We are moving to a new blog where we will continue to share a weekly digest of upcoming events and opportunities at the beginning of the spring term! Stay tuned for updates on your Canvas cohort portals.
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
AI Lund lunch seminar: The Agreeable AI – How LLMs Personalise Political Bias Through Moral Alignment
Seminar
The rapid growth of AI use has transformed how citizens acquire political information in democratic societies. This shift raises significant concerns about political bias and its contribution to societal polarisation. This study examines sycophancy in large language models (LLMs), defined as excessive agreement and flattery toward users, and its manifestation in political contexts. Unlike traditional algorithmic bias, sycophancy uses LLMs’ personalisation capabilities to tailor responses to individual characteristics, potentially making biased information more persuasive.
Drawing on moral foundations theory, which identifies moral underpinnings of political beliefs, this research examines whether chatbots exhibit political bias aligned with users’ expressed moral convictions. We hypothesize that LLMs demonstrate rightward bias when presented with conservative-associated moral foundations and leftward bias when encountering liberal-associated foundations.
Employing a novel methodology combining prompt engineering with probabilistic analysis, we generated a dataset of political questions and analysed GPT-4’s responses. By comparing response probabilities with and without identity-specific information on moral foundations, we quantified sycophantic tendencies against a baseline condition. Our findings provide compelling evidence that LLMs exhibit sycophantic behaviour, adapting their political outputs based on users’ moral belief systems rather than maintaining consistent, unbiased responses across interactions.
Minahil Malik is a doctoral student in Political Science at Lund University. Her work sits at the intersection of computer science and political psychology, focusing on how AI can facilitate the spread of disinformation, polarisation, and the resulting challenges for democracy.
Hanna Bäck is a Professor of Political Science at Lund University a collaborator in this project . Her research focuses on political parties and political behaviour, focusing on topics such as elite communication and affective polarisation.
Date and time: 26 November 12.00 to 13.00
Location: Online – link by registration
For more information, visit this page
The Higher Research Seminar: Margaretha Järvinen, University of Copenhagen – ‘Gender and careers in Academia’
Seminar
The Higher Research Seminar is the main collective seminar of the Department of Political Science. The research staff and invited national and international leading scholars present ongoing research and analyses of a broad range of exciting topics of relevance for Political Science.
Margaretha Järvinen presents on “Gender and careers in Academia”.
Date and time: 26 November 2025 13:15 to 14:30
Location: Large conference room, Eden
For more information, visit this page
Defending a Living Earth: Transnational Action Beyond COP30
Seminar
How can we use law, policy, and transnational advocacy against global ecological destruction? In this round-table talk, environmental defenders and allies reflect on strategies they have used in their work to fight for socio-ecological justice using transnational networks.
In a time when environmental harm disregards borders, transnational networks are a core part of the response. This online roundtable event highlights diverse cases, from coral reef protection and pesticide regulation in Mexico to legal resistance against copper mining in the Colombian Amazon, where defenders, legal clinics, and transnational networks are using legal tools and advocacy strategies to protect ecosystems under threat.
Environmental defenders are at the forefront of developing new advocacy strategies to challenge destructive practices, influence policy, and build new pathways for ecological justice. Their tools include legal accompaniment, parliamentary advocacy, international solidarity, and digital mobilisation.
Speakers
Moderators
Register here: https://forms.gle/YCRz5w9qDYC3yEyo7
Date and time: 27 November 2025 16:30 to 18:00
Location: Online and in the lecture hall Ostrom, 3rd floor, Josephson building, Biskopsgatan 5, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Knowledge for Sustainable Development 2025 – Breaking barriers to climate solutions.
Conference
Welcome to this interdisciplinary research conference on Breaking barriers to climate solutions. The conference aims to encourage knowledge sharing and dialogue between Lund University and the University of Cambridge.
At the conference, we will broaden scientific horizons through interactive roundtable discussions and dialogue between disciplines and universities, aiming to better tackle some of the key challenges of our time. In the morning, the themes include:
In the afternoon, the interactive discussions will continue, but with a focus on the bigger picture and how disciplines can interact to find new solutions. There will be a panel discussion on A sustainable future – at what cost? with panelists from both Lund University and University of Cambridge, as well as two parallel roundtable discussions titled:
Register by 27 November here.
Date and time: December 9, 2025
Location: AF-borgen in Lund and online
For more information, visit this page
Development Lunch Seminar: “Rice and Rubber in Malaya”
Seminar
Welcome to a Development Lunch Seminar with Sascha Klocke and Tobias Axelsson (Lund University). Seminar title: “Rice and Rubber in Malaya”.
The Development Research Lunch is a bi-weekly research seminar for all scholars interested in development research, broadly defined. The series is a collaboration between the Development Group at the Department of Economic History at Lund University, and the Development Research School (in turn a collaboration between the Universities of Lund, Gothenburg and Uppsala, and the University of Ghana). The seminar series encourages both junior and senior scholars to present, from a wide range of disciplines.
Date and time: 27 November 2025 12:00 to 13:00
Location: Department of Economic History, Room Alfa 1: 2067
For more information, visit this page
NEXUS AI: Education, Research & Society
Symposium
This event is part of the NEXUS AI Advanced Seminar Series at LUSEM. Nexus is an advanced seminar series at LUSEM, designed to foster collaboration and dialogue across departments and sometimes beyond. It brings together researchers and teachers to explore interdisciplinary themes in depth. Each session focuses on a topic of broad interest, creating a space where diverse perspectives converge to inspire new ideas and deepen shared understanding.
This symposium brings together leading researchers who, based on their respective expertise, shed light on AI and its implications for Education, Research and Society.
Date and time: 1 December, 08:30–12:00
Location: The Crafoord hall at LUSEM (Lund University School of Economics and Management)
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
Performing Asia in the Nordic Sea and the Queerness of its Tensions
Seminar
The Crip and Queer Seminar series is proud to present this lecture by Jessie Yoon, PhD candidate in Performing and Media Arts as well as Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University, USA.
How can we locate Asia in the Nordics? With Lap-See Lam’s film installation The Altersea Opera — a 2024 representative of the Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale — I reflect on the cultural making of Asianness in a Nordic context and its queer politics. Asian artists from the Nordic region and beyond collaborated to create a diasporic tale of Asia, at once tangible yet sensually fantastical. Thinking through spaces such as Drottningsholm’s Kina Slott and Sweden’s first Chinese restaurants, enduring fascination towards Asia often survives critiques against its fallacy, where myths of authenticity fuel desire instead of frustrating it. Instead, Lam’s artwork presents a queer tale of Asian Nordics, defying compulsions to locate where Asia is — whether within its geographic borders or in racialized bodies — in order to navigate how Asia operates through the tensions between the real and the mythical.
Jessie Yoon (they/them) is a PhD candidate in Performing and Media Arts as well as in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University, USA. Yoon researches queer/trans representation of Asianness in a contemporary and transnational cultural productions.
Date and time: 19 November 2025 13:15 to 15:00
Location: G:a Lungkliniken, Room 133
For more information, visit this page
CMES Seminar: It’s Time to Think About the Future of Palestine\Israel
Seminar
From Separation to a Shared Homeland: Paradox (and hope) of Settler-Colonial Urbanism in Israel\Palestine: This presentation will discuss settler colonial urbanism(s) in Palestine\Israel, while exploring the different spatial and political typologies developed during the last few decades. It will discuss how colonial planning has been used as a tool of social, demographic, and spatial control and how Palestinian claims for the right to the city are meaningful political forms of protest. The presentation will refer to Palestinian cities (such as Lydda) that were transformed into “Jewish-Arab mixed cities”, to new “Jewish cities” that are going through a process of “Arabisation”, to Jerusalem as a neo-apartheid city, and to the current spatiocide of Gaza. The main argument to be articulated in this talk is that moving from the paradigm of separation into a shared homeland is the only sustainable approach which will lead to a shared future.
The Future of Palestine: Gaza War and its Aftermath – Challenges and Future Scenarios: The ongoing Gaza conflict has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian and urban crisis across the Palestinian territories, with over 60,000 deaths—more than half women, children, and older people—and vast destruction leaving entire cities without any basic public services and infrastructure. This presentation examines the war’s humanitarian, political, and economic repercussions for Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem; explores post-conflict scenarios for Palestine, Israel, and the wider region; assesses reconstruction barriers and international responsibilities; and evaluates the war’s implications for regional cooperation and long-term peace prospects, integrating spatial planning, governance, and geopolitical perspectives to outline pathways toward possible future scenarios for recovery, resilience and statehood.
Date and time: 20 November 2025 13:15 to 15:00
Location: CMES seminar room, Finngatan 16
For more information, visit this page
UPF Hosting Career Fair
Event
Are you aiming for a career within foreign affairs?
If so, don’t miss out on UPF Lund’s Career Fair 2025!
The Association of Foreign Affairs in Lund (abbreviated to UPF Lund from its Swedish name, Utrikespolitiska Föreningen) provides a space for students and those interested in exploring the world of politics and foreign affairs. UPF’s official language is English. It was founded on February 8th, 1935 to disseminate information and encourage debate on international economic and political issues.
On November 20th, we’ll gather students and organisations working in or around international relations. The goal is simple; to help you explore where a background in global affairs can take you, and to connect you with people who work in the field.
Whether you’re just curious about your options or already have a clear path in mind, this is a great chance to get inspired, ask questions, and meet potential future employers!
Date and time: 20 November 2025 18:30 to 20:20
Location: Café Athen, AF-borgen Sandgatan 2
Lund
For more information, visit this page
PhD defence in Sustainability Science: Ronald Byaruhanga
PhD Defence
Ronald Byaruhanga has written a thesis entitled: Toward the Promised Land: Politicisation as a Pathway to Emancipatory Agricultural Transformation in Uganda
Abstract (Excerpt):
Amid escalating ecological crises, widening socio-economic inequalities, and intensifying climate change, the imperative to transform agricultural systems towards sustainability and equity has become increasingly urgent. Yet such transformation is often hindered by entrenched institutional and structural arrangements that privilege narrowly defined notions of productivity and market efficiency, thereby sidelining holistic approaches that emphasise resilience, equity, and human and ecological flourishing. Consequently, although pathways such as agroecology are gaining traction as viable alternatives, their adoption and expansion remain constrained. Against this backdrop, this thesis proceeds from the premise that realising such transformative alternatives requires confronting and disrupting the institutional, structural, and political obstacles that impede change.
