ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Feeding the machine: the hidden human labour powering AI

Hosted by the Data Science Institute and the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 4 December 2024, 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person and online event. Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House. 

Speakers:
Professor Mark Graham, Director of Fairwork and Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
Dr James Muldoon, Reader in Management at the University of Essex, Research Associate at the University of Oxford and Head of Digital Research at the Autonomy think tank
Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch, British Academy Global Professor and Distinguished Policy Fellow, International Inequalities Institute, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Conversations around AI tend to focus on the future dangers, but what about the damage AI is inflicting on people right now? AI promises to transform everything, from work to transport to war, and to solve our problems with total ease. But hidden beneath this smooth surface lies the grim reality of a precarious global workforce of millions that labour under often appalling conditions to make AI possible. Feeding the Machine presents an urgent investigation of the intricate network of organisations that maintain this exploitative system, revealing the untold truth of AI. Authors Mark Graham and James Muldoon will be joined by Kirsten Sehnbruch to discuss the impact of AI on global inequalities, and what we need to do, individually and collectively, to fight for a more just digital future.

Find out more

 

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From rage to riches: how fixing wealth inequality defeats populism

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 27 November 2024, 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person and online event. Old Theatre, Old Building. 

Speakers:
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill & Solihull North
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Distinguished Policy Fellow, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ III
Professor Jonathan Hopkin, Professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Government, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

There is no doubt that there is a gaping wealth gap between the super-rich and the rest of us. This gap is growing – and growing fast. Both the long years of austerity and the COVID pandemic were wealth accelerators for the super-wealthy - while the rest of the world simply fell behind. These economic disparities fuel discontent that shows up on polling day, with a vote share for populist leaders who promise to disrupt the status quo. Populist movements have harnessed frustrations over wealth concentration, wage stagnation, and declining economic mobility to gain political traction.
Yet it doesn’t need to be like this. There are policies and ideas that can grow but decarbonise the economy, decentralise power – and democratise opportunity and wealth. So what are the big choices needed to assuage voters’ anger with bold measures that spread ownership of wealth? What does this mean for the choices we make, or the promises that politicians make to us?

Register here

 

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Fragments of home: refugee housing, humanitarian design and the politics of shelter

Hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment and the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 19 November 2024, 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person and online event. Auditorium, Centre Building. 

Speakers:
Dr Tom Scott-Smith, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre and Associate Professor of Forced Migration, University of Oxford
Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council
Dr Myfanwy James, Assistant Professor in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Chair:
Professor Neil Lee, Professor of Economic Geography, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

The story of international migration is often told through personal odysseys and dangerous journeys, but when people arrive at their destinations a more mundane task begins: refugees need a place to stay. In this talk, Tom Scott-Smith draws on his new book to discuss how humanitarians, architects, and government authorities have sought to provide shelter to refugees. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research into these shelters, he will reflect on their political implications and open up much bigger questions about humanitarian action. The event will explore how the principle of autonomy can offer a fruitful approach to sensitive and inclusive shelter for refugees.

Find out more

 

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The most unequal region in the world: combatting inequality in Latin America

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 29 October 2024, 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person and online event. Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building. 

Speakers:
Dr Valentina Contreras, Research Officer, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ III
Professor Julián Messina, Professor, Universidad de Alicante
Dr Sebastián Nieto Parra, Head of Latin America and the Caribbean, OECD Development Centre
Professor Andrés Velasco, Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ 

Chair:
Professor Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies and Director, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ III

Latin America is exceptionally unequal, with data widely suggesting it is one of the world’s two most unequal regions. Inequality has persisted at exceptionally high levels despite clear social pressures for its reduction and the widely shared conviction that excessive inequality is detrimental to economic progress. The Latin America and Caribbean Review (LACIR), committed to addressing these challenges, convenes high-level scholars to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of the inequality problem in Latin America. This public event will present the scale of the problem of inequality in Latin America and point to some of the possible ways out of this ‘inequality trap’. Bringing together scholars and policymakers, the event will explore solutions and strategies to combat inequality in the region.

Find out more

 

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The case for a four-day week

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 23 October 2024, 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person and online event. Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House. 

