Politics and International Studies Newsletter
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Politics & International Studies Newsletter, no. 2 February 2011 Politics and International Studies Newsletter unity, and development. Tracing the http://journals.cambridge.org/action/ Introductions shifting meanings of these values over displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid time, this book demonstrates that =440693&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0 liberal and democratic concepts are 260210506007054 more sophisticated and widely shared in the Indian polity than is commonly believed. It also identifies the limits of Western-centric accounts of Research Centres, Groups, and A note of introduction multiculturalism. Bajpai establishes Networks from Caroline Strickson: the significance of political rhetoric for Centre for the International ―Hello every one, my name is Caroline explanations of policy shifts and Politics of Conflict, Rights and Strickson and I work for the political change. Highlighting the role Justice (CCRJ) hosted the second in Department in Academic Support, and of argument and debate, Debating a series of collaborative workshops on here is a little bit about me. Before I Difference elaborates a new approach ―The Rise and Fall of started at SOAS in 2008 I worked as a to a crucial issue for liberal Humanitarianism‖. This is part of a Teaching Assistant in my home town democracies today, how to reconcile collaboration between SOAS/CCRJ, of Bexhill. As a student I studied the demands of group equality and the Munk School at the University of English Literature with Creative civic unity. Toronto, and George Washington Writing at Kent, and this is where my David Taylor has edited a four- University. passion lies. Outside of work (if there volume collection of articles, entitled is such a place!) I love cooking, The CCRJ hosted Professor Elazar watching anything sci-fi, reading Islam in South Asia (Routledge, 2011). Barkan, Director of the Institute for fiction and writing. My main ambition Mark Laffey‘s ―Bey ond Belief: Ideas the Study of Human Rights, Columbia in life is to become a published auth or and Symbolic Technologies in the University to speak on history, and see more of the world.‖ Study of International Relations‖ has violence, and redress. been reprinted in Walter Carlsnaes In January Hardina Ohlendorf CCRJ hosted together with the began work as the Taiwan Studies and Stefano Guzzini (eds.) Foreign European Council on Foreign Policy Analysis, 4 volumes (Sage, Teaching Fellow at the Centre of Relations a small meeting of human 2011). Taiwan Studies. This is a seven month rights funders to discuss differences in maternity post while Monique Chu is the context of human rights funding, away. Ms Ohlendorf is a final year practice, and policy in Europe and doctoral student in the Politics America. Discussion focused on the Department supervised by Julia role that questions of impact play in Strauss. She will be teaching on the human rights funding, and on the Politics Department‘s undergraduate political context of human rights and postgraduate Taiwan Politics funding. This is part of a CCRJ courses and giving administrative research project led by Leslie support to the Centre of Taiwan Vinjamuri that is investigating how Studies. questions of impact are integrated into the practice of transitional justice and human rights. Advanced copies of On 17 -18 December 2010 the Centre New Publications Arshin Adib-Moghaddam‘s latest for Political Ideologies of the book A Metahistory of the Clash of Department of Politics and Civilisations: Us and Them Beyond International Relations at Oxford Orientalism (Hurst, Columbia hosted the second meeting of the University Press, 2011) have now been SOAS-Oxford Comparative distributed. The book will be available Political Thought group. The in all major bookstores and online in workshop was jointly organised by the United Kingdom in February and Professor Michael Freeden (Mansfield in the United States in March/April College, Oxford) and members of the 2011. Department of Politics at SOAS--Dr Laleh Khalili‘s ―Gendered Practices Rochana Bajpai, Dr Matt Nelson of Counterinsurgency‖ is now available and Professor Charles Tripp. Rochana online at Review of International Professor Freeden opened the Bajpai’s book, Debating Difference: Studies and will come out in paper workshop with a set of very Group Rights and Liberal Democracy later this year. stimulating remarks regarding the in India (Oxford University Press, Tarak Barkawi and Mark Laffey‘s parameters of comparative political 2011) is now out. Using landmark piece, 'The postcolonial moment in thought as an evolving subfield within Indian constitutional and legislative security studies‖, appears in the list of the discipline. Dr Carlo Bonura from debates on