In this thesis, I explore the potential of politicisation as a process through which dominant agricultural development practices and ideologies are reframed and contested in Uganda. Specifically, I investigate how politicisation unfolds and how it shapes the possibilities for advancing transformative agricultural alternatives, including efforts to reconfigure the institutional arrangements that structure agricultural systems. Grounded in critical realism, emancipatory social science, and social movement theory, the analysis seeks to uncover the underlying mechanisms and structural conditions that shape how social actors mobilise, exercise agency, and generate transformative social power. I examine how these actors challenge and reconfigure dominant agrarian models while navigating and negotiating political constraints, thereby illuminating the dynamic processes through which collective action and emancipatory transformation become possible.
Date and time: 21 November 2025 10:00
Location: Ostrom, Josephson, Biskopsgatan 5, Lund
For more information, visit this page
BROWN BAG SEMINAR – Social protection paradoxes, global brands and the garment industry in China
Seminar
Lisa Eklund presents about “Social protection paradoxes, global brands and the garment industry in China”
The Brown Bag Seminar Series (Forskning på gång): The department’s lunch seminar series is an informal arena for our own researcher’s to present and discuss research ideas and findings. Each presenter talks for about half an hour, followed by a discussion. Feel free to bring your lunch!
Please note: Places at the seminar are limited.
If you are not a student or member of staff at the Department of Sociology and would like to attend the event please email Lea Fünfschilling (lea.funfschilling@soc.lu.se) no later than 48 hours before the start of the seminar to inquire about available places.
Date and time: 25 November 2025 12:05 to 13:00
Location: The Department of Sociology, Gamla lungkliniken (House G), Room 335
For more information, visit this page
Korea-Sweden Career Opportunity Day
Opportunities
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Sweden welcomes you to an exclusive matchmaking event together with key partner agencies in Sweden and Korea to connect companies with talents from Korea. This unique platform is designed to help you showcase organizations, discover skilled Korean applicants, and explore new opportunities for global growth. Join us for the event and expand your opportunity!
Registration: link
Date and time: 21 November 2025 09:00 to 12:30
Location: Online or at Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Southern Sweden, Ångbåtsbron 1, Malmö.
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
Bodies of Work: Theorising Embodiment in Black Artistic Practices in Denmark, 1980s-2020s
Seminar
Contemporary black visual artists have a rich record of working in Denmark. But while their work has been treated as topical, it is rarely approached as historical, producing significant gaps in knowledge about these artworks beyond their immediate contexts of creation.
This presentation will construct a genealogy of embodied practices as diverse as Maria Thastum’s digital self-portraiture in the 1980s, Michelle Eistrup’s endurance-based disruptions in the 1990s, Ellen Nyman’s mediatized happenings in the 2000s, Jeannette Ehlers’ collective figurations in the 2010s, and Jupiter Child’s audience activations in the 2020s. It does so to explore the effects of approaching black artists working in Denmark as a collective, but internally differentiated, group in contemporary art history, thus contributing to emerging discussions about the historicization and interpretation of black cultural production in Denmark and, more broadly, the Nordic region.
Nina Cramer is a PhD candidate at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Arts and Cultural Studies where her research explores artistic practices and discourses of the African diaspora in Denmark from the 1980s to the 2020s. Alongside Mai Takawira, she co-founded G/HOSTING, a curatorial platform that promotes critical and reparative approaches to ongoing colonial histories. She has also co-edited several publications, including Black Monument (forthcoming, 2025), Et ulydigt arkiv: Udvalgte tekster af Sara Ahmed (2020), and special issues of the art historical journal Periskop on “Blackness” (2021) and “Faroese Art History Today” (2024).
Date and time: 12 November 2025 13:15 to 15:00
Location: Gamla lungkliniken (House G), Room 335
For more information, visit this page
The New Geography of Danger – Japan’s Shifting Global Security Role and Relations with NATO
Lecture
NATO states and Japan share much in common, including core values of democracy, rule of law, human rights, and free markets. They also share a mutual security provider in the United States. Yet despite many common interests across economic, political, and security domains, relations remained strikingly undeveloped for most of the post-WWII era. This gradually changed in the early 2000s following 9/11, and again in the 2010s with the emergence of a more expansionist China. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO-Japan relations have been dramatically upgraded. In this talk, I will discuss how the evolution of NATO-Japan cooperation has been principally driven by their respective security scopes and the idea of a shifting ‘geography of danger’. As NATO and Japan expand their scopes globally to incorporate such issues cyber and supply chains, security interests align and cooperation is spirited. In systematically tracing this transformation over the post-Cold-War period, I illustrate the past and present interlinkages between the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic and offer insight into the future course of NATO-Japan relations amidst what former NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg has termed the geography of danger.
Dr. Wrenn Yennie Lindgren is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Center for Asian Research at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), as well as an Associate Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI). Her research focuses on international relations in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, foreign policy legitimation, the politics and foreign policy of Japan, traditional and non-traditional security issues and Asia-Arctic diplomacy. Wrenn’s peer-reviewed work has appeared in, inter alia, The Pacific Review, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Japanese Journal of Political Science, International Quarterly for Asia Studies, Asian Perspective, Asian Politics & Policy, Polar Geography, and Journal of Eurasian Studies. She co-edited the volume ‘China and Nordic Diplomacy’ (Routledge, 2018) and contributed chapters on Japan to the volume Kinship in International Relations (Routledge, 2018) and The Routledge Handbook of Arctic Security (Routledge, 2020).
Date and time: 12 November 2025 15:15 to 17:00
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
KOM Seminar Series: Assoc. Prof. Fredrik Miegel
Seminar
The KOM-seminar is organized by the subjects of Media History, Media and Communication Studies, Rhetoric and Journalism and funded by the HT faculties together with the Social science faculty. It is a lively, interdisciplinary seminar series where researchers in different fields explore issues around communication and media and share ongoing projects, manuscripts, and research ideas in progress. It is an open, informal space with low thresholds – everyone is welcome.
Fredrik Miegel is Associate Professor at Department of Communication LU. Departing from a few key texts, Fredrik will present and discuss with us how classical works in sociology are still useful in understanding recent developments in our digital media society.
Date and time: 12 November 2025 13:00 to 15:00
Location: SOL:A158c Finngatan 1, 223 62 Lund
For more information, visit this page
PhD defence in Political Science: Malte Breiding
PhD Defence
Malte Breiding has written a thesis entitled: European Sexual Dis/Integration: An Agonistic Paradox of Legitimacy in a Contested Union
Abstract:
This dissertation examines how the legitimacy of the European Union’s (EU) support for LGBTIQ equality should be assessed and asserted amid the far right’s promotion of a rival vision for European cooperation rooted in anti-gender politics. Drawing on agonistic and queer theory, the EU’s support for LGBTIQ equality is conceptualised as an effort to forge a European pro-LGBTIQ consensus, termed sexual integration. Sexual integration faces a paradox: when support for LGBTIQ equality is legitimised as an expression of the EU’s true nature, the far right responds by seeking to redefine what the Union is and should be. Sexual integration may thus function as a ‘constraining consensus’, entrenching polarisation between rival conceptions of the Union’s nature. The legitimacy of sexual integration is therefore ‘im-possible’: possible insofar as it rests on a dominant LGBTIQ-friendly conception of the Union, yet impossible because the EU can always be imagined otherwise. The dissertation addresses this paradox in three steps. First, Richard Bellamy’s and Kalypso Nicolaïdis’ normative political theories on the EU are deconstructed, showing the limits of grounding legitimacy in contested conceptions of the Union. Second, an agonistic conception of European sexual citizenship and an analytical framework termed Global Queer Agonism are proposed to capture the contested nature of the EU’s support for LGBTIQ equality. Third, these tools are applied through discourse analysis, demonstrating how the EU’s legitimation of sexual integration shapes far-right efforts to advance a rival anti-gender EU conception in internal and external relations. To unsettle this state of polarisation, a post-foundational conception of the EU as ‘transitive’ and ‘vulnerable’ is proposed, affirming support for LGBTIQ equality while acknowledging the Union’s contested nature. The dissertation argues, first, that normative political theory on the EU should assess the legitimacy of sexual integration by attending to the polarising effects of forging consensus on the EU’s nature, while reconceiving how an LGBTIQ-friendly Union can be understood, justified, and pursued in ways that disturb such political divides; and, second, that the EU should assert the legitimacy of its support for LGBTIQ equality by affirming liveable lives for all across the pro-LGBTIQ and anti-gender divide, rather than seeking to master the Union’s nature beyond contestation.
Date and time: 13 November 2025 13:00
Location: Edens auditorium, Allhelgona kyrkogata 14, Lund
For more information, visit this page
CMES Seminar: Book launch of The Republic of Turkey and Its Unresolved Issues – 100 Years and Beyond.
Seminar
This open access book explores the Republic of Turkey’s unresolved issues that have persisted over the past 101 years. It adopts an interdisciplinary perspective to explore the challenges facing the country to critically analyse the broader historical, political, economic, social and psychological dimensions that intersect with these challenges. It offers a rich and nuanced understanding of Turkey’s complex history and contemporary issues, covering topics that have often been undermined or silenced, including but not limited to the Armenian and Dersim genocides, xeno-racism, feminist approaches to sexual morality, queer resistances, environmental movements, and the right to the city. — read more here.
Programme & Participants:
Prof. Emerita Jenny White (Stockholm University)
Discussant
Dr. Nisan Alıcı (University of Derby)
Panelist and author of the chapter: “Confronting the Shadows: Transitional Justice and the Armenian Genocide in Turkey”
Assoc. Prof. Pınar Dinç (Lund University)
Co-editor and author of the chapter: “Dersim: A Century of State-Led Destruction and Resistance”
Assoc. Prof. Olga Selin Hünler (Acibadem University)
Co-editor and author of the chapter: “Higher Education Reforms: A Century of State Interventions in Turkish Higher Education”, will be joining online.