Speakers:
Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign
Fran Heathcote, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch, British Academy Global Professor and Distinguished Policy Fellow, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ III

Chair:
Dr Tania Burchardt, Associate Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), Deputy Director of STICERD, and Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Rising numbers of employers worldwide are switching to a four-day week, making workers happier and organisations stronger. A four-day week with no loss of pay gives workers the time to live happier and more fulfilled lives, allowing for the parts of life that are often neglected, such as rest, parenting and leisure. It has significant benefits for businesses, as real-world examples show that employers who move to a four-day week improve productivity and cut costs. Research also shows that introducing a 4 day week could reduce the UK's carbon footprint by 127 million tonnes per year. This event will discuss how businesses, charities, and councils can reap the benefits of introducing smarter working. Our panel will present the academic evidence for the benefits of introducing a four-day week, and discuss practical ways to make the change.

 

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Women, Jobs and Growth - South Asia Regional Update Oct 2024

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 16 October 2024.

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Speakers:
Franziska Ohnsorge, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia
Maurizio Bussolo, World Bank Deputy Chief Economist for South Asia

Chair:
Professor Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Professor of Development Economics, Queen Mary University of London and Visiting Professor, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ III

South Asia’s growth is on track to exceed earlier expectations, in a broad-based upturn. The region is expected to remain the fastest-growing among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Several risks could upend this generally promising outlook, including extreme weather events, social unrest, and policy missteps, such as reform delays. But South Asian countries also have considerable opportunities that could help them further boost growth and employment and adapt to climate change. This edition of the South Asia Development Update examines in detail the issue of female labor force participation. With about two-thirds of the region’s working-age women out of the labor force, raising female employment rates to those of men could increase per capita income by as much as one-half. Measures to accelerate job creation, remove obstacles to women working, and equalize gender rights would be more effective if combined with a shift toward social norms that looked more favorably on working women. The second opportunity comes from increase South Asian countries openness to global trade and investment. Greater openness could boost women’s employment, spur the growth of firms, and allow the region to take better advantage of the reshaping of global supply chains and trade. Reducing the cost of conducting business could help the region better harness large-scale remittance inflows.

 

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Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Wednesday 16 October 2024, 12.30pm to 1.30pm. In-person and online event. Yangtze Theatre, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Centre Building.

Speaker:
Professor Daniel Waldenström, Professor of Economics, Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN Stockholm)

Chair:
Professor Francisco H G Ferreira, Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies and Director of ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ International Inequalities Institute

Daniel Waldenström shows that what stands out since the late 1800s is a massive rise in the size of the middle class and its share of society’s total wealth. Unfettered capitalism, it seems, doesn’t have to lead to boundless inequality. The key to progress was political and institutional change that enabled citizens to become educated, better paid, and to amass wealth through housing and pension savings. Waldenström asks how we can consolidate these gains while encouraging the creation of new capital. The answer, he argues, is to pursue tax and social policies that raise the wealth of people in the bottom and middle rather than cutting wealth of entrepreneurs at the top.

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Born to rule: the making and remaking of the British elite

Hosted by ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Department of Sociology and the International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 3 October 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building.

Speaker:
Professor Sam Friedman, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳
Hashi Mohamed, Barrister, Landmark Chambers
Professor Aaron Reeves, Professor of Sociology, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Department of Sociology
Professor Lauren Rivera, Peter G. Peterson Chair of Corporate Ethics, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Economist, Writer and Commentator

Chair:
Professor Suzanne Hall, Professor of Sociology and Head of Department, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Department of Sociology

Think of the British elite and familiar caricatures spring to mind. But are today’s power brokers a conservative chumocracy, born to privilege and anointed at Eton and Oxford? Or is a new progressive elite emerging with different values and political instincts? Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman combed through a trove of data in search of an answer, scrutinizing the profiles, interests, and careers of over 125,000 members of the British elite from the late 1890s to today. At the heart of this meticulously researched study is the historical database of Who’s Who, but the authors also mined genealogical records, examined probate data, and interviewed over 200 leading figures from a wide range of backgrounds and professions to uncover who runs Britain, how they think, and what they want.

 

 

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Hosted by the Ayahs and Amahs Research Network

Friday 14 June 2024 at 9:00pm. Online event.

Speaker: Professor Swapna M. Banerjee, Professor of South Asian History, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Swapna Banerjee recently published her monograph Fathers in a Motherland: Imagining Fatherhood in Colonial India (Oxford University Press, 2022). This book breaks new ground by weaving stories of fathers and children into the history of gender, family, and nation in colonial India. Focusing on the reformist Bengali Hindu and Brahmo communities, the author contends that fatherhood assumed new meaning and significance in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century India. During this time of social and political change, fathers extended their roles beyond breadwinning to take an active part in rearing their children. Utilizing pedagogic literature, scientific journals, autobiographies, correspondences, and published essays, Fathers in a Motherland documents the different ways the authority and power of the father was invoked and constituted both metaphorically and in everyday experiences.

