUSSANT: Dr Jerome Roos (@jeromeroos.bsky.social) is Fellow in International Political Economy in the Department of International Development, LSE, his 'Why the West should stop talking about the "rules-based order"' (June 2024) forms the starting point of this event, and he is author of Why Not Default: The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt (2019). 

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

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This event is part of our Geopolitics beyond Borders series.

Please e-mail southasiacentre@lse.ac.uk to register free; the livestream link will be sent to all registered attendees on the day of the event. 

Banner image © Ruthie, 'Geography Class', 2016, Unsplash.  

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FACT & FICTION

INDIA: The Eastern Front

Wednesday, 5 March | 3pm UK | 8.30pm India | 9pm Bangladesh | 9.30pm Myanmar

ONLINE

What have India's relations with its eastern neighbours — Bangladesh and Myanmar — been in the past, and in recent times? Focused on the recently published India's Near East: A New History (2024), this event will discuss India's connections, engagement, foreign policy, and geo-strategic interests encompassed in her 'Act East' policy, in a region of interest to China as well.

SPEAKERS: Sreeradha Datta (@sreeradhadatta) is Professor of International Affairs, O. P. Jindal Global University (Sonepat) and author of Act East Policy and Northeast India (2021); Dr Md Shariful Islam is Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Rajshahi, and author of Fifty Years of Bangladesh-India Relations: Issues, Challenges and Possibilities (2021); Dr Avinash Paliwal (@PaliwalAvi) is Reader in International Relations, SOAS University of London, and author of India's Near East: A New History (2024); Khin Zaw Win is Director, Tampadipa Institute (Yangon), and has been engaged in building a plurilateral Myanmar. 

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

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This event is part of our Fact & Fiction series.

Please e-mail southasiacentre@lse.ac.uk to register free; the livestream link will be sent to all registered attendees on the day of the event. 

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NEPAL: Disaster, Labour Justice & Rights

  Wednesday, 19 March 2025 | 3pm UK | 8.45pm Nepal

ONLINE

How do global disasters like the Covid-19 pandemic intensify injustices towards historically disadvantaged communities like informal workers and labour migrants? Focusing on Nepal, this panel discussion, drawing on an LSE-AFSEE research project on innovative forms of solidarity and rights-based movements as competing frames to the health security measures introduced by various governments, as newer political strategies are invented to deepen the prospects for just and democratic recovery from the pandemic. 

PROJECT MEMBERS: Narayan Adhikari is Country Director, Accountability Lab Nepal; Kripa Basnyat (@kripa_basnyat) is National Project Officer, 'Empowered Women, Prosperous Nepal' (EWPN), International Labour Organisation, Nepal; Flora Cornish (@FloraCornish) is Professor in Research Methodology, LSE; Dr Nimesh Dhungana (@NimeshDhungana) is Lecturer in Disasters & Global Health, Human Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester, and Lead Investigator in the LSE-AFSEE Project 'Demanding a "Just Recovery" from Below'.

DISCUSSANTS: Neha Choudhary (@neachoudhary) is a Development Practitioner at the International Labour Organisation in Ethiopia (previously at ILO Nepal) and is particularly interested in labour migration; Dr Banhishikha Ghosh (@BanhishikhaGho1) is Lecturer in Health & Social Care, University of Sunderland (London), and has published on Covid-19 induced hardships for migrant workers in India.

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

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Please e-mail southasiacentre@lse.ac.uk to register free; the livestream link will be sent to all registered attendees on the day of the event. 

Banner image © Badal Gyawali, Janakpur, 2018, Unsplash.

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