Date and time: 13 November 2025 13:15 to 14:30
Location: CMES seminar room, Finngatan 16
For more information, visit this page
Internship Opportnunity for Spring 2026: Operation 1325
Internship
Operation 1325 works to promote women’s influence in security policy and peace processes in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1325. It is an umbrella organization with Swedish women’s and peace organizations as members. Operation 1325 works on mutual capacity development together with women’s and peace organizations in conflict countries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. They currently have ongoing projects in Palestine, Sudan and Yemen and work with peace and security actors to develop and improve methods for the implementation of Resolution 1325. Operation 1325 conducts advocacy work towards Sweden, the EU and the UN to ensure that women’s perspectives on security permeate all peacebuilding work.
Internship Details:
Each semester, students intern at Operation 1325. As Operation 1325 is a small team, the office and board work closely together to make a significant difference for women, peace and security. This means that the role of an intern is fluid and can involve many different tasks where no day is the same.
Every week, the office has a weekly and work meeting where we go through the assigned tasks for the week. In addition, as an intern, you have a supervisor and together you set goals and tasks for your internship period and have regular reconciliations. In between, it is important that you are independent, take responsibility and drive your own work forward. Since the office is small, the intern always has a supervisor close at hand for guidance and support.
As an intern with us, you will gain a unique insight into how Operation 1325 works for the women, peace and security agenda, as well as good practical experience of what it is like to work at a civil society organization. Doing an internship with us is challenging, developing and fun!
Application Deadline: 16 November 2025
For more information, visit this page
Internship Opportnunity for Spring 2026: Svalorna Latinamerika
Internship
Svalorna Latinamerika works for gender equality and sustainable development. They collaborate with local organizations in Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras. Together they create opportunities for women, youth and children to improve their living conditions.
As an information intern with us, you will have the opportunity to develop and explore several areas within communication and marketing. Together with your supervisor, you will work with our digital channels, plan and implement events, and help spread knowledge about our business. The internship will give you insight into how we as an organization work strategically with communication—from planning to implementation and follow-up—as well as the administration involved.
As a program intern, you will gain practical experience of what it is like to work in a civil society organization in Sweden. Among other things, you will assist the program administrator in preparing applications and reports for various funding bodies. A lot of translation and administrative tasks are also included.
Send your application, consisting of a cover letter explaining why you are applying for this internship (max. one A4 page) and your CV, to rekrytering@svalorna.se. You can apply for both positions.
Application Deadline: 15 November 2025
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
Human rights and environmental politics – recent developments and historical perspectives
Conference
Welcome to a two-hour symposium to discuss recent developments and historical perspectives on human rights and environmental politics together with civil society actors and scholars in the Lund University’s Human Rights Profile Area.
This event will focus on recent backlashes against human rights and environmental politics and explore the underlying reasons for it with an emphasis on dialogues between researchers and civil society actors. The event consists of two parts: one set of presentations from invited researchers and one panel discussion with invited civil society actors. The event is funded by the Lund University Human Rights Profile Area. It is a hybrid event and details about the venue are provided below.
Date and time: November 5, 2025, 9:30 AM -12:00 PM
Location: SOL:H135a Center for Languages and Literature, Helgonabacken 12, Lund and on Zoom
For more information, visit this page
Human Rights Law Discussion Group _ The Creation of the State of Palestine: An Act in Four Parts
Seminar
The Human Rights Law Discussion Group is funded by the Centre for European Studies at Lund University, in collaboration with the ERC Starting Grant project “Refugee Finance: Histories, Frameworks, Practices (REF-FIN)” and the VR project “Refugee protection or cherry picking? Assessing new admission policies for refugees in Europe” (ARISE).
The debate on the statehood of Palestine continues to engender controversy, even though almost all States, at the time of writing, recognize it. This is because Palestine’s territory remains under a prolonged (unlawful) military occupation, and in the case of Gaza, armed conflict. Yet, how Palestine became a State under these conditions has not been adequately explained. When did Palestine become a State; how did it become one, given its lack of effective governance, and what is the source of its title to territory? This contribution seeks to answer these questions by explaining how Palestine became a State over the course of a century, constitutively, that is, through the process of State recognition, by focusing on four key moments: (1) Palestine’s provisional recognition as an independent nation in Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations (1919); (2) the vote in the U.N. General Assembly on Resolution 181 (II) that established two States in Palestine with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum (1947); (3) Recognition accorded to the State of Palestine by 100 other States when the Palestine Liberation Organization issued a declaration of independence (1988), and implicit recognition accorded to the State of Palestine by those States that voted in favour of U.N. General Assembly Resolutions 67/19 (2012) and ES-10/23 (2024) that granted Palestine State-making powers to accede to treaties and join international organisations; and (4) events at the U.N. in September 2025 following the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution (July 2025).
Dr Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor in Public International Law at the University of Nottingham School of Law where he is the deputy director of the Nottingham International Law and Security Centre.
For people outside the Faculty of Law at Lund University who wish to participate either on site or digitally please register your participation by sending an e-mail to daria.davitti@jur.lu.se.
Date and time: 5 November 2025 14:15 to 15:30
Location: Juridiska fakulteten, Tetra Laval and Zoom
For more information, visit this page
Conspiracy Ambivalence: Public Lecture by Prof. Clare Birchall, King’s College London
Lecture
In this keynote, Birchall will explore conspiracy theory as a contestation over knowledge through the idea of ambivalence: holding conflicting feelings or contradictory ideas about something.
Self-reflexively, this involves a re-examination of her stance, outlined in Knowledge Goes Pop, that conspiracy theory is a necessary possibility of knowledge, one that shows us how all knowledge is only ever speculation/theory and how legitimacy is conferred by mystical foundations. What are the implications of this considering the monopolization of conspiracism by the populist right? She will also look at the ambivalence displayed by some former conspiracy content producers towards contemporary conspiracism. Contestations over knowledge do not, therefore, only occur between obvious factions (the counterdisinfo sector vs conspiracy influencers or FIMI operatives; medical institutions vs conspiritualists; fact-checked legacy media vs free speech evangelist online platforms etc.) but also within one realm or subjectivity. We can refer to this as conspiracy ambivalence. What can this condition tell us about the politics of knowledge today?
This lecture is part of the conference ‘Truthers’ and ‘Truth Defenders’: Understanding Conflicts over Conspiracy Theories, which is organized by the team of the ERC project CONSPIRATIONS.
Date and time: November 6, 2025 4:00 PM
Location: LUX:C126 Helgonavägen 3, 223 62 Lund
For more information, visit this page
Building “Restoration Futures”: From Ecological Repair to Creative Transformations
Seminar
Restoration has become a key environmental agenda of the present era, exemplified by the UN’s current Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-30) and pursued through a host of policies worldwide. But what does it mean to “restore” a landscape? Existing paradigms of thought understand restoration as a process of ecological recovery, yet provide only limited guidance on the ends toward which restoration should be pursued. In this talk, I develop the notion of “restoration futures”, which frames restoration as a contested and value-driven process of building more sustainable and thriving landscapes. I discuss some of my existing research on why large-scale target-driven restoration often fails, and why more empowered local governance can encourage success. I then present an emerging framework for studying restoration futures, followed by preliminary findings from a large comparative analysis of restoration values and aspirations drawn from cases in 20 countries globally. A futures lens makes explicit diverse aspirations and value conflicts, with potential to support more creative and democratic decision-making on restoration goals: what we wish to recover from the past, what aspects of the past we may seek to undo, what we strive to keep from the present, what futures we hope to avoid, and what we aspire to achieve. Toward which futures should we restore?
Harry Fischer is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor (Docent) in the Department of Forest Ecology and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Originally trained as a human geographer, he has held positions in the United States, India, and Australia. His current work looks at local natural resource governance, climate vulnerability and adaptation, and the social dimensions of forest and landscape restoration.
Harry Fischer is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor (Docent) in the Department of Forest Ecology and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Originally trained as a human geographer, he has held positions in the United States, India, and Australia. His current work looks at local natural resource governance, climate vulnerability and adaptation, and the social dimensions of forest and landscape restoration.
Date and time: 6 November 2025 11:00 to 12:00
Location: Carson, 3rd floor, Josephson building, Biskopsgatan 5, Lund
For more information, visit this page
The Sociology and Social Anthropology Seminar Series presents: Hans Steinmüller
Seminar
‘In Search of Simplicity: Complexity and Complicity in Social Anthropology and in the Social Sciences’, presented by Hans Steinmüller, Prof. of anthropology, London School of Economics
Social complexity is often said to increase with technological development, the division of labour, and the centralization of power. Yet, from the perspective of local actors, these very features can serve to simplify the environment.
Social scientists are often complicit in such processes of simplification, thereby misrecognising the intricate dynamics of interaction in so-called ‘simple societies’. In this lecture, I offer some examples of the complicities of care and violence in rural China and highland Myanmar. To appreciate their complexity, we must attend to emergent forms of simplicity. This may be possible with an anthropological concept of commensuration.
Date and time: 6 November 2025 15:00 to 17:00
Location: Gamla kirurgen, Room R240
For more information, visit this page
PhD defence in Political Science: Agnese Pacciardi
PhD Defence
Agnese Pacciardi has written a thesis entitled: Mobility as a Practice : Border Externalisation and Colonial Encounters at the Euro-Senegalese Borderlands
External Reviewer: Associate Professor Joris Schapendonk, Radboud University
Abstract
What do we learn about borders and migration policies when we examine them from the perspective of communities living in the borderlands, and through the theoretical lenses of mobility?
This thesis explores the effects of EU border externalisation policies on those most affected by them, focusing on the lived experiences of Senegalese communities throughout Senegal. Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork, it investigates how individuals and communities navigate, adapt to and contest the constraints imposed by externalised borders whether or not they are on the move. Drawing on and contributing to critical border and migration studies, and grounded in feminist decolonial epistemologies, this research shifts the analytical gaze from the border itself to mobility as a multidimensional practice: imagined, embodied, and political. In doing so, it reveals how the spillover effects of border externalisation extend far beyond individual border-crossers, embedding violence, death, and precarity into everyday life across entire communities. Yet, it also shows how these same individuals and communities reappropriate and resist these constraints through creative and strategic expressions of agency, making visible a broader range of possibilities that challenges dominant migration and border regimes.
