The London School of Economics and Political Science public events podcast series is a platform for thought, ideas and lively debate where you can hear from som...
On white normativity, racial habituation, and cracks in racial teams
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.
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1:22:43
The mysterious art and science of doing good
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.
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1:28:45
Social justice and health equity
Contributor(s): Professor Sir Michael Marmot | In LSE Health's Annual Lecture, kicking off the centre’s 30th anniversary celebration, Michael Marmot, Professor of Epidemiology at University College London and Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity, will outline why the need to reduce inequalities in health is a matter of social justice.
In developing strategies for tackling health inequalities we need to confront the social gradient in health, not just the difference between the worst off and everybody else. There is clear evidence when we look across countries that national policies make a difference and that much can be done in cities, towns and local areas. But policies and interventions must not be confined to the health care system; they need to address the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. The evidence shows that economic circumstances are important, but they are not the only drivers of health inequalities. Tackling the health gap will take action, based on sound evidence, across the whole of society.
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1:23:48
Assisted dying: what should we think?
Contributor(s): Professor Kenneth Chambaere, Professor Emily Jackson, Father Hugh MacKenzie, Professor Alex Voorhoeve | A new bill proposes to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill patients in England and Wales. Many difficult philosophical, moral, legal and social questions are raised by end-of-life legislation. Do people have a right to die? Is suicide ethically permissible? Can we create laws that protect the vulnerable from being pressured into ending their lives? Should psychological as well as physical illnesses be covered by right-to-die laws? How do such laws work in other countries?
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1:26:45
In conversation with Maurice Saatchi
Contributor(s): Lord Maurice Saatchi | In an age of conformists and faux-contrarians, Maurice Saatchi has revolutionised British business and politics through his willingness to question received wisdom. He discusses with Larry Kramer his new book Orgasm, a vivid and engaging blend of memoir, philosophy and critical thinking, in which he debunks some of the modern world’s most widely-held social and cultural delusions, in his inimitably witty and pugnacious style.
The London School of Economics and Political Science public events podcast series is a platform for thought, ideas and lively debate where you can hear from some of the world's leading thinkers. Listen to more than 200 new episodes every year.