 

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Power, politics, and belonging: the lasting impacts of colonialism 

Hosted by ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Festival: Power and Politics

Saturday 15 June 2024 at 12:00pm – 1:00pm. In-person and online event. Marshall Building. 

Speakers: Professor Neil Cummins, Professor of Economic History in the Department of Economic History at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳; Leah Eryenyu, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity; Dr Maël Lavenaire, Research Fellow in Racial Inequality in the International Inequalities Institute at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Chair: Dr Sara Camacho-Felix, Assistant Professor (Education) in the International Inequalities Institute at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Politics of power and wealth have had a huge impact on the structuring of inequalities across the globe. As the racial and ethnic inequalities that we see today stem from centuries of discrimination and marginalisation, in order to tackle them, we will need to understand how they have been embedded in the very structures of our societies. 

We discuss examples of racial and ethnic inequalities from the 19th century to the present day in an attempt to unravel the legacy of past injustices and investigate the link between power, politics, and belonging. 

 

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Defending democracy: building solidarity with persecuted writers, journalists, and artists

Hosted by ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Festival: Power and Politics

Saturday 15 June 2024 at 2:00pm – 3:00pm. In-person and online event. Marshall Building. 

Speakers: Ross Holder, Head of the Asia/ Pacific Region at PEN International; Professor Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳; Salman Usmani, writer, editor, and digital communications specialist

Chair: Dr Ayca Cubucku, Associate Professor in Human Rights and Co-Director of ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Human Rights at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Amidst the surge of global authoritarianism, how do we protect the freedom of speech and the freedom of dissent that is crucial for democracy? What is the role of global financial institutions and regimes in the crackdown on dissent in faraway places? What role do international human rights organisations, cultural spaces and educational institutions have in protecting the spaces of democracy globally? 

In this event, we examine the persecution of writers, academics, journalists and artists across the globe, and question the unwitting role of international financial regimes and reflect on how we might cultivate international solidarity and carve out vital spaces of hope in these globally challenging times. 

 

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Seminar hosted by the International Inequalities Institute 

Wednesday 5 June 2024 at 2.00pm - 3:30pm. In-person event. Marshall Building, Room 2.06 (MAR.2.06).

Speaker: Ashwini Deshpande, Visiting Fellow, III (joint with Anisha Sharma, Ashoka University)

Chair: Naila Kabeer, Faculty Associate, III; Professor of Gender and Development, Department of International Development

Mainstream analyses of low and declining labour force participation of women in India focus on the constraints imposed by conservative social norms that prevent women from accessing paid work opportunities. Accordingly, most interventions and policy suggestions focus on changing norms through individual behavioural changes. How valid is this understanding? Historically, have gendered norms related to women's employment changed in response to material conditions, or is a prior change in norms a precondition for increasing participation of women in paid work? The talk draws upon examples from international historical experience, and analyses Indian national level data over the last three decades to document which social norms have been changing and to what extent. I present evidence on the specific constraints on women's participation in paid work, arising from low demand for female labour,  which needs to be understood within the wider context of insufficient productive employment opportunities. The evidence will highlight the importance of intersectionality in the analysis of the interplay between norms and opportunities. 

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Visions of inequality: from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War

Hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 30 May 2024 at 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person event. Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building. 

Speaker: Professor Branko Milanovic, Research Professor at the Graduate Center at City University of New York (CUNY), Senior Scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at CUNY, and Visiting Professor at the International Inequalities Institute at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Chair: Professor Facundo Alvaredo, Co-Director of the World Inequality Database and the World Inequality Lab

Join us for this talk by Branko Milanovic about his new book, Visions of Inequality: from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War.

A history of how economists across two centuries have thought about inequality, told through portraits of six key figures. “How do you see income distribution in your time, and how and why do you expect it to change?” That is the question Branko Milanovic imagines posing to six of history's most influential economists: François Quesnay, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Vilfredo Pareto, and Simon Kuznets. Probing their works in the context of their lives, he charts the evolution of thinking about inequality, showing just how much views have varied among ages and societies. Indeed, Milanovic argues, we cannot speak of “inequality” as a general concept: any analysis of it is inextricably linked to a particular time and place. Meticulously extracting each author’s view of income distribution from their writings, Milanovic offers an genealogy of the discourse surrounding inequality. These intellectual portraits are infused not only with a deep understanding of economic theory but also with psychological nuance, reconstructing each thinker’s outlook given what was knowable to them within their historical contexts and methodologies.

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Climate Equality: A planet for the 99%

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute, Oxfam, Stockholm Environment Institute and Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity

Tuesday 4 June 2024, 5.00pm to 6.30pm. Online event.

Speakers: 
Dr Fadhel Kaboub, Associate Professor of Economics, Denison University; Dr Sivan Kartha, Equitable Transitions Program Director, SEI US; Madhumitha Ardhanari, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity

Moderator:
Nafkote Dabi, Climate Change Policy Lead, Oxfam International

The super-rich are burning our world. The world confronts twin crises; climate breakdown and runaway inequality. The richest people, corporations and countries are destroying the world with their huge carbon emissions. Meanwhile, people living in poverty, those experiencing marginalisation, and countries in the Global South are those impacted the hardest. The world needs an equal transformation. Only a radical reduction in inequality, transformative climate action and fundamentally shifting our economic goals as a society can deliver wellbeing for all within a liveable planet.

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Hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Monday 20 May, and Tuesday 21 May 2024, 9.30am to 5.00 pm. In-person and online event. Marshall Building, Room 1.07.

This workshop aims to deepen theoretical knowledge of the impacts of colonialism by exploring marginalized and disadvantaged cohorts who remained invisible at the formal close of empire in South Asia (1947 onwards) and the aftermath. Categories who have gone unnoticed, unaccounted, and remained hidden or have escaped our attention. What was the relationship of these groups to the colonial state, economy, and civic society? How did they confront colonial practices? What kind of knowledge systems, skill sets, labour and world views were they able to offer that met with biases and omissions? Did they see the later as transformational? Did the postcolonial moment alter their circumstances by opening new economic pathways, identities, resistance, migration avenues, social mobility, and a diverse set of experiences? Or did the postcolonial moment deepen existing inequalities that remain bound up in colonial histories? Crucially, the workshop aims to explore approaches that prioritize decoloniality, coloniality and postcoloniality. We seek papers that can offer new insights to discuss and advance debates through fresh ideas, rigorous knowledge exchange, and impactful evidence. 

Please find the full-day agenda .

The sixth suspect: Stephen Lawrence, investigative journalism and racial inequality

Hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 16 May 2024 at 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person event. Old Buillding (OLD) Theatre. 

Speaker: Daniel De Simone, correspondent for BBC News

Discussants: Dr Clive Nwonka, Associate Professor in Film, Culture and Society at UCL Institute for Advanced Studies; Cllr Ann-Marie Cousins

Chair: Professor Shakuntala Banaji, Professor of Media, Culture and Social Change in the Department of Media and Communications at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

In June 2023, a major BBC investigation led by BBC News reporter Daniel De Simone produced new evidence that revealed the identity of a previously unnamed key suspect in the April 1993 racist murder of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence by a gang of 5-6 white men in Eltham, South East London that changed policing and race relations in Britain. The news report, and its accompanying BBC One documentary Stephen Lawrence: The Sixth Suspect received worldwide coverage and was met with widespread public demands for an inquiry into the Metropolitan Police’s failure to identify the key suspect and renewed calls for the re-opening of the Stephen Lawrence murder case.

In his first public talk, BBC correspondent Daniel De Simone will offer previously unheard insights into his two-year investigation, how the sixth suspect was identified, his methods and findings, with responses by a panel of experts drawn from academia and politics. The discussion also allows for an exploration of the potential of contemporary investigative journalism practices in uncovering historical institutional failings and intervening in structural racial inequalities.

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Data grab: the new colonialism of big tech and how to fight back

Hosted by the Department of Media and Communications and the International Inequalities Institute

Tuesday 14 May 2024, 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person event. Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building.

Speakers: Professor Nick Couldry, Professor of Media Communications and Social Theory, Department of Media and Communications, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳; Professor Ulises A Mejias, Professor of Communication Studies at SUNY Oswego

Chair: Professor Myria Georgiou, Professor of Media and Communications, Department of Media and Communications, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Join us for this public event to celebrate the book launch of Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back with the authors.

In the past, colonialism was a landgrab of natural resources, exploitative labour and land from countries around the world. It promised to modernise and civilise, but actually sought to control. It stole from native populations and made them sign contracts they didn’t understand. It took resources just because they were there. Colonialism has not disappeared – it has taken on a new form. In the new world order, Big Tech companies are grabbing our most basic natural resource – our data – exploiting our labour and connections, and repackaging our information to track our movements, record our conversations and discriminate against us. Every time we click ‘Accept’ on Terms and Conditions, we allow our most personal information to be repackaged by Big Tech companies for their own profit. In this searing, cutting-edge guide, two leading global researchers – and leading proponents of the concept of data colonialism – reveal how history can help us both to understand the emerging future and to fight back.

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Co-hosted by International Inequalities Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Monday 13 May, 6.00pm - 7.30pm. In-person event. Marshall Building, Room 2.04 (MAR.2.04).

Speakers:

Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳; Faiza Shaheen, Visiting Professor in Practice, International Inequalities Institute; Shabna Begum, Interim CEO of the Runnymede Trust

In the shadow of a UK general election, this public event takes stock of the politics of wealth inequality and reflects on how to build political awareness and expand campaigning action. Mindful that divisive ‘culture war’ agendas are being used to fragment and distract campaigning which centres fundamental socio-economic inequality, panelists will consider how to shift political debate to more progressive directions. The recent abolition of the non-dom status, informed by III research and campaigning, shows that change is possible.

Workshop co-hosted by International Inequalities Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Monday 13 May, 2.00pm - 5.30pm. In-person and online event. Marshall Building, Room 2.04 (MAR.2.04).

This closed roundtable event presents new and cutting-edge research from the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ International Inequalities Institute demonstrating the systemic problems that wealth inequality is generating in the UK. The aim to equip policymakers, journalists and civil society groups with key insights that can be used for campaigning work and in spreading awareness so that the issues can inform campaigning in the run up to the General Election.

Researchers at the III have a powerful impact on policy developments, marked for instance in the recent abolition of the ‘non-dom' tax clause which drew on underpinning research by Dr Advani and Dr Summers. We want our new research to also inform emerging policy agendas.

Five panels will introduce new findings on (i) the extent and nature of wealth inequality in the UK, focusing especially on the rich; (ii) how wealth inequalities is shaping the social mobility prospects of Britons; (iii) the entrenched nature of gendered wealth divides; (iv) the scale and significance of the racial wealth divide and (v) how political perceptions amongst the disadvantaged are being shaped by fundamental wealth divides.

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Workshop hosted by International Inequalities Institute, and Queen Mary's, University of London

Friday 10 May 2024, 9.00am to 6.00pm. In-person and online event. Fawcett House, Room 9.04.

The Research Circle for the Study of Inequality and Poverty (QMUL) and the International Inequalities Institute (ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳) will host a workshop on climate change and inequality on the 10th of May 2024 at the London School of Economics. The keynote speaker for the workshop will be Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the Department of Economics and Chair of Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics.

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Human Rights: The Case for the Defence

Hosted by International Inequalities Institute, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Human Rights and the Wollstonecraft Society

Tuesday 7 May 2024 at 6:30pm– 8:00pm. In-person and online event. Old Buillding (OLD) Theatre.

Speaker: Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, leading British human rights lawyer and campaigner and legislator in the House of Lords

Discussants: Professor Conor Gearty, Professor of Human Rights Law at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ and a barrister in practice at Matrix Chambers; Bee Rowlatt, writer and public speaker, and a programmer of events at the British Library

Chair: Professor Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science

We are threatened by wars, inequality, new technologies and climate catastrophe, and we need our human rights now more than ever. At this year’s annual Wollstonecraft Society Lecture, we are joined by Shami Chakrabarti, lawyer, parliamentarian and leading British human rights defender.

Chakrabarti will discuss her latest book Human Rights: The Case for the Defence, which shows us why human rights are essential for our future. Outlining the historic national and international struggles for human rights, from the fall of Babylon, to the present day, Chakrabarti is an indispensable guide to the law and logic underpinning human dignity and universal freedoms. Her intervention will engage both sceptics and supporters, equipping believers in the battle of ideas and persuading doubters to think again. For human rights to survive, they must be far better understood by everyone.

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Seminar hosted by International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 25 April 2024, 11.00am to 12:30 am. In-person event. Centre Building, Room 2.06.

Speaker:

Dr. Niyathi R. Krishna, Sir Ratan Tata Post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow, III, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Chair: 

Dr. Ruth Kattumuri, Co-Founder, India Observatory, III, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

In this seminar, Dr. Niyathi R. Krishna will be presenting her research on interstate seasonal migrant women in Punjab, India, conducted as part of Sir Ratan Tata fellowship 2023-24 at the International Inequalities Institute. This qualitative study attempts to unravel the gender order induced experiences in the lives of interstate seasonal labour migrant women in Punjabat various levels in the post pandemic period, as labourers, migrants, and people possessing multiple binds in terms of caste, class, and gender. Concurrently, the study also analyses the causes, process, and consequences of interstate, seasonal migration of women in India and reviews existing policy gaps.

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Sustainability, Inclusive Development and Dr B.R. Ambedkar - A celebration to mark 100 years of “The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution” 

Invitation only event hosted by the India Observatory, International Inequalities Institute

Saturday 13th - Sunday 14th April, 2024. In-person event. Centre Building, Malaysia Auditorium.

Speakers: Larry Kramer, President, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳; Ravindra Kulkarni, VC University of Mumbai; Lord Nicholas Stern, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳; Lord Meghnad Desai; Virendra Sharma, MP 

The India Observatory at International Inequalities Institute, in collaboration with University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India & Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI), Pune, India, is organising a two day conference titled 'Sustainability, Inclusive Development and Dr B.R. Ambedkar' during 13-14 April 2024 at Malaysia Auditorium, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, to celebrate the centenary of Ambedkar's PhD at the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳.

Please note this event is invitation only.

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The search for democracy in the world's largest democracy

Hosted by International Inequalities Institute, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Human Rights, Department of Anthropology and Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity

Tuesday 26 March 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Centre Building (CBG) Auditorium.

Speaker:
Professor Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Discussants:
Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, Avantha Chair and Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at the King's India Institute

Professor Tarun Khaitan, Professor (Chair) in Public Law, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Priyanka Kotamraju, independent journalist from India

Chair:
ProfessorDeborah James, Professor in the Department of Anthropology, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ 

Join us to launch and discuss Alpa Shah’s new book, The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the search for democracy in India.

As general elections fast approach in the world’s largest democracy, this event asks what democracy today must urgently ensure for our common future. In her latest book, Alpa Shah pulls back the curtain on Indian democracy to tell the remarkable and chilling story of the Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 human rights defenders (the BK-16) – professors, lawyers, artists – have been imprisoned, without credible evidence and without trial, as Maoist terrorists. The BK-16 were accused of inciting violence and plotting to kill the Indian prime minister. But Professor Shah finds a shocking case of cyber warfare - hacked emails, mobile phones and implantation of electronic evidence used to make the arrests. Diving deep into the lives of the BK-16, The Incarcerationsshows how the case is a bellwether for the collapse of democracy and why these events matter to all of us.

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The trading game

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Thursday 21 March 2024 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Centre Building (CBG) Auditorium. 

Speakers:
Gary Stevenson, economist and author

Join us at this event where Gary Stevenson will talk about his new book, The Trading Game: A Confession. 

Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken footballs on the streets of east London in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscrapers, Gary wanted something better. Then he won a competition run by a bank: 'The Trading Game'. The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? When the easiest way to make money is to bet on millions becoming poorer and poorer - and, as the economy starts slipping off a precipice, your own sanity starts slipping with it? 

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Seminar hosted by the III

Tuesday 14 March 5.15 to 6.45pm. Online and in-person event. ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Centre Building, Room 1.04 (CBG 1.04). 

Speaker: Marina M. Tavares, Economist in the Climate Change Structural Reforms Division, International Monetary Fund

Discussants: Sir Christopher Pissarides, Regius Professor of Economics, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, and Professor of European Studies, University of Cyprus; David Zuluaga Martinez, Partner and member of the Public Sector practice, Boston Consulting Group; Christopher Martin, Senior Associate General Counsel, Boston Consulting Group

Chair: Kirsten Sehnbruch, Acting Director of the International Inequalities Institute, British Academy Global Professor and III Distinguished Policy Fellow

Join us to hear Marina M. Tavares, from the International Monetary Fund, present her paper "".

Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape the global economy, especially in the realm of labor markets. Advanced economies will experience the benefits and pitfalls of AI sooner than emerging market and developing economies, largely due to their employment structure focused on cognitive-intensive roles. There are some consistent patterns concerning AI exposure, with women and college-educated individuals more exposed but also better poised to reap AI benefits, and older workers potentially less able to adapt to the new technology. Labor income inequality may increase if the complementarity between AI and high-income workers is strong, while capital returns will increase wealth inequality. However, if productivity gains are sufficiently large, income levels could surge for most workers. In this evolving landscape, advanced economies and more developed emerging markets need to focus on upgrading regulatory frameworks and supporting labor reallocation, while safeguarding those adversely affected. Emerging market and developing economies should prioritize developing digital infrastructure and digital skills.

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