Date and time: 7 November 2025 10:00
Location: Eden auditorium, Allhelgona kyrkogata 14, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Brown Bag Seminar – Love and alienation: Gendered single life in contemporary Sweden
Seminar
Veronica Flyman presents “Love and alienation: Gendered single life in contemporary Sweden“
The department’s lunch seminar series is an informal arena for our own researcher’s to present and discuss research ideas and findings. Each presenter talks for about half an hour, followed by a discusson. Feel free to bring your lunch!
If you are not a student or member of staff and would like to attend the event please email Lea Fünfschilling (lea.funfschilling@soc.lu.se) no later than 48 hours before the start of the seminar to inquire about available places.
Date and time: 11 November 2025 12:05 to 13:00
Location: The Department of Sociology, Gamla lungkliniken (House G), Room 335
For more information, visit this page
Europa Direkt Sydskåne is looking for interns for spring 2026!
Internship Opportunity
Are you interested in the EU’s opportunities and looking for exciting challenges in areas such as strategic communication, EU funding and development work? Then an internship at Europa Direkt Sydskåne could be something for you. Be part of engaging through inspiring activities and informative information about the EU and EU policies.
Your tasks will include conducting research, monitoring EU funds, EU conferences, booking speakers for our seminars and conferences, as well as ongoing administrative work. You will organize, market and participate in events, training and campaigns about the EU and EU opportunities. Depending on your skills, you may have the opportunity to give lectures, monitor EU project opportunities, participate in project advice, and write engaging posts and articles in our channels.
Qualifications: We are looking for interns from European Studies or European Affairs Master, but also a university student studying project planning, communication, marketing, economics, law, and political science with a focus on EU funding or the EU may be the right candidate for us.
Contact person: Lia Sandberg (lia.sandberg@sjobo.se)
Application Deadline: 12 November 2025
For more information, visit this page
Between Checkpoints – Human rights event with journalist Andrey X
Other
The Andrey X Speaking Tour brings audiences face-to-face with the realities of life under occupation in Palestine. Through first-hand accounts, the program highlights stories of resilience, resistance, and the human consequences of demolitions and settler violence.
Beyond testimony, the evening features a dynamic cultural program — including live music, spoken word, and standup — creating a space where art, humor, and reflection come together. In the foyer, audiences can explore a solidarity fair showcasing grassroots organizations and local craftsmen, offering insight and connection to cultural and social initiatives.
This is more than an event — it is a gathering of voices, bridging cultural gaps, sparking dialogue, and inspiring action. Each city on the tour will have a unique program, featuring local artists, panels, and special performances alongside Andrey’s testimony.
Date and time: 19 November 2025 18:00 to 21:30
Location: CINEMA PANORAMIC Friisgatan 19 D, Malmö
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
Cambodia-Thailand border conflict: Yesterday, today and tomorrow
Panel Discussion
The department’s lunch seminar series is an informal arena for our own researcher’s to present and discuss research ideas and findings. Each presenter talks for about half an hour, followed by a discusson. Feel free to bring your lunch!
Can we make sense of a seemingly senseless conflict between two neighbors? Thailand and Cambodia, two Southeast Asian countries, that at the look of it have everything to gain from peacefully coexisting, are caught up in a border conflict that has cost lives, displaced hundreds of thousands, and disrupted livelihoods on both sides of the border.
The panel will trace the over 130-year-old land dispute up to the present. We will answer questions about what is really disputed, the role of national politics in both countries, what triggered the flare-up in May 2025, and how the five-day war in July differs from previous clashes. Drawing on long-term engagement with political and social developments in Cambodia and Thailand, the panel offers grounded perspectives on the conflict and assesses what the future might hold for communities whose lives continue to be shaped by violence and animosity.
Kimhean Hok is a doctoral researcher at the Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies, Lund University. His research focuses on contemporary Cambodian politics and governance. He is from Banteay Meanchey province, along Cambodia’s northwest border with Sa Kaeo, Thailand – now a key flashpoint in the ongoing conflict.
Ph.D. Karin Zackari is a human rights scholar specializing in Thai contemporary history, who has written about Thai nationalism and state violence. She is a researcher at the Center for East and Southeast Asian Studies in a project on academic freedom in Thailand. As a child she lived in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo Province in Thailand, during the Cambodian civil war, and she was on a research trip to Thailand when the war broke out in July 2025.
Date and time: 28 October 2025 16:00 to 17:30
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Writing and study sessions with the Academic Support Centre
Student Support
The Academic Support Centre arranges writing and study sessions for the University’s students each semester. You can read more about how a session works, planned dates and how to register below.
The study and writing sessions take place each Tuesday for the autumn semester. Full-day sessions are 9–16, with a lunch break from 12–13. You are welcome to attend our sessions regardless of whether you study in Swedish or English.
You should bring any relevant, study-related material along to the writing and study session. You might, for instance, bring a written assignment or thesis draft that you are currently working on (or should be working on) or texts to read in preparation for your next lecture or exam. Our language and study consultants are also available to offer their advice on how to plan your study time and put that plan into practice. After a brief introduction, you have time to work towards reaching your individual goal.
You can apply to attend our writing and study sessions by emailing us at study@stu.lu.se.
Date and time: Tuesdays, 09:00 – 16:00
Location: Genetikhuset, rooms 219–222, Sölvegatan 29B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
CMES Seminar: The Politics of Death in Palestine
Seminar
The CMES Research Seminar is the main collective seminar at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies. LU researchers and invited national and international leading scholars present ongoing research and analyses of a broad range of exciting topics of relevance for the Middle East.
Presentation by Nina Gren, Senior Lecturer, PhD in Social Anthropology, CMES, on the politics of death in Palestine: Martyrdom and ritualcide.
Date and time: 30 October 2025 13:15 to 15:00
Location: CMES seminar room, Finngatan 16.
For more information, visit this page
SASNET Lecture with Atreyee Sen: “Anger, Legitimised: Amplified Anger and its Rhetorics of Legitimation in the 21st Century”
Lecture
Welcome to a SASNET talk with Prof. Atreyee Sen (University of Copenhagen) about amplified anger and its rhetorics of legitimation in the 21st century. This event is a collaboration with the Division of Gender Studies.
For the past decades, this world has faced exponential failures of democracy, resuscitation of dictatorships, rising gender backlash, surveillance capitalism, extractivism, protracted wars, mass killing and displacement, a pandemic, and authoritarian carceral regimes. These are merely some of the factors that has tipped the earth into what social scientists call ‘the bad, ugly Anthropocene’ – signalling that human activity has eroded the social, economic and biological frontiers of planetary life.
In this talk, Professor Atreyee Sen will bring forth a discussion on how rage has become fundamental to our contemporary human condition as the world gets more interconnected through shared senses of injustice, along with fear, hatred, paranoia, and other ‘negative affect’. She will explore how collective anger as a response to this plenitude in planetary crisis has become the defining fabric of contemporary human lives.
Whether as resistance to earthly destruction, or riling for enforced segregations, or the fury in daily exposure to death and structural inequalities, anger seeps into ‘public moods’ through news, media and activism, and animates protests, resistances and current social movements. Even the wrath of more-than-human worlds, such as climate vengeance, retaliatory floods, and cleansing wildfires, becomes integrated into this global indignation.
The presentation, which provides an overview of Atreyee Sen’s ERC Advanced Grant, will highlight how these affective landscapes create pervasive atmospheres of human rage across the global North and South. Between the ‘stuckedness’ of human life and the ‘stickiness’ of disparities, the talk will raise some issues around the global circulation of rage, which is embodied, stoked and energised in the contemporary era.
Atreyee Sen is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen. Over the course of her academic career in India, the UK and Denmark, Sen has published extensively, and brought critical insights to studies of gender, childhoods, poverty, urban politics and South Asian cities.
Date and time: 30 October 2025 13:15 to 15:00
Location: Department of Political Science, Room Ed367
For more information, visit this page
International Law, Genocide and the the War on Palestine
Lecture
This event features international law scholars and practitioners who are in Lund for a conference and take the opportunity to do a public event while they are here. Our panel will speak to the question of International law, Genocide, and the War on Palestine from the different perspectives of accountability, anti-imperialism, the use of AI, and the ”death” of the law against war. There will also be a Q&A.
Speakers are:
• Michael Lynk (Western University, Canada, and former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories)
• Tor Krever (University of Cambridge)
• Mais Qandeel (University of Galway and Örebro University)
• Victor Kattan (University of Nottingham)
Moderator: Markus Gunneflo Lund University, Faculty of Law
Date and time: 3 November 2025 16:15 to 18:00
Location: Palaestra et Odeum, Paradisgatan 4, 223 50 Lund
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
Wellness Fika at the Graduate School
Student support
Come join us for a cozy fika with Representatives from the Academic Support Centre, Student Chaplaincy and the Student Health Centre in mid-November.
As the days get shorter and the autumn weather sets in, it becomes increasingly important to check in with ourselves and to find ways to bolster our wellbeing. Come join us for a cozy autumn fika and learn more about the support services the university has to offer you. Guests from the Academic Support Centre, Student Health, the Student Chaplaincy will be in attendance, as well as your own Graduate School counselors.
Coffee/tea and refreshments will be served.
Date and time: 05 November 2025, 12:00 -13:00
Location: Graduate School Lounge, Gamla Kirurgen (Hus R), Sandgatan 13
Questions? Write to master@sam.lu.se
Seminar: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption with Réka Tölg
Seminar
The seminar is a joint event organised by the Consumption Node and the Higher Seminar in Fashion Studies.
Welcome to a seminar where Réka Tölg, PhD in Service Studies at Lund University, presents her doctoral dissertation, The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings.
In her presentation, Réka will explore how circular clothing consumption is shaped and practised in both retail and household contexts. She will also reflect on the role of care in consumption—a theme that connects her dissertation work with her current research as a postdoctoral fellow in the Horizon Europe-funded project CARE: Circular Activities to transform households towards material efficiency.
Rékas dissertation can be found here.
Date and time: 21 October 2025, 15:15 -17:00
Location: LUX:C436, Helgonavägen 3, Lund
For more information, visit this page
China’s Global Influence: The Swedish Case
Lecture
Open lecture with Oscar Almén, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI)
On the back of three decades of rapid economic growth, China has emerged as a global power. Its influence abroad is most visible through trade and investment—often viewed as a natural and, in many places, welcome presence. At the same time, Beijing is increasingly active as a geopolitical player, seeking to shape the international order in ways that serve the regime’s interests. In this talk, Oscar Almén examines how China’s rise affects Sweden, drawing on his research into transnational repression and Chinese investment in Sweden.
Oscar Almén is a researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), where he heads the Asia Programme. Formerly an associate professor (docent) of political science at Uppsala University, he has studied Chinese politics since 1999. His current work focuses on security-related issues connected to China, including Chinese investments in Sweden, the Communist Party’s influence on the Chinese diaspora, China’s role as a security actor in East Asia, and Party control over enterprises in China.
Date and time: 21 October 2025, 15:15 -17:00
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
AI Lund lunch seminar: Concern and Enthusiasm for AI Across the Globe – The Role of Trust
Seminar
The introduction of generative AI (GenAI) has given a powerful boost for information, while raising concerns over risks and negative effects for society and democracy, including the problem for citizens to assess which information to trust. Based on a comparative survey of citizens from Brazil, Denmark, the Netherlands, the US., Japan and South Africa (N=1000 per country), collected in the spring of 2025, this study examines how enthusiasm and concern for the implementation of AI is associated with institutional and social trust. Trust could here be seen as a coping mechanism confronted with the risks and uncertainties linked to rapidly evolving AI and the societal transformations that may entail, and we assume a positive association between trust and enthusiasm.
Across the globe we find more concern than excitement for the implementation of AI, especially when it comes to consequences for democracy, but with country-specific variations. We consider how these attitudes are related to political trust, trust in the information landscape, legal institutions and science, as well as social trust, finding that only the two first forms of trust show a positive association with enthusiasm for AI. The study offers important first insights concerning citizens’ reception of GenAI across the globe, and the roles that institutional actors may play in different contexts.
Kari Steen-Johnsen is interested in the conditions for democratic participation in a broad sense, with an emphasis on the consequences of digitalisation and the rise of social media. Her research includes topics such as political mobilization and organization, citizens’ news consumption and political knowledge, as well as public debate and freedom of expression. Prerequisites for and effects of trust, such as after terror and during the corona pandemic, have also been central to several of her projects. She is now involved in the KnowAI project studying how generative AI influences what citizens know, believe and trust.
Date and time: 22 October 2025, 12:00 -13:00
Location: Online – link by registration
For more information, visit this page
When Adaptation Meets Resistance: How to Shape Climate Policy from Below
Seminar
Climate adaptation is often framed as urgent and inevitable — yet in many communities, especially those living in poverty, it is met with quiet defiance, legal challenges, or outright sabotage. This seminar explores how resistance emerges in response to top-down adaptation measures, from rejecting drought-resistant crops to contesting relocation plans in informal settlements. We will examine the role of law, everyday acts of resistance, and grassroots organising in reshaping climate policy from the ground up.
Speaker: Ana Maria Vargas
Date and time: 23 October 2025 11:00 – 12:00
Location: Maathai, 3rd floor, Josephson building, Biskopsgatan 5, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Book Launch – The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late
Seminar
The world is crossing the 1.5°C global warming limit, perhaps exceeding 2°C soon after. What is to be done when these boundaries, set by the Paris Agreement, have been passed? In the overshoot era, schemes proliferate for muscular adaptation or for new technologies to turn the heat down at a later date by removing carbon dioxide from the air or blocking sunlight. Such technologies are by no means safe; they come with immense risks and provide an excuse for those who would prefer to avoid limiting emissions in the present. But do they also hold out some potential? Can the catastrophe be reversed, masked or simply adapted to once it is a fact? Or will any such roundabout measures simply make things worse?
The Long Heat – the new book by Wim Carton and Andreas Malm – maps the new front lines in the struggle for a liveable planet and insists on the climate revolution long overdue. In the end, no technology can absolve us of responsibility for our planet and each other.
At this launch event, the authors summarise the main theses of their work and engage in conversation with a panel of peers and the audience.
Panelists
Kim Nicholas, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies
Alexandra Nikoleris, Faculty of Engineering
Mads Barbesgaard, the Department of Human Geography
Wim Carton is Associate Professor of Sustainability Science at Lund University, Sweden. He’s the author of over 20 academic articles and book chapters on climate politics. His work has appeared in top journals including Nature Climate Change, WIREs Climate Change and Antipode.
Andreas Malm is Associate Professor of Human Ecology at Lund University, Sweden. He is the author of several acclaimed books, such as White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism, written with the Zetkin Collective. His book How to Blow Up a Pipeline is an international bestseller and has been adapted into a feature film.
Date and time: 27 October 2025, 10:00 – 12:00
Location: Världen, Geocentrum I (Department of Human Geography), Sölvegatan 10, Lund
For more information, visit this page
EUGLOH Soft Skills Seminar – Job interview and negotiation skills
Seminar
The aim with this online seminar targeting Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD students, is to prepare students for a successful transition into the workforce by equipping them with essential interpersonal skills for professional success.
The primary objective is to develop confidence and readiness to improve interview and negociation skills such as:
The soft skills seminar is designed to help students go beyond academic knowledge to develop and boost interpersonal and career readiness skills.
Through practical and engaging online sessions participants will engage with career development experts and peers on essential themes such as effective communication, emotional resilience, professional networking and job interview strategies – topics that are increasingly relevant for employability and meaningful career building.
No prerequisites and participation is free of charge. Zoom link will be provided closer to the seminar. Deadline to register is 28 October 2025.
Date and time: 29 October 2025, 17:00 – 18:00
Location: Online
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
SASNET Panel Discussion: “Sino-Indian Relations in the Light of Global Conflict”
Lecture
China and India are two of the world’s most influential rising powers. Both have experienced rapid economic growth and are vying for leadership in the Global South—but their relationship remains tense. From border disputes and military standoffs to competing global strategies, the rivalry between these two Asian giants is shaping the future of international politics.
Join us for a thought-provoking panel featuring three leading experts on Asian geopolitics: Dr. Dattesh D. Parulekar, Dr. Rahul Karan Reddy, and Dr. Sriparna Pathak. Together, they will unpack the complexities of Sino-Indian relations and explore what’s at stake for Asia and the world.
Dattesh D. Parulekar (Ph.D), is Assistant Professor at the School of International and Area Studies (SIAS), Goa University, Goa, India. He specializes in issues of India’s Foreign Policy and Diplomacy, Sino-Indian Relations, and Strategic Maritime Affairs in the IndoPacific.
Rahul Karan Reddy is Senior Research Associate at Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA). He works on domestic Chinese politics and trade, producing data-driven research in the form of reports, dashboards and digital media. He is the author of ‘Islands on the Rocks’, a monograph on the Senkaku/Diaoyu island dispute between China and Japan. He was previously a Research Analyst at the Chennai Center for China Studies (C3S), working on China’s foreign policy and domestic politics.
Dr. Sriparna Pathak is a Professor of China Studies, and the founding Director of the Centre for Northeast Asian Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University, (JGU) Haryana, India. She also serves in the capacity of a Senior Fellow, at the Jindal India Institute. She has previously worked as a Consultant for the Policy Planning and Research Division, working on China’s domestic and foreign polices; think tanks like Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi and Kolkata respectively, and the Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research in New Delhi.
Date and time: 14 October 2025, 15:15 -17:00
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies (Sölvegatan 18 B), Lund University
For more information, visit this page
Unequal Exchanges in the Urban/Rural Divide in the Green Transition
Seminar
In this seminar – “And We Get Nothing in Return”: Unequal Exchanges in the Urban/Rural Divide in the Green Transition Eric Brandstedt and Georgia de Leeuw present findings from their project “A Just Transition to a Sustainable Municipality” (Formas). The project is a collaboration between Falköping Municipality and Lund University and is motivated by Falköping’s ambition to integrate social sustainability more systematically in their climate strategy.
An ethically defensible transition to a sustainable society depends on public support for transformative changes, but green energy infrastructures have been criticised and resisted for the impact they have on various vulnerable groups. Research and policy have started to integrate social sustainability and justice dimensions into transition efforts. The initially narrow focus on workers in fossil industries has been widened to include other adversely affected groups and individuals such as spatially impacted communities.
For the purpose of widening this perspective further, the countryside is an interesting site of inquiry since it is commonly targeted for green energy production. We study countryside sentiments about the green transition by examining a rural municipality in mid-Sweden, where rural residents see plans for an expansion of wind and solar energy as incompatible with countryside values. We show that rural residents display a deep-rooted sense of exclusion relative to centralized decision-making. Structural urban-rural power dynamics and grievances about disproportionate allocations of harms and benefits are perceived as aggravated by green investments. Here, these investments and the centralized decision-making that they are a result of are regarded as dismissive of contributions generated in the countrysidesuch as food production in times of crisis.
The draft article on which this seminar is based speaks to the literature on local governance and transition justice by examining how the energy transition is compatible with rural efforts to build a vibrant countryside. We contribute with a novel reading of the justice dimensions in rural-urban power imbalances in the green transition as a matter of reciprocity, or lack thereof.
Read more about Eric Brandstedt here.
Read more about Georgia de Leeuw here.
Date and time: 15 October 2025, 13:15 -15:00
Location: LUX, rum A332 (Blå rummet), Helgonavägen 3
For more information, visit this page
The Politics of Gender in a Transnational Context – Roundtable Conversation
Seminar
The Gender Studies Seminar Series invites researchers to share their insight on key issues for gendered and sexualized lives and knowledges, and to engage in critical discussions about the development of gender studies as an interdisciplinary and intersectional research field. Bringing together scholars from various research fields and theoretical traditions, this seminar series offers a platform for critical reflexions and new insights.
‘The Politics of Gender in a Transnational Context’ is a Roundtable conversation on the possibilities and challenges for gender research across diverse national and local sites, with a special focus on the academic institution and contemporary political contexts, but also exploring the role of transnational networks for building communities.
