While previous works have extensively studied how authoritarian governments use state violence to suppress political expression and deter collective action, little is known about the effect of violence and its effects in democratic countries. Does the experience of state repression polarize views against the democratic regime? Does it foster or suppress political participation? Who is more likely to be affected? We address these questions by exploring the impact of police violence during the 2017 Catalan independence referendum on the subsequent regional election scheduled two months later.

Since 2014, the changing nature of threats to international peace and security, in particular, the threat posed by terrorism, has demanded a more rapid pace of change in policy-making at the United Nations and has, in part, led to wider institutional reform within the organization aimed at developing a One UN approach to counter-terrorism.

Ambassador Thomas Greminger was appointed Secretary General of the OSCE on 18 July 2017 for a three-year term.

Ambassador Greminger joined the diplomatic service of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1990 and has held numerous senior management positions during his career.Prior to his appointment as OSCE Secretary General, he was Deputy Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, overseeing an annual budget of USD 730 million and 900 staff in Bern and abroad.

A panel discussion to launch the Oxford Critical Theory Network with Professor Lois McNay, Professor Alice Crary, and Dr Eleni Philippou, followed by a drinks reception.

Itinerary:
16:00-17:00: Coffee/tea reception (the Buttery)
17:00: Introduction (Investcorp Lecture Theatre)
17:10: Talk
17:40: Q&A session
18:30-19:00: Book signing

Jennifer M. Welsh is the Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). She was previously Professor and Chair in International Relations at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy) and Professor in International Relations at the University of Oxford, where she co-founded the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict. From 2013-2016, she served as the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on the Responsibility to Protect.

In India, there persists a striking gender gap in political participation and representation. This political gender gap persists despite decades of democracy and universal adult suffrage, rapid economic development, and large-scale policies aimed at women's political empowerment. Women's political participation is important not only on normative grounds of inclusion, but because we know that when women do participate, politics changes. Why does this gender gap in political participation persist and how do women become active political participants?