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sgiadurham.bsky.social
SGIA Durham
@sgiadurham.bsky.social
48 followers 68 following 21 posts
School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University
https://durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/school-government-international-affairs/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by SGIA Durham
imeisdurham.bsky.social
Institute for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies (IMEIS)
Wednesday 26th November 2025
4 – 5pm, Online

“Islam in Russia: Formations of Tolerance”
November 24, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
globalsociety.bsky.social
Our final monthly pick for November is the #OpenAccess article "Counter-Conduct and the Everyday: Anthropological Engagements with Philosophy" by @olgademetriou.bsky.social (@sgiadurham.bsky.social). Be sure to give it a read!

#CounterConduct #Greece #Cyprus

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
This article critically examines counter-conduct as an analytical tool for understanding minority subjectivity. It revisits the concept within its Collège lecture context and alongside alternative descriptions of opposing governmental power. Its affinities with the anthropological notion of the “everyday” are explored in depth. The anthropological everyday, it is argued, points to nuances that enrich our understanding of the political. Heidegger's notions of “everyday” and “they” are discussed alongside ethnographic insights from Greece and Cyprus. This anthropological-philosophical encounter yields a more meaningful understanding of counter-conduct, as embedded in the everyday, that addresses both its broad scope and its analytic specificity.
November 24, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
chenchenzhang.net
🚨new open-access article!🚨
what do drastically different representations of the Paris Olympic opening ceremony on Chinese social media tell us about competing narratives of civilization & transversal alignment in digital reactionary politics?
academic.oup.com/isagsq/artic...
Abstract: Scholarship on “non-Western” civilizational discourse in international relations remains largely limited to the versions crafted or endorsed by the state. This paper takes the representation of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Chinese social media as an entry point to exploring vernacular and competing narratives of civilization in global cultural politics. Drawing on data from multiple platforms, I scrutinize visions of civilizational progress, decay, and betrayal, interlaced with contested imaginaries of “China”, “France”, and “the West”, in celebratory and demonizing discourses on the spectacle. First, I argue that ideas of “civilizational standards” have always been co-produced, appropriated, and negotiated by actors from the peripheries, rather than monopolized by the centre. A nuanced and situational reading of the celebratory discourse shows how users employ civilizational and universalist vocabularies to contest locally hegemonic structures, which may simultaneously reproduce and challenge homonationalist logics. Secondly, the paper contributes to the emerging literature on the co-opting of the anticolonial language in reactionary politics, showing that in this case, the accusation of coloniality is turned inwards to target the internal other, whose identification with progressive values is recast as colonial subservience and betrayal. Finally, I show that the trope of “Western civilizational decay” and certain constructions of difference/affinities are instrumental to queerphobic nationalist narratives. However, civilizational signifiers such as “West” and “East” function in digital reactionary discourse less as a tool for narrating cultural distinctiveness than as flexible transnational codes, allowing for transversal alignment to emerge across conventional geopolitical and ideological boundaries.
November 24, 2025 at 10:09 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
🚨In this PiRM Episode: @pmkuhn.bsky.social is joined by @cjfinlay.bsky.social, who draws on his essay "Beware the Boomerang Effect" to dissect the profound legal and ethical challenges posed by "assassination as policy".
open.spotify.com/episode/3BRc...
Assassination as Policy: The Militarization of US Law Enforcement
open.spotify.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:26 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
🎙️In this episode, @omarhgallego.bsky.social discusses public opinion and perceptions of migration, the recent migration policies of UK parties, and the politics behind them.
open.spotify.com/episode/4NwR...
UK Migration Policies 2025: Public Opinion, Politics, and Policy Alternatives
open.spotify.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:41 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
Read the latest review of Jessica Begon's book, Disability Through the Lens of Justice (OUP 2023), by Sara Purinton. "Begon’s theory marks a significant contribution to the philosophical literature on disability and to political philosophy.
ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/disa...
@oxfordacademic.bsky.social
Disability Through the Lens of Justice
Jessica Begon aims to give an account of disability that can help guide “how disabled individuals should be justly treated in the public policy o...
ndpr.nd.edu
November 17, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
jackcopley.bsky.social
Another banger! Carla studies the most depraved neoliberal writings so you don't have to. This is a must read.
cibled.bsky.social Carla Ibled @cibled.bsky.social · 19d
My new article with @econsocjournal.bsky.social on Gary Becker's analyses on suicide is out! I use Becker's assertion that ‘Most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent suicides’ to reflect on how the late Chicago School framed death and mortality as a choice, thus normalising mortality inequality
‘Most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent suicides’: Human capital and endogenous mortality in Gary Becker’s work
Chicago School economist and Nobel Memorial Prize winner Gary Becker writes that ‘most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent “suicides” in the sense that they could have been postponed if more re...
www.tandfonline.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
durham.ac.uk
Dr William Plowright from our @sgiadurham.bsky.social reflects on Ahmed al-Sharaa’s remarkable transformation from former jihadist to political leader welcomed at the White House.