Didem Unal Abaday, Academy Research Fellow, Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, Finland
Jessie Taieun Yoon, Doctoral scholar, Department of Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
Lindsey Churchill, Professor of History, University of Central Oklahoma
Tatsita Mishra, Doctoral scholar at MICA, Ahmedabad, India
Moderator: Mia Liinason, Professor of Gender Studies, Lund University
Date and time: 15 October 2025, 13:15 -15:00
Location: Gamla lungkliniken (House G), Room 335, Lund
For more information, visit this page
China-Watching: Global Knowledge Production about China
Lecture
This presentation is about a book on global knowledge production about China which Julie Chen will publish in 2026. Her book compares the local, regional, and global politics of China-watchers from the twentieth century to the present, with a focus on the past and its connection to the present. There is bourgeoning literature on the challenges facing China-watchers and the institutions where they work in the contemporary era. However, her work differs by exploring the longue durée perspective of China-watchers’ conditions and the perpetuated interactions between politics and the knowledge of China being produced. There is a trend that China-watchers outside of the PRC have to show their distance from the Chinese state and other affiliated Chinese institutions to convince their audiences of their credibility and independent capacities to study China, even though not all China-watchers can professionally and privately disentangle themselves entirely from their study-subject of China. China-watchers are not just passive individuals constrained by the political climate and structure. China-watchers may exercise individual agency to make choices regarding what they wish to present about China to their audiences.
Julie Yu-Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies at Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki in Finland. She is one of the editors for the highly ranked Journal of Chinese Political Sciences, under the auspices of the Association of Chinese Political Studies dedicated to academic and professional activities relating to Chinese politics.
Date and time: 16 October 2025 13:15 – 15:00
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
CMES Seminar: Harvesting wind, stirring sands: the expansion of renewable energy frontiers, local resistance, and the European academic gaze on green extractivism in West Asia and North Africa
Seminar
The CMES Research Seminar is the main collective seminar at the Centre. LU researchers and invited national and international leading scholars present ongoing research and analyses of a broad range of exciting topics of relevance for the Middle East.
Presentation by Yahia Mahmoud, Human Geography, Lund University.
Yahia Mahmoud is an associate professor at the department of human geography (Lund University). Situated in the fields of development studies and development geography, his research has focused on rural areas in Africa and treated several interrelated themes that are relevant for these sub-disciplines. These topics span from assessing the role of China’s foreign assistance in rural West Africa to the potentials of technical innovation to curb the impacts of climate change and poverty in rural East Africa. When studying these phenomena, he puts special emphasis on knowledge construction, history, and power relations. The overall goal is to gain better understanding of the process of socio-economic transformation, in general, and that of poverty alleviation in particular. In the pursuit of this, he has collaborated with researchers from disciplines ranging from social to natural sciences, both in Sweden and abroad.
Date and time: 16 October 2025 10:00 – 12:00
Location: CMES seminar room, Finngatan 16.
For more information, visit this page
Lund University Academic Support Centre: Lecture on effective writing strategies
Student Support
The Academic Support Centre arranges writing and study sessions for the University’s students each semester. You can read more about how a session works, planned dates and how to register below.
Part one of our lectures on academic writing contains tips and strategies for students who are beginning, or have recently begun, to write on their projects, e.g., how to effectively generate text. Part two covers tips and strategies on how to revise and structure a text as well as how to create a “red thread” in your text.
Part 1: Writing an academic text
Part 2: Strategies for revising your text
The lectures are open to all students and no pre-registration is required.
Date and time: 16 October 2025, 10:00–12:00
Location: Genetikhuset, rooms 219–222, Sölvegatan 29B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
The Ghost within the Forest: Campesino Settlers and Environmental Ruination in La Chiquitanía
Seminar
In this seminar, Frederik Andersen Tjalve discusses the entanglements between campesino and Chiquitano communities and extractivist-fueled environmental devastation in the rural landscapes of La Chiquitanía. He begins by relating the context of my fieldwork, and how the figure of the campesino ghost settler evoked in media and NGO representations of the causes of ecological devastation and land trafficking in La Chiquitanía brought me to the San Martin Colonies, a cluster of communities with whom he has conducted long-term ethnographic research on campesino and indigenous territorialities within landscapes undergoing rapid agrarian extractivist transformations amid the political, socio-ecological, and monetary crises of Bolivia. He describes how histories of migration within the Bolivian Lowlands shaped the image of the campesino settler and White-Mestizo Cruceño resistance toward these communities and the MAS government, framing settlers as ghosts through the use of remote sensing and environmental governance discourse. Zooming in on the San Martín Colonies, he then seeks to rearticulate campesinos and Chiquitanos as actors in their own right. Sketching out how relations to soil, commodities, fire, machines, and community, territory, and the state are evoked within campesino and Chiquitano communities, he draws these metabolic entanglements together within the landscape of La Chiquitanía. He sketches out how extractivist epistemologies, through technology, bureaucracy, and the interlocal connections of agrarian extractivist trajectories, come to shape ruination and exploitation as an anticipatory response of campesinos to environmental devastation.complementary articles covering 34 OECD countries, the research identifies both structural and strategic pathways to reform.
Frederik Andersen Tjalve is a PhD candidate from the Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University, currently visiting the Department of Human Geography at Lund University.
Date and time: 16 October 2025 10:00 – 11:00
Location: Maathai, 3rd floor, Josephson building, Biskopsgatan 5, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Human Rights Lunch Online: The right to give rights – Welfare professionals as guardians of undocumented migrants’ human rights
Seminar
Across Europe, welfare professionals have resisted proposals that they should have a duty to report undocumented migrants to the police. This has been pivotal for protecting migrants’ rights. Consequently, GIVE RIGHTS will develop new conceptual tools for an interdisciplinary understanding of undocumented migrants’ rights as rooted in an interplay between migrants’ rights-claims and welfare professionals’ attitudes, practices, and collective contestations – highlighting the underexamined relational character of rights. The project investigates the politics of undocumented migrants’ rights as an interplay between different actors with converging interests: Undocumented migrants want access to their human rights – in Arendt’s words they want to have a “right to have rights” – and welfare professionals do not want to act as extended border guards but have a “right to GIVE RIGHTS”.
GIVE RIGHTS will compare Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK where the protection of undocumented migrants’ access to rights are, or have recently been, undergoing intense negotiations. Through its novel theoretical framework and by innovatively combining survey data with policy mapping, qualitative media analysis, participant observation, focus groups and expert interviews, GIVE RIGHTS provides a new research agenda for theoretical and political debates on the future of human rights in Europe.
Jacob Lind is a researcher at the Depart of Global Political Studies and the Malmö Institute for Migration Studies (MIM) at Malmö University. He has recently been awarded an ERC-starting grant. At this digital lunch seminar he will present his ERC-project GIVE RIGHTS, on how professionals in healthcare, education and social services approach the requirement to report undocumented migrants.
Date and time: 17 October 2025, 12:15 – 13:00
Location: Online (Zoom link)
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
Debate in Lund: Is globalization dead – and if so, should we mourn it? (in Swedish)
Other
After the Cold War, borders opened up and globalization was seen as inevitable. Goods, capital, and people flowed more freely – and democracy and human rights would automatically follow in the wake of global openness.
Now the foundations are shaking. Trump’s tariffs, wars, climate crisis and pandemics have exposed the vulnerability of global chains. And in many parts of the world, democracy is not an ideal. Is globalization about to be rolled back? Or is it just being reshaped – towards a more multipolar world, with several different centers of power?
Welcome to a Debate in Lund where we discuss whether globalization is in retreat and what that means for prosperity, conflicts and climate.
In the panel:
The event is free and starts at 7:00 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM.
Arrive on time, first come, first served.
Date and time: 13 October 2025, 19:00 – 20:15
Location: Grand Hotel, Great Hall, Bantorget 1, Lund
For more information, visit this page
The Language of Climate Politics
Seminar
Speaker: Genevieve Guenther
Fossil fascism is rising in the United States. To build a permission structure for its actions, the Trump regime is suppressing science, taking control of the news media, and silencing communities harmed by extreme weather. Yet at the same time, it does not exactly deny that climate change is real. Rather, while spreading falsehoods about clean energy, the regime advances a more nuanced propaganda that goes something like this: “Yes, climate change is real, but calling it an existential threat is alarmist. And, anyway, phasing out coal, oil, and gas would cost us too much. Human flourishing relies on the economic growth enabled by fossil fuels, which enable innovation and increase our resilience.”
This story has power because it articulates the ideological matrix of fossil capitalism — the overlapping consensus shared by both the fascist right and the liberal centre — that we can keep using coal, oil, and methane and still deal with climate change anyway. Yet climate propaganda is also powerful because it is skillfully manufactured by fossil-fuel interests. These interests appropriate discourse from science, economics, and even activism, exploiting the literary qualities of language such as ambiguity or implicature, so as to normalise disinformation. My talk will ultimately explore the ways this appropriation works and offer strategies to combat it.
Genevieve Guenther is the founding director of End Climate Silence and the author of the acclaimed The Language of Climate Politics: Fossil-Fuel Propaganda and How to Fight It. While writing for both scholarly and popular audiences, Dr Guenther advises NGOs, researchers, and policymakers on climate communication and disinformation, and she serves as an expert reviewer for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She lives in New York City with her family.
Date and time: 13 October 2025 13:00 – 14:30
Location: Ostrom, 3rd floor, Josephson building, Biskopsgatan 5, Lund
For more information, visit this page
30th Anniversary: Seminar, Reading Hannah Arendt: On Evil – from Totalitarianism to Banality
Seminar
Since Malmö Art Academy’s founding in 1995, it has challenged traditional teaching methods by placing the studio and the open work process at the center, characterized by feminist pedagogy and student self-determination through close reading. The teaching method, in which students read complex texts in groups with their peers and professors, has had a significant pedagogical effect, creating a direct connection between theory and practice within the group.
Hannah Arendt struggled with the problem of evil throughout her life. As a Jew, what she called totalitarianism affected her personally, but her thinking is universal. Totalitarian states are the ultimate evil because in them, human beings themselves become unnecessary. This form of evil goes beyond human laws, indeed beyond the human. That was her thinking in the late 1940s. But this would be to demonize evil, when the only possibility, for Arendt, is to laugh at it in all its pitiableness.
The seminar is led by Gertrud Sandqvist, Professor of Art Theory and the History of Ideas , and is part of celebrating Malmö Art Academy 30 years.
