Events
Past Events
Inaugural Lecture of Professor Georgios Varouxakis: “What On Earth Is ‘The West’?”
Tuesday 4th June, 2024
18:15-20:00, Peston Lecture Theatre, Graduate Centre, QMUL
The School of History and the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought Queen Mary University of London are delighted to invite you to the inaugural lecture of Professor Georgios Varouxakis, entitled What On Earth Is ‘The West’? It’s A Long Story…
“The West” is on everyone’s lips, but what does the term mean? Where is “it”? Who represents “it”? When did “the West” begin to be used as a socio-political concept? And, more importantly, why? Does it have a future? Is it a good thing, a bad thing, or…? Who belongs to the West? Who decides? How many definitions of the West are there? Are they all valid, or all wrong? Does the polysemy of “the West” render it meaningless? Or could it still stand for something? — And, if the answer to the latter question is positive, what might it stand for? All these, and some more questions will be addressed in a brief lecture on a long story.
The lecture will be chaired by Professor Angus Gowland, and will be followed by a reception. Registration is necessary – you can do this by following this link.
Class, Language, and Utopia: An Event in honour of Professor Gareth Stedman Jones
Thursday 2nd May, 2024
15:00-18:00, Arts Two Lecture Theatre, QMUL
The School of History and the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought Queen Mary University of London are delighted to invite you to Class, Language, and Utopia: Histories of Political Change – An Event in honour of Professor Gareth Stedman Jones.
Speakers:
Conor A. Bollins (QMUL): “Poverty and Population Growth in the History of Social Welfare”
Emma Griffin (QMUL): “Working-class life in Nineteenth Century Britain: The influence of Outcast London and Languages of Class”
Adela Halo (UCL): “Ideas and History in the Shadow of the French Revolution”
Douglas Moggach (Ottawa/Sydney): “Answering the Social Question: Nineteenth-Century Debates”
Julia Nicholls (KCL): “Language and Nineteenth-Century Radicalism”
Niall O’Flaherty (KCL): “The End of Poverty revisited”
To be followed by a reception. Registration is necessary. Please register by following this link.
2024 Rubinstein Lecture: Prof Susan James
Friday 15th March, 2024
17:00-19:00, Arts Two Lecture Theatre, QMUL
We are delighted to announce that the 2024 Nicolai Rubinstein Lecture will be given on March 15 by Professor Susan James: “What’s really wrong with fake news? A Spinozist perspective”. The lecture shall be followed by a reception.
It is necessary to register in order to attend this lecture. Registration is via Eventbrite.
This lecture is sponsored by the Centre for the History of Political Thought and the School of History, Queen Mary University of London.
Class, Language, and Utopia: An Event Honouring Gareth Stedman Jones
Thursday 11th January, 2024
15:00-18:00, Peston Lecture Theatre, Graduate Centre, Queen Mary University of London
Please note, this event has been postponed. A rescheduled date will be circulated in due course.
The School of History and the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought at Queen Mary University of London are delighted to invite you to
Class, Language, and Utopia: Histories of Political Change
An Event in honour of Professor Gareth Stedman Jones
Speakers:
· Conor A. Bollins (QMUL): “Poverty and Population Growth in the History of Social Welfare”
· Emma Griffin (QMUL): “Working-class life in Nineteenth Century Britain: The influence of Outcast London and Languages of Class”
· Adela Halo (UCL): “Ideas and History in the Shadow of the French Revolution”
· Douglas Moggach (Ottawa/Sydney): “Answering the Social Question: Nineteenth-Century Debates”
· Julia Nicholls (KCL): “Language and Nineteenth-Century Radicalism”
· Niall O’Flaherty (KCL): “The End of Poverty revisited”
To be followed by a reception.
Please register here.
2023 London Graduate Conference
Thursday 22nd June, 2023 – Friday 23rd June, 2023
The 14th Annual London Graduate Conference will explore the way in which political thinkers and actors throughout history have understood the relationship between property and power.
The keynote lecture will be delivered by Sudhir Hazareesingh (Oxford) and the closing roundtable will feature Valentina Arena (UCL), Dina Gusejnova (LSE), Nicola Miller (UCL), and David Armitage (Harvard and QMUL).
The full programme for this conference can be found here. A plain-text version of the programme is also available here.
To register, please click here.
Manuscript Workshop: Catastrophic Technology in Cold War Political Thought
Tuesday 13th June, 2023
14:00 - 18:00, QMUL
A discussion of Dr Caroline Ashcroft’s forthcoming book: Catastrophic Technology in Cold War Political Thought (Edinburgh University Press).
Catastrophic Technology explores a critical idea of technology shared by many influential political thinkers of the Cold War era. This critique posits technology as a central but profoundly dangerous and even catastrophic force in contemporary politics and society. In the work of theorists including Theodor Adorno, Günther Anders, Hannah Arendt, Jacques Ellul, Martin Heidegger, Max Horkheimer, Hans Jonas, Herbert Marcuse, and Lewis Mumford, a form of technology particular to modernity appears as a transformational and exceptionally problematic influence on the contemporary world. This book asks the question of what this particular concept of technology means for these philosophers in political terms, arguing that their conceptualisation of technology is a mode of radical political critique. It was also, however, a sophisticated and developed theory of technology and its influence on politics and society. This book shows how this critique of technology was an important and substantive theme in political thought during the Cold War; one which brought together unlikely allies from across the ideological spectrum, and which has not been widely recognised as such in intellectual histories of the era to date.
All are welcome, but registration for this event is essential. Registered attendees will receive a copy of the draft manuscript by email prior to the event. Please register here.
New Book Symposium: Maurizio Isabella’s ‘Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions’
Thursday 18th May, 2023
16:00-19:00, QMUL Graduate Centre, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS
The Centre for the History of Political Thought, as well as the Queen Mary School of History, are delighted to be co-hosting a new book symposium on Maurizio Isabella’s Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions (Princeton, 2023).
The Future of Intellectual History: A Celebration of Quentin Skinner’s London Years
Wednesday 10th May, 2023
15:00-18:00, ArtsTwo Lecture Theatre, QMUL, Mile End
Queen Mary’s Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought is pleased to invite you to a celebration of Prof. Quentin Skinner’s career in London on 10 May.
2023 Nicolai Rubinstein Lecture: Prof. Sanjay Subrahmanyam
Friday 31st March, 2023
18:15, Arts Two Lecture Theatre, QMUL
The Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought and the School of History at Queen Mary University of London are delighted to invite you to the 2023 Annual Nicolai Rubinstein Lecture in Intellectual History.
This year’s lecture will be delivered by Professor Sanjay Subrahmanyam (Distinguished Professor & Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Social Sciences, UCLA). The title of his paper is: ‘Sceptical Views of Early Modern Empire in Europe and Beyond: A rereading of Michel de Montaigne’. The event will be chaired by Professor David Armitage (The Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History at Harvard University)
Date: Friday 31 March 2023
Time: 18.15 (to be followed by reception)
Venue: Arts Two Lecture Theatre, Queen Mary University of London
Registration is essential. To register please click here.
13th Annual London Graduate Conference in HPT
Thursday 30th June, 2022 – Friday 1st July, 2022
Registration is now open for the Annual London Graduate Conference in the History of Political Thought, which takes place in person at UCL (30 June to 1 July 2022).
The keynote address will be delivered by Prof. Adom Getachew (University of Chicago).
A PDF version of the full programme is available here.
Booking is essential. To register, please click here.