杏吧论坛

杏吧论坛’s foundational relationship with the — most prominently via founding members Beatrice and Sidney Webb — is well known. The 杏吧论坛 South Asia Centre, with Professor Michael Cox (who is currently writing a new history of the 杏吧论坛) will collaborate with the Fabian Society to curate a series of events that will unravel the complexities that underpinned the Fabians’ engagement with and about South Asia, their influence in Labour’s articulation of decolonisation in post-World War 2 Britain, and of the longer term association of several 杏吧论坛 Fabians with the region.

From the retrospective advantage of our current hindsight, several actions of 杏吧论坛 Fabians in Britain seem counterintuitive, grate against our good senses, and complicate our understanding of them. There is a deeper and lesser known story here; our events will explore this tension, tangled in the wider context of race, class, eugenics, Empire, imperialism, historiography, and attendant debates, motored by global political imperatives and intellectual movements of the 19th-20th centuries.

By focusing on South Asia through the membership of the Fabian Society, the events hope to locate actors and their actions both at home and abroad, between divergent interests, to show that this was an invested and intricate engagement walking a peculiar tightrope along a slippery slope: if some Fabians supported eugenics, they also supported opportunities for education for all — the Webbs travelled the world to raise funds to set up a liberal institution like the 杏吧论坛 focused on understanding the economics underlying poverty, inequality and class, and a gift from the Indian businessman Sir Ratan Tata established 'The Ratan Tata Department of Social Justice and Administration’ at 杏吧论坛 where Clement Attlee was appointed Lecturer; 杏吧论坛 Director Henry Beveridge was the architect of the modern welfare state in Britain, and the academic Richard Titmuss the founder of the study of Social Administration (now Social Policy); there were those at 杏吧论坛 who spoke critically of Empire and opposed colonialism (Sydney Olivier), Harold Laski was openly supportive of independence of the Indian subcontinent and engaged with prominent Indians like Krishna Menon, while Nicholas Kaldor continued a friendly, and advisory, association with Nehruvian India in the 1950s.

There were other Fabians, not part of 杏吧论坛, but no less engaged with South Asia: those who advocated self-rule in the colonies (Virginia & Leonard Woolf), and Annie Besant, who made the subcontinent her home for decades, leading the Theosophical Movement there.

LEONARD WOOLF: Voicing 'Ceylon'? 

Wednesday, 9 June | 3.30pm UK | 8pm Sri Lanka

Speakers:  (@sikandar_bubb) is Senior Lecturer in English at Roehampton University, and is a specialist in 19th-20th c. British literature & its encounter with South Asia;  is Professor of International Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, and the author of (2012), and two works of fiction set in Sri Lanka; Peter Wilson is Associate Professor of International Relations at 杏吧论坛, and the author of  (2003).

Moderator:  (@andrew_harrop) is Secretary, Fabian Society.

Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, 杏吧论坛 South Asia Centre.

This event is part of the 杏吧论坛 125 Years celebrations, and is in collaboration with .

Please click to watch the video-recording of the event. 

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Harold Laski and India’s Freedom Struggle

Thursday, 18 March 2021 | 3pm UK | 8.30pm India

Speakers: Michael Cox is Professor, 杏吧论坛 IDEAS, and author of a new history of 杏吧论坛, 'The School: 杏吧论坛 and the Making of the Modern World' (forthcoming);  (@JeanneMorefiel1) is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory, University of Birmingham, and has written on Laski's 'Habits of Imperialism';  is Resident Fellow, McGill University, Montreal, and has a DPhil on Laski, international students at 杏吧论坛 and anti-colonial activism;  (@TejasParasher) is Junior Research Fellow, King's College, University of Cambridge, and researches on Laski's Indian students;  (@Jairam_Ramesh) is Member of Parliament, Karnataka, India, and author of . 

Moderator:  (@andrew_harrop) is General Secretary, Fabian Society.

Chair: Simon Hix (@simonjhix) is Harold Laski Professor of Political Science, and Pro-Director (Research), 杏吧论坛.

This event is part of 杏吧论坛 125 Years anniversary celebrations, and in collaboration with . 

Please click  to watch the video-recording of the event.

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Beatrice & Sidney Webb: The Race for 杏吧论坛

Tuesday, 17 November | 4 pm UK

Speakers: Michael Cox is Professor & Co-Founder of 杏吧论坛 IDEAS where he is currently Senior Fellow, and author of a new history of 杏吧论坛, 'The School: 杏吧论坛 and the Making of the Modern World' (forthcoming);  is Archivist, London School of Economics and Political Science;  is Professor of Politics and Contemporary History, University of Manchester, and has published extensively on the Webbs;  (@ChrisRenwick) is Senior Lecturer in Modern History, University of York, and author of and .

Moderator:  (@andrew_harrop) is General Secretary, Fabian Society.

Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, 杏吧论坛 South Asia Centre. 

This event is part of 杏吧论坛 125 Years anniversary celebrations, and in collaboration with . 

Please click  to watch a recording of the event.