Date and time: 7 October 2025, 13:00 – 15:00
Location: Red Room, Inter Arts Center, Bergsgstan 29 (4th floor), Malmö
For more information, visit this page
Symposium Programme: Global South–Global North Developments The Asymmetries of Polycrisis, Risks, and Resilience
Conference
Organized by the Crisis Inequalities and Social Resilience (CISR) group, the International Development Group, and the Society for Critical Studies of Crisis (SCSC), this two-day event brings together scholars, practitioners, and activists to explore crises, resilience, and development from multiple perspectives.
Keynote addresses will be delivered by Vandana Desai (Royal Holloway, University of London), discussing Shared Forms of Breakdown: Global South Perspectives on Development and Polycrisis, and Jeremy Allouche (Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex), presenting on Development in Polycrisis Times. These sessions will offer critical insights into the challenges and strategies of development amid complex global crises.
Participants can join all sessions via Zoom.
Date and time: 7-8 October 2025
Location: Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies, Lund University
For more information, visit this page
Workshop: Join the creation!
Workshop
In the temporary art project Schoolwork, artist Loulou Cherinet – together with the Faculty of Social Sciences at Lund University, Public Art Agency Sweden, and Akademiska Hus – invites students and university staff to improvise and create together.
With wowen willow, clay, hemp, and cow dung, participants will explore how knowledge can be shaped and shared physically, relationally and through the body as a tool. The Project is part of the development of Campus Paradis and an initiativ for campus art.
Join on October 6–8! No registration required. Lunch included.
Do you have questions about how you can participate? Contact the artist:
skolarbete@cherinet.com
Date and time: October 6 09:00 – October 8 16:00 2025
Location: Campus Paradis
For more information, visit this page
Writing and study sessions with the Academic Support Centre
Student Support
The Academic Support Centre arranges writing and study sessions for the University’s students each semester. You can read more about how a session works, planned dates and how to register below.
The study and writing sessions take place each Tuesday for the autumn semester. Full-day sessions are 9–16, with a lunch break from 12–13. You are welcome to attend our sessions regardless of whether you study in Swedish or English.
You should bring any relevant, study-related material along to the writing and study session. You might, for instance, bring a written assignment or thesis draft that you are currently working on (or should be working on) or texts to read in preparation for your next lecture or exam. Our language and study consultants are also available to offer their advice on how to plan your study time and put that plan into practice. After a brief introduction, you have time to work towards reaching your individual goal.
You can apply to attend our writing and study sessions by emailing us at study@stu.lu.se.
Date and time: Tuesdays, 09:00 – 16:00
Location: Genetikhuset, rooms 219–222, Sölvegatan 29B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
PhD defence in Political Science: Evan Drake ‘From Lock-In to Phase-Out: Pathways Towards Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform‘
Thesis Defence
Abstract:
This dissertation investigates the political determinants of fossil fuel subsidy reform in OECD countries between 2009 and 2023. Despite widespread recognition of their economic inefficiency and environmental harm, fossil fuel subsidies remain entrenched, with OECD countries collectively sustaining around USD 100 billion in annual support. The research addresses why some governments successfully reduce these subsidies whilst others do not. It conceptualises these subsidies as critical mechanisms of “carbon lock-in” that entrench fossil fuel dependence and impede climate action. Drawing on multiple strands of political science literature, the dissertation develops an integrated analytical framework that considers the roles of institutional configurations, governing party preferences, policy processes, and affective polarisation in shaping reform trajectories. Using a mixed-methods approach and four
complementary articles covering 34 OECD countries, the research identifies both structural and strategic pathways to reform.
Key findings show that proportional representation and corporatist institutions are associated with lower subsidy levels, by offering electoral insulation and facilitating compensatory strategies. Governments led by environmentally committed parties tend to reduce subsidies, whereas market-liberal parties increase them—particularly when they hold parliamentary majorities. The study also introduces the concept of “dismantling by layering”, where incremental policies such as carbon taxes erode subsidies indirectly, minimising direct political confrontation. Finally, the dissertation develops a research agenda and theoretical framework proposing how affective polarisation may constrain reform by transforming climate policies into partisan identity markers. Together, the findings suggest that the climate governance challenge is not primarily about identifying technically optimal policy instruments but about understanding the political conditions under which necessary policies become feasible—an analytical shift with profound implications for both academic research and policy practice in addressing the climate crisis.
Date and time: October 10 2025, 10:15
Location: Eden auditorium, Allhelgona kyrkogata 14, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Explore international opportunities offered through Lund University
Webinars
International Opportunities Week is a webinar series showcasing the wide range of international opportunities available to students at Lund University. Throughout the week, you’ll gain inspiration and practical advice on how to pursue international experiences during your studies.
Be inspired by fellow students sharing their international journeys and get practical tips from staff on how to get started. Sign up for the webinars that interest you:
Date and time: 13, 14, 15 & 16 October | 17:00–17:45
Location: Online
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
The Search for Safety: Police Brutality, Racism and Gay and Lesbian Stereotyping and Separation in the Queer Community, 1980s-2000s
Seminar
The Crip & Queer Seminar series is hosted by the Division of Gender Studies. During the fall term of 2025, the theme of the series is Violence, representation and radical change. After the seminars, which are open to students, staff, and the general public, we serve fika in the kitchen on the fourth floor of Gamla Lungkliniken.
This presentation examines the police raids and police brutality at the club Angles in Oklahoma City and the subsequent successful ways queer people fought back. Some bars reinforced ideas of white supremacy by requiring multiple ID checks for people of color or arbitrary “dress codes.” In response, queer people of color created their own bars and other spaces for community. I also explore the history of the Black queer bar Soakie’s in Kansas City as well as the separation and stereotyping in the bars between gay men and lesbians.
Dr. Lindsey Churchill is a Professor of History in the Department of History and Geography at the University of Central Oklahoma, USA. She is the creator of the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program and directs the WGSS major. In 2015, she worked with the campus community to create the Center which includes the Women’s Research Center and the BGLTQ+ Student Center. The Center is unique to the state of Oklahoma.
Date and time: 1 October 2025, 13:15 – 15:00
Location: G:a köket, Room 107
For more information, visit this page
Why Enlargement Fails: the Spiral of Double Disappointment in EU Enlargement Policy
Lecture
Despite repeated affirmations of support for enlargement, the European Union struggles to sustain momentum in integrating new member states.
This open talk explores the reasons behind the stagnation of the enlargement process, introducing the “Double Disappointment” model – a framework that traces how trust and commitment erode across multiple analytical dimensions such as actor level, policy domain, and evidence type. Drawing on a systematic review of more than 300 scholarly articles, the research reveals how reform fatigue, symbolic compliance, and unanimity rule interact in a negative feedback loop that undermines progress. Can these cycles be broken? And what can the EU learn from its past enlargement waves?
Iveri Kekenadze Gustafsson, Doctoral Student in European Studies
Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Senior Lecturer in European Studies and Deputy Dean at the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology
Date and time: 1 October 2025, 12:15 -12:45
Location: Läsesalen at LUX, Helgonavägen 3 Lund.
For more information, visit this page
European AI Act: Transparency Before, Inside, and After the AI Black Box
Conference
The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) marks a groundbreaking shift in AI regulation, laying the foundation for a potential global standard in AI governance, risk management, and transparency. A key pillar of the Act is data transparency, ie, the ability to understand and audit training data, algorithmic processes and AI output.
For example, the Act establishes the following obligations:
The AI Act also introduces transparency requirements to ensure that users are informed when interacting with an AI system. For example, AI systems generating synthetic content (such as deepfakes) must clearly label their outputs as artificially generated. Furthermore, providers of general-purpose AI models must meet specific disclosure obligations, including transparency regarding copyrighted content used for training models.
At the same time, questions remain about how the transparency obligations in the AI Act interact with other legal frameworks, including:
Against this backdrop, this workshop—featuring leading experts, policymakers, and industry professionals—will explore how these requirements translate into real-world AI compliance strategies and what challenges remain in opening the black box while preserving innovation and competitiveness.
Date and time: October 1 2025, 09:00 -15:30
Location: Stadshallen (Lund City Hall), Lund, Sweden, and online
For more information, visit this page
CMES Seminar: Bringing in the Other Islamists – Comparing Arab Shia and Sunni Islamism(s) in the Middle East.
Seminar
Presentation by Jeroen Gunning, King’s College & Morten Valbjørn, Aarhus University
Despite being rich and nuanced, the field of Islamism studies has traditionally been narrow, in that it has primarily drawn from a Sunni-centric case universe. In recent years, growing attention has been paid to this Sunni-centrism, reflected in calls to include “the other Islamists”—namely, Shia actors. However, there has been limited reflection on why and how this inclusion matters. In our talk, we argue that expanding the case universe is not merely about adding more data—it requires a deeper understanding of the rationale, methods, and implications of such expansion.
Drawing on insights from fields such as democratization, social movement theory, and international studies, we introduce a typology outlining three ideal-typical ways in which the inclusion of Shia Islamists can enrich Islamism studies: theory-testing, theory-development, and meta-theorizing. These approaches demonstrate how Shia cases can help test existing hypotheses, generate new research puzzles, and prompt critical reflection on the field’s assumptions and boundaries. Ultimately, we invite scholars to reflect more on how knowledge is produced and how case selection shapes both the questions we ask and the answers we arrive at.
Date and time: October 2 2025, 13:15 – 15:00
Location: CMES seminar room, Finngatan 16, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Development Lunch Seminar: “Women and Peacebuilding at Community Level in Post-Genocide Rwanda: Understandings, Contributions and Challenges”
Seminar
Welcome to a Development Lunch Seminar with Rosette Nkundimfura (University of Rwanda/University of Gothenburg).
About the Development Research Lunch Series: The Development Research Lunch is a bi-weekly research seminar for all scholars interested in development research, broadly defined. The series is a collaboration between the Development Group at the Department of Economic History at Lund University, and the Development Research School (in turn a collaboration between the Universities of Lund, Gothenburg and Uppsala, and the University of Ghana). The seminar series encourages both junior and senior scholars to present, from a wide range of disciplines.
Date and time: 2 October 2025, 12:00 – 13:00
Location: This is an online seminar, hosted via Zoom. Attend by following this link.
For more information, visit this page
Lund University Academic Support Centre- Lecture on effective reading strategies
Lecture
On a number of occasions each semester, the Academic Support Centre offers lectures that all students at Lund University are welcome to attend.
