Contributor(s): Alexander Stubb | Join us for this special event with LSE alumnus and President of Finland Alexander Stubb. Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb is the 13th President of the Republic of Finland. His inauguration took place on 1 March 2024. During his career, Alexander Stubb has served as a member of the European Parliament, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade of Finland, Prime Minister of Finland and Finance Minister of Finland representing the National Coalition Party. He was also Chairman of the National Coalition Party from 2014 to 2016. Before his election as President of the Republic, Stubb was director and professor of School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute. Stubb is an enthusiastic friend of sports and literature.

Join Professor Jo Sharp, Geographer Royal for Scotland and a leading figure in feminist geography, as she delves into the challenges of empowerment in international development. She shares insights from her work with Bedouin women in Egypt, highlighting local knowledge's role in environmental management. In Tanzania, she examines zoonotic diseases and the need for community-driven health solutions. Through stories of generational shifts and collaborative research, she questions assumptions of agency and highlights the importance of participatory approaches.

Gary Marcus, a leading cognitive scientist and AI expert, dives into the pressing issues surrounding artificial intelligence. He critiques generative AI as morally and technically flawed, emphasizing the gap between hype and reality. Discussions include the dangers of corporate irresponsibility in AI development, the misconceptions surrounding artificial general intelligence, and the psychological impacts of interacting with AI. Marcus calls for greater AI literacy to navigate its complexities and advocates for aligning AI innovation with human values.

Contributor(s): Professor Tiziana Leone | This inaugural lecture will look at key issues in the study of women’s health through the lens of reproductive histories, looking at both contingent and cumulated events to include physical and mental shocks such as conflict and disasters which would eventually have an impact later in life. The overview will start with the challenges of studying this topic in a low resource settings. It will then focus on key challenges and priorities in social science research from menarche to menopause and beyond going via key events such as abortion, maternal health care services in order to understand how women’s ageing process can be affected by their reproductive pathways.

Contributor(s): Professor Denisa Kostovicova | In her inaugural lecture, Denisa Kostovicova discusses how former opponents engage with the legacy of mass atrocity. War crimes need to be addressed, if peace is to be built. But, in divided societies polarised by violence, war crimes talk can deepen the divisions. Kostovicova draws on her study of post-conflict Balkans and presents lessons for contemporary conflicts. She locates the possibilities for peace in political communication across conflict lines, assesses the risks and considers alternatives, such as arts-based approaches.

Contributor(s): Professor James A Robinson | Join us for this special lecture by LSE alumnus and co-recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics James A Robinson. During his talk, Professor Robinson will propose a new interpretation of African society, history and political and economic trajectories based on the notion of wealth in people and its institutionalizations.

Contributor(s): Dr Michela Giorcelli | British business productivity growth has been lagging for the past couple of decades, and key to the Labour government’s goal of improving economic growth is raising productivity. This lecture explores a period of very high productivity growth in history, WWII, to understand the sources of productivity growth generally. Traditionally, World War II has been considered the source of “an extraordinary surge of growth” in the US, thanks to the advancements in science and technology it pushed. Michela Giorcelli argues that wartime was also a major inflection point in the history of American business. The large-scale diffusion of innovative management practices to US firms involved in war production acted as a technology that put them on a higher growth path for decades, but also helped creating the “American Way” of business.

Contributor(s): Leopoldo López | Join us for a public event with Leopoldo López, political leader in Venezuela and prominent advocate for democracy. Mr López will share his experiences as a former leader of the Venezuelan opposition and reflect on the political challenges facing Venezuela today. Leopoldo López is a Venezuelan opposition leader and pro-democracy activist. He founded the Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular and served as mayor of the Chacao municipality in Caracas. In 2014, Leopoldo was arrested on trumped-up charges for leading peaceful, nationwide protests denouncing Nicolás Maduro’s regime. After a 19-month show trial, he was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison. Today, he continues to be a leading voice in calling for democracy not only in Venezuela but also across the globe. Leopoldo is a co-founder of the World Liberty Congress, which he strongly believes will be instrumental in unifying pro-democracy and human rights activists to combat the global trend toward authoritarianism.

Contributor(s): Professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva | In this year’s annual British Journal of Sociology lecture, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva will review the basics of his “racialized social system” with a focus on explaining how he has improved the theoretical apparatus over the years. Specifically, dealing with the import of racial ideology (color-blind racism) and racial grammar as swell as the matter of “racialized emotions” as central to maintain racial order. The lecture will explore his recent and ongoing work on (white) normativity and racial habituation, racial subjects and RWF (regular white folks henceforth), and the various roads to change.

Contributor(s): Professor Jonathan Roberts | Private actions for public benefit - philanthropy, charity, voluntary action or social entrepreneurship - have long been at the core of societies, religions and human activity. Fuelled by increasing frustration at the perceived inability of governments, markets and NGOs to solve social and environmental problems, this arena of private action for public benefit is currently experiencing both resurgence and disruption. New ideologies of doing good stress the importance of maximising the social impact of our altruism and seeking long-term solutions to social problems. Innovative mechanisms of financing and organisation mix business practice with philanthropy and charity, stretching from impact investing and venture philanthropy to the social enterprise and the purpose-driven corporation. These new institutions and approaches to private action for public benefit open valuable new windows for achieving social change. But they also create tensions, puzzles and discomfort. In his inaugural professorial lecture, Jonathan Roberts explores how we can navigate this complex and dynamic new world of doing good.