minority rights and quotas, most-cited articles in Review of the Centre for Political Ideologies at Rochana Bajpai develops a model for International Studies over the past Oxford presented a paper entitled interpreting group rights that hinges two years, now available free as part of ―Against Incommensurability: on the interplay between five principal the journals advertising. It is also the Comparison and Relations of Political normative concepts—secularism, most recently published piece on the Thought‖. Three members of the democracy, social justice, national list. SOAS Politics department gave talks: 1 Politics & International Studies Newsletter, no. 2 February 2011 Rochana Bajpai on approaches to Scholar‘s Prize to be given on an Dr Sara Kutchesfahani defended comparative political thought and annual basis to the best conference her PhD thesis on epistemic debates on affirmative action in India paper by a scholar not yet in a tenured communities and nuclear non- and Malaysia; Phil Clark on academic post. proliferation policy in November 2010 conceptions and practices of justice in Dafydd Fell is also a Co-Director in and has recently taken up a two-year the African Great Lakes region, and another Chiang Ching-kuo award of post-doctoral fellowship at Los Alamos Matt Nelson on Islam and the €25,000 announced in January. This National Laboratory in the US. Sara ―Ideology of Pakistan‖ in the context of is the European Taiwan Studies was jointly enrolled in the SOAS and debates regarding democracy. Lecture Series, which is a collaborative UCL Politics PhD programs, was The event coincided with the worst project between SOAS, Heidelberg, supervised by Dr Fiona Adamson blizzard in years, so some of the Edinburgh, Tubingen and Bochum and received her degree from UCL. twenty-five people signed up for the Universities. The first three year grant workshop were unable to attend. was from 2007 -2010 and now is being Nevertheless, the workshop was a extended for a further three years. The great success. grant allows outstanding Taiwanese Presentations and Conferences In December Dafydd Fell visited the scholars to visit Europe and lecture at On 4 February, the Department Shungye Museum of Formosan the partner universities and SOAS organised an event on ―The Jasmine Aborigines to complete negotiations Taiwan Studies team gives short Rev olution: Causes and Consequences for a cooperation agreement with the courses in German universities. for Tunisia and the Region‖. The Centre of Taiwan Studies. This Former doctoral student and senior ev ent was moderate by Corinna £39,000 grant will allow the creation teaching fellow Sossie Kasbarian Mullin and covered a broad-range of of a new two year research post at has started her new appointment post- opinions and analyses, including SOAS to study British church archives doctoral fellowship on Middle Eastern international, political, socio- regarding Taiwan‘s Aborigines from minorities at the Centre for the economic, media and human rights the 19th century. Advanced Study of the Arab World at perspectives. Speakers included: Said the University of Edinburgh. Ferjani , (Founding Member of the The London Migration Research Tunisian An-Nahda Party), Dr Group (LMRG) held seminars by Doctoral student Toby Matthiesen Noureddine Miladi (Senior Lecturer in Professor Christian Joppke on January has been awarded the Abdullah Al- Media & Sociology at University of 25th at the LSE and by Professor Mubarak Research Fellowship in Northampton and founder and Nadje al Ali at UCL on February 8th. Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at managing editor of Journal of Arab & Pembroke College, Cambridge. He will Muslim Media Research), Muhamad begin his post-doc in October. Ali Harrath (CEO, Islam Channel) and Doctoral student Thanos Petouris Nadim Mahjoub (Tunisian Political Appointments and Awards was appointed a member of Council of Refugee and International Activist). The Department of Politics and the British-Yemeni Society, with the Stephen Hopgood and Leslie International Studies has been task of coordinating the activities of Vinjamuri presented their paper awarded an ESRC studentship in the the student members of the Society. ―Faith in Markets‖ (part of an edited new Bloomsbury Consortium ESRC Doctoral Student Mehmet Ekinci book project under review with Oxford Doctoral Training Centre. The award was awarded the Department‘s University Press) at a Workshop held recognizes the quality of the research scholarship to attend the Institute for by the Overseas Development Institute environment and PhD training in the Qualitative and Multi-Method on 'The Humanitarian Space'. department. The studentship will be Research training programme in Participants from the ICRC, UNICEF, administered jointly with the Birkbeck Syracuse. The programme will be held Humanitarian Forum,