December 2010, ISSN 0955-6281, Vol. 21 No. 4 Snow Tops Glittering Occasion William Maloney, Newcastle with Vicky Randall, Chair, Political Studies Association John Benyon, Treasurer, Political Studies Association; Rt Hon The Lord Kinnock PC, Winner of a ‘Lifetime Achivement in Politics’ Award; Michael Cockerell, BBC; and Helena Djurkovic, CEO, Political Studies Association The Political Studies Association’s 60th politicians, academics, journalists, retired Anniversary Awards Dinner on the 30th civil servants and political activists were November was a roaring success. Having all delighted to bump into old friends and battled through snow, student tuition colleagues and almost everyone made fee protests and striking tube drivers, reference to the great esteem in which Adam Boulton, Special Political Correspondent, Sky guests arrived to a lively and welcoming they held David Butler, who received News; Jonathan Levy, Executive Producer, Sky News; atmosphere at the Institution of Civil an award for Political Change in Britain, and Michael Thrasher, Plymouth Engineers at One Great George Street in co-authored with Donald Stokes and the heart of Westminster. judged to be the best book in British happened to be Lord Kinnock, David Political Studies of the last sixty years. Davis MP, Laura Kuenssberg or Professor The Great and the Good Donald Stokes was represented by his Lord Peter Hennessy. The mood in the Great Hall was warm daughter Susan Stokes, Professor of So, as well as being a thoroughly and enthusiastic as Association Chair, Political Science at Yale University. enjoyable event, the Political Studies Vicky Randall, welcomed the guests – a Association Awards enable the gathering of the great and the good from Making New Friends Association to strengthen its relations political studies, public life and the media If you didn’t know anyone else, such with those influencing the policy-making – and introduced a beautifully produced was the atmosphere that it was very process and build the public profile of video of the history of the Political Studies easy to make new friends – even if they both the Association and the discipline. Association, based on Wyn Grant’s new book The Development of a Discipline. At 8.30pm Jon Snow arrived, fresh from delivering the Channel 4 News, to host the awards themselves. Everyone was struck by his humour, charm and sheer professionalism as he introduced the long list of prizes. These ranged from Setting the Agenda, awarded to the Daily Mail, Liberty and Southall Black Sisters, to Engaging the Public, awarded to the Leaders’ Debates 2010, and collected by the moderators of the ITV, Sky and BBC debates respectively, Alastair Stewart, Adam Boulton and David Dimbleby. Lord Parekh, winner of the ‘Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies’ in 2003, with This was an occasion where the Lord Plant, this year’s winner of the ‘Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize’; together with Ian Hislop, who won a prize for guests all seemed to know one another – ‘Best Political Satire’; and Lady Katherine Plant PSA_December_2010_aw.indd 1 10/12/2010 15:32 2 Association News Association News | 2 Stimulating Discussions at Sheffield | 2 Nominations for REF Sub-panel | 3 Infectious Diseases and the Association/Hansard Society Lecture | 3 An Obituary for Hugh Berrington | 4 Association Supports ‘Exchangers’ | 5 Securitisation of Health: Political Activist to Speak | 5 Undergrads to Arrive from Ghana | 5 Stimulating Discussions at International Meeting in Washington DC | 6 Diversity Focus Group and Meeting | 6 Heads of Department Conference 2010 | 7 Sheffield Association’s Collaboration with the Institute for Government | 8 Diamond Jubilee Awards | 10 Links to other Associations | 12 APSA Conference 2010 | 12 Aussie Rules Ok! | 12 APSA for the Hardy but Great | 13 Attending APSA | 13 Overseas Conference Report | 13 Manchester’s ten tips for APSA | 14 Transition & Transformation | 14 Association Sponsors Special International Presentations | 15 Specialist Group News | 16 Teaching Politics and IR in the New Millennium | 16 Link up with Agri Economists | 16 From left: Jim Whitman, Thomas Abraham, Garrett Brown, Simon Rushton, Jon Herington, Sophie Harman, Politics of Property Meeting in Germany | 17 Stefan Elbe, Jeremy Youde and Adam Kamradt-Scott Department Profile | 17 device. Questions remain regarding All Change at SOAS | 17 Garrett Wallace Brown Recently Appointed Academicians | 17 Workshop co-convenor what understanding of ‘security’ should Politics at the University of Manchester | 18 be appealed to when formulating global Special Policy Press Discounts | 19 On 24th September 2010, the health policy. Should it be human Scandal Archives Giveaway | 19 journal Political Studies held a one- security, state security, economic security Aston Thriving at 10! | 20 day workshop on ‘Risk, Perceptions or some measurable combination of Department News | 21 of Risk and Transborder Infectious all three? How we respond to these New Appointments at Glasgow | 21 Diseases: Challenges for Global Health questions can have different and Politics at Edinburgh | 22 Governance’ at the University of sometimes contradictory implications Continuing Success at POLIS, Leeds | 22 Autumn Highlights at UEA | 23 Sheffield. Financial support from the for global health policy. Nevertheless, Politics at Royal Holloway | 23 Political Studies Association made this despite this lack of conceptual clarity, Richard Rose Receives Doctorate | 23 workshop possible and is gratefully the language of security and security risk Nottingham’s News | 24 acknowledged. continues to hold a prominent position Media and Democracy, Oxford | 24 New European Institute at UCL | 25 The purpose of the workshop in global health debates. Defence Studies at Kings College | 25 was to examine the current state of There was also broad discussion and global health governance in relation to concern regarding the ‘depoliticalisation’ In Full View | 26 infectious disease and provide policy- of global health policy. Namely, there has The 2010 Prizewinners | 26 ECPSA Meeting in Budapest, 2011 | 26 relevant analysis about how we could been a trend to make global health more Politics at Liverpool’s John Moores | 27 better govern these health priorities at ‘technical,’ ‘depolitical,’ ‘evidence based,’ Multi-Author Academic Blogs | 28 the global level. Speakers at the event ‘medicalised’ and in congruence with ECPR Celebrates ‘Ruby Anniversary’ | 29 included Thomas Abraham (Hong Kong), micro economic ‘market-based’ models. Political Science in Macedonia | 30 Journalism and Democracy | 30 Simon Rushton (Aberystwyth), Sophie In this regard, politics has become a dirty Making a Policy Impact | 31 Harman (City) and Stefan Elbe (Sussex), word to be avoided within many global It’s Good to Talk | 31 and key areas of discussion included the health policy circles. In particular, the The Verdict | 32 securitisation of health, emerging global workshop elicited discussion around Mapping of State Institutions & Agencies | 33 Overseas Conference Grants 2011 | 33 health policy trends, and broader issues why medical professionals have pushed of global justice and health. certain health risks up the agenda versus Time to Confer | 34 others (why is pandemic influenza Teaching about Islam in Social Sciences | 34 Global Health prioritised for example), how the ECPR Joint Sessions Workshops | 34 NOPSA 2011 | 34 The workshop discussions surfaced an language of technical medical practice The Irish Hunger Strikes 30 Years On | 34 overall concern regarding the language has come to strongly influence the way of securitisation within the global health health policy is designed, and how (and Research, Writing & Work Opportunities | 35 lexicon. This is because there was a why) certain market-based incentive ECPR Prizes and Awards | 35 Stein Rokkan Prize 2011 | 35 general belief that the securitisation of structures have been employed as a ESRC Knowledge Exchange Schemes | 35 health remains a largely under-theorised means to counter high risk behaviour. Positions in Taiwan | 35 and highly problematic conceptual continued on page 32 PSA_December_2010_aw.indd 2 10/12/2010 13:24 Association News 3 Association The 4th Association/Hansard Nominations Society Annual Lecture for REF Vicky Randall Chair, Political Studies Association Earlier this year, the Political Studies Association was invited by HEFCE to nominate members for the Politics and International Studies sub-panel of the new REF (Research Excellence Framework) exercise. We received a number of suggestions for nomination before deciding to open the call for suggestions to all our membership. Not surprisingly levels of interest were very Professor Vicky Randall, Chair, Political Studies Association, with the Deputy Prime Minister the Rt Hon Nick Clegg high indeed and we ended up with no MP and Fiona Booth, Chief Executive, Hansard Society less than 72 names. A sub-group of the Executive Lisa Harrison fraud and improve registration rates, Committee based on the membership of Political Studies Association Political changes to constituency boundary the Research, Education and Advocacy Communications Sub-Committee Chair reviews, and changes to party funding. sub-committee deliberated on these ❖ Decentralisation of power to local names. It was not an easy task. Besides The fourth Political Studies Association/ communities to address the “gulf academic calibre and standing, we had Hansard Society Annual Lecture took between politics and society”. a number