The Oxford Conservative Thought (OCT) Reading Group is a non-partisan group devoted to academic exploration of small-c conservative political thought. We welcome, and actively encourage, viewpoint diversity and constructive engagement across ideological divides (all good-willed participants are welcome!)

Each week we read one assigned text, and we recommend more for anyone who is very keen!

The OCT meets weekly in term time on Fridays from 4-5:30pm.

Week 7 explores conservative views on and debates about freedom of speech, with a reading from John Finnis

08:45 Arrival

09:15 Opening remarks - Rachel Murphy and Genia Kostka

09:30 Roundtable: What is Privacy (in Authoritarian Contexts)?
Daniel Miller (UCL) and WANG Xinyuan (UCL):
“The depth and breadth of privacy”
ZHAO Jun (Oxford):
“Data, algorithmic manipulation, and their privacy implications for young children and families”
LIU Ruoxi (Oxford):
“Privacy – independent cultural workers and youth communities in China”
Moderator: Genia Kostka (Berlin)

11:00 Tea / Coffee

11:30 Privacy: The Party-State View
ZHOU Hui (Berlin):

Prof. Penslar, Prof. Yadgar, and Prof. Peleg will discuss some fundamental themes in Israel Studies through their recently published books:

Professor Derek Penslar, Zionism: An Emotional State (Key Words in Jewish Studies), New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 2023
Professor Yaacov Yadgar, To Be a Jewish State: Zionism as the New Judaism, New York, NYU Press, 2024
Professor Yaron Peleg, New Hebrews: Making National Culture in Zion, Cambridge University Press, 2025

Balliol Philosophy Society is pleased to host a panel discussion and Q&A with four prominent critics of the use of public health policy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Open to all members of the university.

This paper discusses how to build a simple model of the optimal policy responses to a temporary rise in energy prices, a situation like that caused by the war in Ukraine. The objective is to avoid the emergence of a wage price spiral, in the presence of the kind of real-wage resistance which has been shown to be empirically important, and yet also to avoid large increases in interest rates. We believe that this outcome might have been achieved by means of a very large cut in consumption taxes (or a very large subsidy to energy supply).