The politics of fiscal policy in Europe since the financial crisis poses an important puzzle to political economy scholarship. Political parties campaigning on and implementing austerity policies were installed and maintained in office despite – or even because of – economic policy choices imposing widespread costs. Canonical theories in political science, and in economics, provide little help in understanding these dynamics.

Stephanie Hare has been working with CognitionX, a start-up providing expertise about Artificial Intelligence (AI), on the topic of AI ethics. She will present the approach she and her CognitionX colleagues have been developing on how to think about AI ethics, including 'why ethics', a taxonomy and definitions, and why AI ethics is important for companies to consider as a core concept when acquiring and managing data, building and maintaining customer trust, and anticipating regulatory trends.

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.