The Pakistani police forces are notorious for corruption and coercion. In both colonial and postcolonial contexts, directives to confront security threats have empowered law enforcement agents, while the lack of adequate reform has upheld institutional weaknesses. Policing in Karachi reveals many colonial continuities. Both civilian and military regimes continue to ensure the suppression of the policed via this institution, itself established to militarily subjugate and exploit in the interests of the ruling class.

Luna Sabastian is Assistant Professor in History at Northeastern University - London. Prior to assuming this position, she held a postdoc at Cambridge University, from where she also received her PhD in 2020. Her work focuses on modern Indian political thought. She is writing a book titled ‘Indian Fascism?’. Among its highlights is an exploration of Savarkar's Hindutva, gendered violence, and race. Much of the talk will be taken from this chapter.

‘Fifteen years ago, the internet felt like a special place my friends and I had built for each other; by 2020, we were standing on its ruins, wondering if we’d played a part in its destruction.’

We are pleased to invite you to a panel discussion on Colombia’s Truth Commission. In this event, Commissioner Alejandra Miller will present the Commission’s final report, which was released in June 2022. We will reflect on the report’s findings and recommendations, exploring the gendered dimensions to the Colombian armed conflict and the future perspectives for peace, reconciliation and co-existence in Colombia.

In this lecture, Dr Ashmita Khasnabish, will define “virtual diaspora” through reading and
rereading Western philosophers Deleuze and Bergson, and the Indian philosopher, Sri
Aurobindo. She further elucidates this concept interpreting it through her feminist vision as a
Postcolonial scholar who is greatly impacted by Pamela Sue Anderson’s theory of “vulnerability
and love.” Professor Anderson’s theory greatly valued Deleuze’s theory of immanence and it
impacted her feminist vision. This lecture is dedicated to the legacy of Professor Pamela Sue

We are delighted to invite you to our fourth event of Michaelmas 2022, which will take place on Tuesday, November 1, in the Old Library at All Souls College at 8:30pm. As always, there will be a wine reception prior to the event, starting at 8pm. The speaker will be Jack Watling, who will be speaking to us on ‘Lessons from Russia's 2022 Invasion of Ukraine’.

Dr Priya Atwal will be delivering a talk at the Nissan lecture theatre in St Antony's college where she will detail the rise and fall of the Sikh empire.

Brazil holds runoff elections at the end of October, with former president Lula da Silva competing against the incumbent president, Jair Bolsonaro. The winner of this contest, along with the new congress, is due to start another term in January.

Award-winning film, The Art of Dissent celebrates the resilience and power of artistic engagement in Czechoslovakia after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion. The documentary’s main protagonists – Václav Havel, band singer Marta Kubišová, and the underground rock group the Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) – became the most recognizable dissidents during the 1970-80s. Havel bridged the disparate clusters of individuals and fused the literary, musical, political, and philosophical nonviolent elements into a hybrid network that eventually toppled the totalitarian regime in 1989.

Calling curious minds of all ages: join us for a weekend of FREE, family-friendly events at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford this half term!

The Festival of Social Science is a celebration of the creative, engaging, and impactful work of social sciences researchers at Oxford and beyond. It celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2022 and we are back with a bang!