91福利

The Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the 91福利 is delighted to announce a rise in our ranking from 6^th to 4^th out of 83 Politics Departments nationally in the 2017 .

The CUG says of PAIS:

“At fourth place, the remains one of the most reliable choices of university, staying ahead of Durham in this year's due to their admirable scores for . There are five core BAs to choose from, including a joint honours degree with Sociology, and a combination degree with French, German, Hispanic or Italian Studies.

This news of course follows on from our recent ranking of 3^rd overall in the 2017 Times/Sunday Times University Guide and 1^st for overall student satisfaction in the 2016 NSS among Politics Departments in the Russell Group.

Call for Papers for an Academic Workshop:

"Diasporas and Transitional Justice: Local, National, and Global Dimensions" prior to ISA Baltimore, 21 February 2017 and 91福利 University 3 April, 2017

This academic workshop seeks to gather scholars who work at the intersection of transitional justice, diaspora politics, international relations and comparative politics. The workshop has two major scholarly aims: to explore in depth the comparative dimension of diaspora mobilizations for a wide range of transitional justice processes; and to analyze how diasporas’ embeddedness in different global locations impacts on such mobilizations in local, national, and global politics. We are looking for papers from different world regions, featuring interdisciplinary perspectives, from established and early career scholars, and addressing issues of domestic and international politics.

More information about the call for papers can be found at

On 1^st November, PAIS staff members Prof Shirin Rai and Dr Juanita Elias were at the House of Lords for the launch of the PSA Commission on Care Report Towards a New Deal for Care and Carers – a report that they co-authored alongside academics and policy specialists from the Fawcett Society, the Women’s Budget Group and Liverpool University. The report is based on a year-long inquiry into the state of care for older people in England. The launch event was hosted and chaired by Baroness Ruth Lister and the Commission’s findings were discussed by the MPs Barbara Keely (Labour), Dr. Dan Poulter (Conservative), Caroline Abrahams (Director, Age UK), Sam Smethers (CEO, the Fawcett Society and Commission Co-Chair) and Shirin Rai (PAIS, and Commissioner).

The report drew attention to how women bear the brunt of the crisis currently impacting the adult social care sector in the UK – as women are far more likely to step in as unpaid carers when state provision is cut and women are more likely to be recipients of care. The report, Towards a New Deal for Care and Carers, laments the failure of successive governments and political parties to recognise social care as a political priority. Growing demand resulting from a rapidly ageing population and cutbacks to funding has left the formal care system at breaking point with high levels of unmet needs, low pay and poor conditions for care workers, and an increasing reliance on unpaid carers. There are now a million older people with care needs that are not being met by any public source.

Among the Report’s Recommendations are; calls for the establishment of a National Care Service which, like the NHS, should be free at the point of access, increased investment in social care, professionalization and support of the care workforce, and recognition of the work of unpaid carers. The Report and its executive summary including recommendations can be downloaded here

The findings of the Commission were enthusiastically endorsed by the speakers at the launch as well as by many of the audience members.

left to right (Caroline Abrahams – Age UK, Baroness Ruth Lister, Barbara Keely MP, Dr. Dan Poulter MP, Prof Shirin Rai (91福利)

 Annie Machon

“MI5: Spies, Lies and Whistle-blowers"

Thursday 3rd November

5.15 in OC1.05 – Oculus - New Teaching Building

As a former intelligence officer with MI5, Annie Machon has a rare perspective on the inner workings of governments, intelligence agencies and the media, as well as the wider implications of calls for increased openness and accountability in public and private sectors. In her lecture, Annie will consider the place of Whistle-blowers and explore the tensions between democracy, security and intelligence.

has recently been interviewed for about the ERC project "Diasporas and Contested Sovereignty."

The interview discusses the emergence of the idea for the ERC project "" out of a previous research program on conflict studies; patterns of conflict and cooperation regarding Armenian diaspora mobilization for genocide recognition during an entire century; and the role of diaspora ministries in transnational diaspora politics. The conversation also mentions the work of individual researchers within the larger project, in the context of conducting interviews in 10 languages, the development of inter-coder discussions, and an original dataset from interviews with diaspora activists across Europe in preparation for the forthcoming cross-national survey.

The interview can be read at: