Other News
Coventry students address United Nations global conference on the legacy of the slave trade
Two Coventry school pupils have addressed a prestigious United Nations conference thanks to the support of the 天美传媒鈥檚 Colonial Hangover project.
Just five student teams were chosen from around the world to speak. Harvir Dhatt [15] and Aadam Vohra [15] of Lyng Hall School, part of the Finham Park Multi Academy Trust, represented the UK with their presentation at the on slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
This year鈥檚 theme was 鈥淓nding Slavery鈥檚 Legacy of Racism: A Global Imperative for Justice.鈥
Harvir and Aadam spoke about the links between Coventry and the transatlantic slave trade – which the Colonial Hangover project helps local school students to explore - and also reflected on their own experiences as young men of Indian and Pakistani heritage.
Addressing representatives from 28 countries and H.E. Mr. Alie Kabba, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, Harvir said: 鈥淐oventry鈥檚 legacy still remains unknown to many of the population living in it. Until I had conducted my research for this presentation I hadn't realised how close to home this legacy had existed. It prompted me to question, have I remained too silent?鈥
Aadam spoke about examples of racism in today鈥檚 society such as the abuse directed towards footballers like Marcus Rashford and asked the delegates to consider whether this was a legacy of slavery – 鈥渁lthough slavery, as a constitution, has been abolished, the deep-rooted attitudes still have prevalence today.鈥
鈥淚t is vital that we learn to appreciate and value all people regardless of race, religion, skin colour, gender, and respect our differences as points of celebration rather than of division,鈥 Aadam concluded.
Dr Shahnaz Akhter, Research Fellow of the Colonial Hangover project, based within the Department of Politics and International Studies at Warwick, said: 鈥淚n their presentation Harvir and Aadam focused on placing their local and personal history within the context of the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. Over the year they have really engaged with the work that the does, and their presentation highlighted why it is so important that we continue these conversations on the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. These legacies often form part of our everyday environment and the Colonial Hangover project works with schools to examine these hidden legacies.鈥
Reflecting on the conference, Aadam said: 鈥淚 am grateful to have been given the opportunity to voice my beliefs and share the history of slavery in my home of Coventry and also my motherland of South Asia. All of the presentations were thought-provoking and inspiring pieces of academic work.鈥
Harvir said: 鈥淚 offer my heart-felt thanks towards everyone at the conference, it was an honour to speak in front of so many members about a topic which is not only important but something I am passionate about. Everyone鈥檚 presentation was enlightening – the charisma in their work meant I came away with transformed views of the wider issues.鈥
Mrs Cathy Smith, Associate Headteacher at Lyng Hall, said: 鈥淭he inspirational and professional delivery and subject matter was both thought-provoking and a pleasure to witness. I鈥檓 incredibly proud of the students who represented Lyng Hall on a truly global stage, ably facilitated by our own Miss Lisa Hagan, Director of English, who co-ordinated the project with Colonial Hangover at Warwick University.鈥
17 June 2021
PHOTO CAPTION: the tomb of Myrtilla in Warwickshire, one of the oldest graves of an enslaved black person in the UK, which was discussed by Aadam in his presentation. Credit: Dr Shahnaz Akhter.
- Watch the UN Conference here:
- More about Colonial Hangover: /fac/soc/pais/about/outreach/colonialhangover/
- more about the UN Remember Slavery Programme
- More about .
Stuart Elden's book The Early Foucault published
Stuart Elden's book .
It was not until 1961 that Foucault published his first major book, History of Madness. He had already been working as an academic for a decade, teaching in Lille and Paris, writing, organizing cultural programmes and lecturing in Uppsala, Warsaw and Hamburg. Although he published little in this period, Foucault wrote much more, some of which has been preserved and only recently become available to researchers. Drawing on archives in France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA, this is the most detailed study yet of Foucault鈥檚 early career. It recounts his debt to teachers including Louis Althusser, Jean Hyppolite, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean Wahl; his diploma thesis on Hegel; and his early teaching career. It explores his initial encounters with Georges Canguilhem, Jacques Lacan, and Georges Dum茅zil, and analyses his sustained reading of Friedrich Nietzsche, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. Also included are detailed discussions of his translations of Ludwig Binswanger, Victor von Weizs盲cker, and Immanuel Kant; his clinical work with Georges and Jacqueline Verdeaux; and his cultural work outside of France.Investigating how Foucault came to write History of Madness, Stuart Elden shows this great thinker鈥檚 deep engagement with phenomenology, anthropology and psychology. An outstanding, meticulous work of intellectual history, The Early Foucault sheds new light on the formation of a major twentieth-century figure.
This is the third of a series of books tracing the intellectual history of Foucault's entire career. Foucault's Last Decade was published in 2016 and Foucault: The Birth of Power in 2017. Stuart is currently researching the final book in the series on Foucault's work in the 1960s which he hopes to complete in 2022.
There is a post about the research and writing of the book on the and a lot more detail on .
Online report launch: Racism, mental health and pre-crime policing: the ethics of Vulnerability Support Hubs

Medact's upcoming report Racism, mental health and pre-crime policing: the ethics of Vulnerability Support Hubs is based on documents obtained through a series of long-running Freedom of Information requests. It exposes how a counterterrorism police-led project blurs the boundaries between security and care in disturbing and dangerous ways. We will hear from the three report co-authors and other experts in the field:
- Dr Hilary Aked – Medact鈥檚 Research and Policy Manager
- Dr Tarek Younis – Cultural and critical clinical psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology at Middlesex University
- Dr Charlotte Heath Kelly – Reader in Politics and International Studies, 天美传媒
- Vicki Nash 鈹 Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at Mind
Please register for the event at Medact's website:
Online conference: "Bridging the EU and Russia" Policy Conference of the EU Jean Monnet Network, 鈥淏etween the EU and Russia鈥
Join "Bridging the EU and Russia" Policy Conference of the EU Jean Monnet Network 鈥淏etween the EU and Russia鈥 on 4, 11, and 18 May, 2021 Online
This policy conference of the EU Jean Monnet Network "Between the EU and Russia" (BEAR) seeks to be a venue for knowledge exchange between academics and policy makers in EU institutions. The BEAR network connects 26 scholars from 11 universities from the EU, UK, US, Canada and Russia to explore the mobilization, influence, protection, and claim-making of regional minority groups on EU鈥檚 eastern borders, and to investigate how societal actors engage with these overlapping influences of the EU and Russia.
This policy conference brings together scholars from the network and EU officials from the European Commission and the European Parliament to discuss the following themes on 4, 11, and 18 May, 2021. Participation is free, registration is necessary.
On 4 May, 2021: introduction of the network, a panel on Eastern Partnership, policy commentary by Vassilis Maragos, Head of Unit, European Commission, DG NEAR, and academic keynote speech by Prof. Timothy Colton from Harvard University.
On 11 May, 2021: panels on Conflict Management in the European Neighbourhood; and EU, Russia and Regional Dynamics, with policy commentaries from Lawrence Meredith, Director, DG NEAR, Neighbourhood East, European Commission; and Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary-General for Policy Affairs, European Union External Action Service.
On 18 May, 2021: panels on Migration and Citizenship Politics; and EU, Russia and Minority Politics, and a keynote speech from a policy perspective by Mathieu Briens, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the High Representative of the European Commission. Policy commentaries: from Tom Snels, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Home Affairs, European Commission, and Marina Kaljurand, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
Open registrations through Eventbrite and more information about the events and the programme are available here:
Keith Hyams Wins the 2020 Andrew Light Award for Public Philosophy
The (ISEE) is pleased to announce publicly the winner and finalists for the 2020 Andrew Light Award for Public Philosophy. ISEE established the award to promote work in public philosophy and honor contributions to the field by Dr. Andrew Light, who was recognized for his distinctive work in public environmental philosophy at ISEE鈥檚 2017 annual summer meeting.
With this award, ISEE strives to recognize public philosophers working in environmental ethics and philosophy, broadly construed, and who bring unique insights or methods that broaden the reach, interaction, and engagement of philosophy with the wider public. This may be exemplified in published work or engagement in environmental issues of public importance.
This year鈥檚 honorees have made important contributions and provide distinctive examples of the work in public environmental philosophy that is happening today. The winner and finalists will be honored at an International Society for Environmental Ethics group session at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association on Thursday, January 14, 2021.
This year鈥檚 Light Award winner is Dr. Keith Hyams, Reader in Political Theory and Interdisciplinary Ethics in the Department of Politics and International Studies at 天美传媒 (United Kingdom). Dr. Hyams, who earned his DPhil at University of Oxford in 2006, has published academic research in areas that include climate ethics, climate justice, urban resilience, and the governance of global catastrophic risk. However, what distinguishes him as a public environmental philosopher is his work across disciplines, sustained collaboration with non-governmental organizations, and public engagement on issues that include urban adaptation in low income countries, environmental and human rights for Indigenous peoples, and health and environmental injustice in informal settlements in six African cities (Johannesburg, Lusaka, Kampala, Nairobi, Lagos, and Freetown). Dr. Hyams鈥檚 collaborators describe his approach as 鈥渁lways one of developing a constructive partnership,鈥 and note that he brings to this work methodologies that help various publics and policymakers to integrate and constructively discuss ethical issues at stake in environmental decisions. Dr. Hyams鈥檚 work on climate adaptation is especially notable. In this area, he has served as an ethics advisor to the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change network, co-authored a report on 鈥楻emedying Injustice in Indigenous Climate Adaptation Planning: Climate Ethics, Inequality, and Indigenous Knowledge鈥 (available at: warwick.basilico-staging.it/ethics/research/), served as an advisor to the city of Cape Town climate adaptation department, and worked with international NGOs such as Oxfam and Practical Action on the ethics of climate adaptation. Additionally, Dr. Hyams has mentored six postdoctoral researchers and multiple doctoral students, helping them to develop their own skills in publicly engaged environmental philosophy. This year鈥檚 Andrew Light Award recognizes the collaborative, publicly engaged, and ethically grounded work of Dr. Keith Hyams as distinctive contributions to public environmental philosophy.
This year鈥檚 finalists are Dr. Kian Mintz-Woo of University College Cork (Ireland) and Dr. Jeremy Moss of University of New South Wales (Australia).
Dr. Mintz-Woo, a lecturer at University College Cork, is an early career scholar who has already demonstrated a sustained commitment to publicly engaged philosophy. As a graduate student at University of Graz, Kian Mintz-Woo helped to develop a public art exhibition, Exhibition CliMatters, which was shown in multiple venues in Austria and drew over 1700 visitors, and he founded, organized, and contributed to the Climate Footnotes blog (). As a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, Dr. Mintz-Woo collaborated with Professor Peter Singer on an article, 鈥溾 published in Project Syndicate on May 7, 2020. Dr. Mintz-Woo鈥檚 academic writing focuses on climate ethics, particularly carbon pricing, discounting, and the social cost of carbon.
Dr. Jeremy Moss is a Professor of Political Philosophy at University of New South Wales (Australia) whose work focuses on climate justice, the ethics of renewable energy, and ethical issues associated with climate transitions. He is Director of the Practical Justice Initiative and leads the Climate Justice Research program at UNSW as part of this initiative. Professor Moss鈥檚 work has been featured in The Guardian, and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), National Aboriginal Radio, Al Jezeera, and LeMonde, and he has developed a Climate Justice website (climatejustice.co) 鈥渢o provide accessible discussions of the justice-related issues that underpin an effective response to climate change.鈥 In addition, he has published op-eds on climate ethics in The Conversation, including 鈥溾).
It was not until 1961 that Foucault published his first major book, History of Madness. He had already been working as an academic for a decade, teaching in Lille and Paris, writing, organizing cultural programmes and lecturing in Uppsala, Warsaw and Hamburg. Although he published little in this period, Foucault wrote much more, some of which has been preserved and only recently become available to researchers. Drawing on archives in France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA, this is the most detailed study yet of Foucault鈥檚 early career. It recounts his debt to teachers including Louis Althusser, Jean Hyppolite, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean Wahl; his diploma thesis on Hegel; and his early teaching career. It explores his initial encounters with Georges Canguilhem, Jacques Lacan, and Georges Dum茅zil, and analyses his sustained reading of Friedrich Nietzsche, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. Also included are detailed discussions of his translations of Ludwig Binswanger, Victor von Weizs盲cker, and Immanuel Kant; his clinical work with Georges and Jacqueline Verdeaux; and his cultural work outside of France.Investigating how Foucault came to write History of Madness, Stuart Elden shows this great thinker鈥檚 deep engagement with phenomenology, anthropology and psychology. An outstanding, meticulous work of intellectual history, The Early Foucault sheds new light on the formation of a major twentieth-century figure.