Read more: www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...
@uk.theconversation.com #Syria
How former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa ended up being welcomed to the White House - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
November 13, 2025 at 1:36 PM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
✨PHD FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AT DURHAM UNI✨

Funding is available from NINE DTP, China Scholarship Council, and Transformative Humanities. For more info visit our website: www.durham.ac.uk/.../research...
Join the Information session on 28th Nov, 12-1pm here: teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...
A tall tree stands in front of the Al Qasimi building at Durham University
November 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
Congratulations to Adam Lovett, an assistant professor in political theory at SGIA, for being shortlisted for the Royal Institute of Philosophy's book prize in interdisciplinary philosophy! @triphilosophy.bsky.social
Four people stand on a small stage holding awards in front of a banner that reads “Practical Philosophy. For Everyone.” A person stands on a stage holding an award in front of a banner that reads “Practical Philosophy.”
November 12, 2025 at 10:59 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
In this new paper, Renu Singh, an assistant professor in comparative politics at SGIA, and co-authors Pengyu Zhu, Zining Wang, and Xinying Tan investigate how China's multi-level EV policies enabled "technology leapfrogging"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
China's model of technology leapfrog: A case study of electric vehicle policies and the development of green technology
The development of green technology is vital for driving economic growth and building low-carbon economies. In this era of technological advancement, …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:50 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
🚨NEW PiRM Episode: @pmkuhn.bsky.social is joined by
is joined by Prof. Ilan Baron, Professor in International Political Theory at SGIA, for a conversation on anti-Semitism, Israel, and the problem of proxy representation
open.spotify.com/episode/2HCj...
Anti-Semitism, Israel, and the Problem of Proxy Representation
open.spotify.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
cibled.bsky.social
My new article with @econsocjournal.bsky.social on Gary Becker's analyses on suicide is out! I use Becker's assertion that ‘Most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent suicides’ to reflect on how the late Chicago School framed death and mortality as a choice, thus normalising mortality inequality
‘Most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent suicides’: Human capital and endogenous mortality in Gary Becker’s work
Chicago School economist and Nobel Memorial Prize winner Gary Becker writes that ‘most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent “suicides” in the sense that they could have been postponed if more re...
www.tandfonline.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
jackcopley.bsky.social
it was a great pleasure to host @alybatt.bsky.social at Durham yesterday - thank you to everyone who came! And go buy a copy of Free Gifts 📘
November 4, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
bleddb.bsky.social
Thanks so much to @lordsukspacecom.parliament.uk for inviting me to share my expertise in person on UK space policy and strategy - their report "The Space Economy: Act Now or Lose Out" is now available: publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ld...
@sgiadurham.bsky.social

Some thoughts below:
The Space Economy: Act Now or Lose Out report - link in post Bleddyn looking animated in the House of Lords Wide shot of an evidence session for the Committee
November 4, 2025 at 9:48 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
we had a full room attendance for today's lecture by @alybatt.bsky.social on her @princetonupress.bsky.social book Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. thanks all for coming!
@jackcopley.bsky.social
photo of a lecture room
November 3, 2025 at 3:41 PM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
Apply for a PhD in Politics at Durham University! 📚🌍

For information on areas of supervision visit our PGR website:
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

And please attend our Information Session on Tuesday 4th November, 2- 3 p.m.: durhamuniversity.zoom.us/j/9324280697...

We hope to see you there 👋
November 3, 2025 at 2:54 PM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
happening today!
sgiadurham.bsky.social SGIA Durham @sgiadurham.bsky.social · Oct 24
🎉 Save the date!
Join us for a conversation with Alyssa Battistoni @alybatt.bsky.social on her brilliant new book Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature @princetonupress.bsky.social
🗓 Monday 3rd November
🕓 14:00–15:30
📍 Room IM102 (Al Qassimi)
poster with event details
November 3, 2025 at 10:03 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
in this op-ed with @globalpolicy.bsky.social, Jutta Bakonyi and Anne Flaspöler from SGIA introduce two papers exploring the experiences of civilians and peacekeepers in #Somalia and the #DRC.
#peacekeeping
www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/30/10/2...
Protection Experiences of Military Peacekeepers and Civilians in Somalia and the DRC
Jutta Bakonyi and Anne Flaspöler introduce two papers exploring the experiences of civilians and peacekeepers in Somalia and the DRC.
www.globalpolicyjournal.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:10 PM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
🚨NEW PiRM Episode: @pmkuhn.bsky.social is joined by @aliceellafinden.bsky.social, who draws on her research to discuss the political implications of deploying the concepts 'terrorism' and 'counterterrorism' in the context of the Gaza conflict and UK domestic politics
The Israel-Gaza Conflict, Palestinian Protests in the UK, and the Use of (Counter-) Terrorism
Politics in the Rearview Mirror · Episode
open.spotify.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:30 AM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
Coming up in Vienna: Professor John C. Williams from SGIA will give a public lecture at the Diplomatische Akademie Wien on Algorithms and Accountability: AI, War, and the Politics of Immunity.
🗓 Monday 10 November
🕓 18:30
📍 Human Rights Space
www.da-vienna.ac.at/en/Events
event poster described in the post.
October 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
bleddb.bsky.social
Thanks very much to Bertelsmann for publishing my very short piece on Golden Dome, space-based interceptors, and Trump’s fantasies if a nuclear missile shield.

@sgiadurham.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
jackcopley.bsky.social
If you're in the north east, come along!
sgiadurham.bsky.social SGIA Durham @sgiadurham.bsky.social · Oct 24
🎉 Save the date!
Join us for a conversation with Alyssa Battistoni @alybatt.bsky.social on her brilliant new book Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature @princetonupress.bsky.social
🗓 Monday 3rd November
🕓 14:00–15:30
📍 Room IM102 (Al Qassimi)
poster with event details
October 29, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by SGIA Durham
cjfinlay.bsky.social
“When Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro describes the Trump administration’s actions [against alleged drug boats] as an “act of tyranny,” he is not far from the truth“—my new article for @carnegiecouncil.org. www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/online-exclu... #Venezuela #JustWarTheory #Trump
Beware the Boomerang Effect: Why U.S. Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats Pose a Profound Threat to American Freedom
www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org
October 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM
sgiadurham.bsky.social
🎉 Save the date!
Join us for a conversation with Alyssa Battistoni @alybatt.bsky.social on her brilliant new book Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature @princetonupress.bsky.social
🗓 Monday 3rd November
🕓 14:00–15:30
📍 Room IM102 (Al Qassimi)
poster with event details
October 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM