Between 1940 and 1945, more than 100,000 airmen were shot down over Europe, a few thousand of whom survived and avoided being arrested. When Men Fell from the Sky is a comparative history of the treatment of these airmen by civilians in France, Germany and Britain. By studying the situation on the ground, Claire Andrieu shows how these encounters reshaped societies at a local level.

Friday 2 June, 3.00 – 4.30 pm:
Prof. Seumas Miller will speak on “Institutional Corruption and Corrosion”

Friday 2 June, 5.00 - 6.30 pm:
Prof. Clemens Sedmak will speak on “What are Decent Institutions?”

he science of complexity has its roots in physics and mathematics. Today it has developed into a discipline that contributes to all areas of science and, more recently, also to humanities. Karoline Wiesner will discuss the fundamental concepts of complexity and explain how they translate from natural to social systems. She will then explore the possibility of doing quantitative political science inspired by physics. Karoline will present recent results obtained on transitions between political regime types.

This is a small, cohesive, and welcoming reading group interested in foregrounding a serious and sophisticated critique of war by revisiting twentieth-century responses to the increasing civilianization of military conflict from the ‘global south’ and aimed at facilitating interdisciplinary conversations within the humanities.

Joseph S. Nye Jr is the University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, and former Dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has served as US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and Deputy Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science, and Technology. In addition to his practical accolades, Professor Nye is one of the foremost theorists in the discipline of International Relations.

Panel discussion with Rangoonwalla Visiting Fellows

We know that flourishing communities and good work sits at the heart of good lives and wealthy societies.

At the start of the digital revolution, in the 1970s, there was an expectation that people and places could transition to a new economy. Today we are reaping the grim rewards in terms of social deprivation and unbalanced economies. Levelling Up is an acknowledgement that transitions must be managed.

Independent central banks have come to invest increasingly in two-way engagement with citizens. Yet, we know little about whether any ‘learning’ takes place at the side of the organisations. As they are insulated from political and public preferences, central banks are unlikely to follow citizen input in their policy choices. Yet, it is possible that their agendas take into account societal issue priorities.

Investing in state capacity presents a dilemma to politicians in developing democracies. While increased capacity can facilitate social and economic advancement, steps that enhance state capacity often result in decreased bureaucratic loyalty. Decreased loyalty can constrain politicians’ ability to use the state to satisfy their personal and political goals. Faced with the above dilemma, I argue that politicians engage in a mixed strategy in which they invest in bureaucratic capacity while retaining tools to enforce (individual) bureaucratic loyalty when needed.

While persistence and change have long been central in the study of politics, we do not yet fully understand the criteria by which claims of persistence can be made. What is the dividing line between continuity with the past and change from the past? This paper addresses that question through an examination of how social scientists discuss and assert persistence of social phenomena even in the presence of change. It identifies different logics of persistence, each of which specifies a different set of criteria for distinguishing between identity-preserving and identity-destroying change.