Event

Mar 20

Whiteness as a spectre in space? The case of Post-Apartheid Cape Town

Online

South Africa continues to be a country where racial segregation is more often the rule than the exception, with Cape Town ranking among its most racially segregated cities. The city is also frequently associated with Whiteness. Focusing on the context of Post-Apartheid Cape Town, this talk draws on ...

Mar 26

Philosophy and the New Space Race – A public lecture

Online

In this free online public talk, Philogophy Professor Derek Matravers will explore some puzzles that follow from the thought that space is not owned by anyone. This lecture contributes to the annual British Philosophy Fortnight.

Apr 10

GCSJ seminar series: Decolonisation as a contested practice: Evidence from The Open University

Online

Opening April’s Seminar will be Professor Allan Laville, OU’s Pro VC of Equality Diversity and inclusion. Presenter – Dr Shannon Martin – Researcher/Equality & inclusion/Government & Academic sectors/Decolonisation

May 15

GCSJ seminar series: Care-full lunar exploration - challenges and opportunities for protecting the Moon

Online

This talk, presented by Dr Alessandra Marino, Senior Lecturer in Geography, looks at lunar protection as requiring interdisciplinary conversations on how to approach the Moon with care.

Previous Events

GCSJ seminar series: Public opinion & national security in the UK - A people-centred approach

Presented by Dr Thomas Martin Senior Lecturer in International Studies, this talk focuses on the research into the politics of national security.

GCSJ roundtable: Exploring social justice narratives: a view from SSGS

This roundtable session explores the meanings and importance of social justice for scholars within SSGS.

GCSJ seminar series: Opening the pandora’s box of inequality in innovation systems

How does innovation affect income inequality? This talk explores how innovation systems can both increase and reduce inequality. It challenges the conventional explanations offered by mainstream economics - such as the skill-biased technological change account - and highlights the critical role of the mechanisms and strategies adopted by key actors in innovation systems.

Book launch: Examining Stereotypes and Parenting Behaviours of South Asian Heritage Parents: Discourse and Case Studies

Hosted by the Centre for Global Challenges and Social Justice (GCSJ), join us on Monday 9th February, 12:00 – 13:00 online for the book presentation and discussion with Renu Bhandari, Senior Lecturer, Staff Tutor and Chair of Access Board of Studies at the Open University at her book launch.

Black Studies in Babylon: Practice, Politics and Pedagogy - A TESS Talk

Dr Rita Gayle (University of Birmingham) explores her research on millennial Black British women’s creative collectives (2013–2020), using Stuart Hall’s conjunctural analysis to examine their legacy. She also reflects on Black Studies in Britain and how knowledge about African and Caribbean heritage communities is produced and shared. Thinking Expansively Seminar Series (TESS) offers ways of thinking that start from elsewhere/margins in a way that unsettles and reconfigures knowledge. It starts from beyond the canon. Thinking Expansively redefines how we approach knowledge, pushing us to imagine and realise a more equitable and inhabitable world. TESS is an interdisciplinary series hosted by GCSJ at the Open University.

Book launch: International Relations in a Multipolar Middle East

This volume explores the international relations of today's Middle East. The tumult following the Arab Uprisings has expanded the arenas competed over by regional powers, global actors and non-state players. As global politics moves towards a new, multipolar era, this volume sheds important light on how this transition will impact on the region. Comprised of two macro sections that offer theoretical reflections and empirical case studies, this volume is essential reading for scholars of the politics and international relations of the Middle East.

GCSJ seminar series: Marginalised and stigmatised - sex work should not cost my life

After researching sex workers in Cape Town and the UK there seems to be a desperate need for the safeguarding of sex worker.

GCSJ seminar series: Greening the Gulf? renewables, fossil capitalism, and the ‘East-East’ axis of world energy

Drawing upon his recent book Crude Capitalism (Verso 2024), Adam Hanieh explores the growing role of the six Gulf Arab states (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman) in solar, wind, and other climate technologies that underpin dominant approaches to the 'Green Transition'.

Afrocentric pedagogical leadership in action - Towards culturally empowered learning (A TESS Talk)

This session explores the limitations of conventional learning-centred leadership models and introduces a transformative Afrocentric approach rooted in African cultural values and epistemologies. Drawing on emerging research, it presents five foundational principles: culturally grounded pedagogy, Ubuntu-inspired inclusivity, liberatory learning spaces, decolonial data praxis, and relational empowerment.

GCSJ seminar series: Rearticulating archives: still thinking with Doreen Massey

In this talk, we discuss what it might mean to keep thinking with Doreen Massey today. As a profoundly influential geographer based at the Open University for many decades, our aim is not a retrospective focused on Massey as an individual academic figure.

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