The lecture about reading strategies looks at strategies that can help you to better understand and recall what you read. During the lecture you will also receive tips about note-taking strategies, and advice about how to handle long reading lists.
Date and Time: 9 October 2025, 10:00–12:00
Location: Genetikhuset, Sölvegatan 29B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
NAI Nordic Scholarship Programme 2026
Opportunities
If you are a student or researcher engaged in Africa-focused studies at a University in Sweden, Finland, Denmark or Iceland, the Nordic Scholarship Programme gives you the opportunity to visit the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala for one month.
Through the Nordic Scholarship Programme, NAI aims to contribute to building capacity in the production of knowledge about Africa, and to promote and establish relations with and between Nordic research communities.
Who can apply?
What’s in it for you?
You get access to a workspace in a shared office at the Institute for your one-month stay. The scholarship covers travel expenses, accommodation and a subsistence allowance.
Deadline: 12 October 2025
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
In this week’s digest:
AI Lund lunch seminar: Beyond AI Ethics Frameworks – Ethical Considerations and Responsibility in Public Sector AI
Seminar
Speaker: Clàudia Figueras Julián, doctoral student at Stockholm University
Moderator: Ellinor Blom Lussi, doctoral student at Lund University
Excerpt from the Abstract:
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in public sector services—from welfare agencies to higher education—there is growing concern about how to ensure these systems are developed and used responsibly (Dignum, 2019). Much of the focus to date has been on producing ethics frameworks and high-level principles such as transparency, fairness, and accountability. But what happens when these principles meet the realities of day-to-day work in the public sector?
In this talk, I present findings from my PhD research, which investigates how stakeholders in Swedish public organisations—such as developers, project managers, and educators—talk about and make sense of ethics and responsibility in their work with AI systems. Drawing on qualitative case studies, I explore how practitioners interpret ethical principles, the tensions they encounter when trying to apply them, and how responsibility is negotiated across technical, organisational, and emotional dimensions.
Date and time: 24 September 2025,12.00-13.00
Location: Online. Link by registration.
For more information, visit this page
Dilemma and legal advocacy in South Korean queer activism
Lecture
Open lecture with Yookyeong Im, Lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield
Abstract:
The South Korean LGBTQ+ movement has increasingly used legislative and litigatory means since the late 2000s. Various legal agendas and cases emerged as a key element of activism. Such a trend contrasts with how it put more energy into forming community spaces, support groups, cultural representation and awareness raising in earlier years of the movement. Many queer activists and the interested public are perceiving the law as a primary tool for remedying social discrimination based on heterosexism and gender binarism. More recently, anti-LGBTQ right-wing groups have also adopted legal soundbites as opposed to religious rhetoric. Their discourses revolve around proposed legal changes. My long-term ethnographic research explores how queer activists in Korea face and cope with dilemmas and tension between queering the status quo and institutionalizing queerness in their advocacy. Those dilemmas constitute the very ways in which queer activists engage with the law. As the juridification of politics is intensifying in many local and global social movements, the case of South Korean queer politics has much to offer in understanding the relationship between legal change and broader social justice.
Date and time: 24 September 2025, 15:15 -17:00
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Lecture on Study Skills by the Lund University Acadmeic Support Centre
Lecture
The lecture about study skills is aimed primarily at new students but might also suit more experienced students who feel a need to improve their study skills. During the lecture, you will learn about routines and planning, reading and note-taking strategies as well as how to use repetition to achieve good study results.
Date and time: 25 September 2025, 10:00–12:00
Location: Genetikhuset, Sölvegatan 29B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
FUF Internships for Spring 2026
Internships
Are you a student interested in global issues, development cooperation and Agenda 2030? In addition to your theoretical studies, do you want to gain insight into what is happening in workplaces that deal with these issues? Then you can apply for FUF’s internship program.
The programme offers a unique chance for an internship in global sustainable development, human rights and international development cooperation – with placements at organisations, authorities and companies.
With one application, students can apply for 26 internships in areas such as analysis, policy, advocacy, advocacy, communication and several thematic areas linked to Agenda 2030. Those admitted also become part ofFUF’s internship program with training sessions, network meetings and study visits that strengthen both knowledge and employability.
Application Deadline: 28 September 2025
For more information, visit this page
The Politics of Culture and ‘Development‘: Dystopian Presents and Imaginaries of the Future in the Commemoration of the Partition of 1947
Lecture
Welcome to a lecture with Prof. Navtej Purewal (SOAS University of London) about dystopian presents and imaginaries of the future in the commemoration of the partition of 1947.
This presentation will share insights from a project called Border Crossings which has focused on the commemoration of the partition of 1947 in the South Asian diaspora in the UK through the increasing presence of the cultural and creative industries and new technologies. A critical backdrop to the rise of the CCIs as a policy agenda across the UK, India and beyond will be linked to and analysed through the ways in which the politics of community, history and ‘development’ over time have interpolated with wider narratives and agendas seeking to shape, monitor, and surveil what is commemorated, what is not commemorated, and the meanings this holds for the present and future ahead.
Navtej Purewal is Professor and Deputy Director of the Decolonising Arts Institute at University of the Arts London and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London. Her research has focused on borders and bordering, intersectionality and the arts, gender and reproductive rights. She is currently India fellow for the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.
This event is a collaboration between SASNET and the Department of Sociology at Lund University.
Date and time: 26 September 2025, 13:00 – 15:00
Location: Department of Sociology, Room G133, Sandgatan 11 (House G), Lund
For more information, visit this page
The Sociology and Social Anthropology Seminar Series presents: Minna Ruckenstein, “Autonomy, Feedback Loops and Human-AI Relations“
Seminar
The Sociology and Social Anthropology Seminar Series (Allmänna seminariet) invites international and national researchers to present and discuss on-going research. Each presenter talks for about an hour, followed by about an hour’s discussion.
This talk explores four dimensions of autonomy in human–algorithm relations, showing how it can be shaped, limited, or supported through everyday interactions with AI (Savolainen & Ruckenstein, 2024). Autonomy is seen as informed choice, backed by technical and algorithmic understanding, but also influenced by emotional and habitual engagement with AI tools.
Examples include students adjusting their writing to fit AI suggestions or patients following app recommendations without consulting professionals. These feedback loops raise important questions about how autonomy develops over time and how it can be nurtured as a public value.
Date and Time: 25 September 2025 15:00 to 17:00
Location: Eden, Room 129
For more information, visit this page
This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
Sign up for Graduate School’s Potluck!
Student event
Warm Welcome to Graduate School’s Lunch Potluck 18 September between 12:00 to 13:30 at Student Lounge, Gamla kirurgen, second floor.
If you’re keen, bring a dish and come socialize with other Graduate School students. Bonus points to those who bring a dish traditional to the country they come from and/or for vegan dishes! Or maybe you want to bring a light snack or something sweet? Whatever your bike can carry, we welcome it!
The potluck will be held in the Graduate School Student Lounge in Gamla Kirurgen. This is a drop-in event; You are welcome to drop in later or leave earlier depending on your schedule.
Date and time: 18 September, 12:00-13:30
Location: Student lounge, Gamla Kirurgen
Click here to sign up!
Gendering Gangs: Critical Perspectives on Youth, Masculinities, Violence, and the Gang Ethos in Sweden
Seminar
Contrary to international research on gangs there is remarkably little focus on gendered aspects of contemporary Swedish gangs. This is an opportunity missed. Masculine ideals and homosociality are clearly central to gangs’ self-representation and practices, very much in the same way as in male-dominated far-right milieus.
In most gangsta rap, it takes mere seconds for ideas about “how to be a man” to surface, including explicit notions of women’s roles and purposes. The same applies to social media posts or casual conversations among gang members. However, despite Sweden’s long-established approach to issues of gender and sexuality in both society and academia, there is a lack of research examining gendered underpinnings of the gang ethos that can help us better to understand the reality of Swedish gang crime.
The aim of this research symposium is to facilitate a dialogue between researchers of both criminal subcultures and gender. Hosted by scholars from the Divisions of Gender, Social Anthropology and Sociology at Lund University, it is part of an effort to stimulate further research into gendered structures and cultural expressions of criminal gangs in Sweden.
Date and time: 17th September 2025, 09:00-15:00
Location: Gamla kirurgen, Room R240, Sandgatan 13, 223 50 Lund
For more information, visit this page
Embodied methods: creative possibilites in research
Workshop
Lund Social Science Methods Center together with Yafa Shanneik invites you to a workshop about creative research methods. We will deep dive into body mapping, which is an arts-based research technique, and explore how full body portraits can be used in data collection.
In this workshop Yafa Shanneik will share her experiences and knowledge about the arts-based research method body mapping and its possibilities using virtual reality (VR). Professor Shannaeik’s research employs a decolonial and participatory framework aimed at understanding the lived experience of displaced communities from the Middle East.
To initiate the session Mikaela Linell, PhD student at the department of sociology, will give a general introduction to body mapping research and its unique composition which allows for exploration of embodied perspectives and insights.
Date and time: 17th September 2025, 13:00 -15:00
Location: Sh107, Gamla köket (School of Social Work), Allhelgona Kyrkogata 8, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Gender, Families, and Wealth Accumulation Among Only Daughters
Lecture
Open lecture with Ye Liu, Reader (Associate Professor) at the Department of International Development, King’s College London, UK.
Prior literature on gender and wealth accumulation largely examines the role of families in reproducing inequalities. However, less attention has been paid to families without sons, a significant demographic, particularly within China’s one-child generation, that challenges conventional understandings of familial wealth dynamics. This study addresses this gap by proposing a new conceptual framework: families as sequential and interconnected sites and agents of wealth accumulation across the life course. It specifically applies this framework to investigate the experiences of siblingless daughters from China’s one-child generation.
Drawing upon 82 individual interviews, this research argues that families are dynamic and sequentially unfolding sites of wealth transfers, acting as both enablers and limiters of women’s wealth accumulation. This perspective reveals how family structures, resources, and roles transform and interact at various life-course stages. The findings demonstrate that siblingless daughters are significant recipients of wealth transfers—including cash, valuables, and property—from multiple givers across key life-course stages such as university education, career entry, and marriage and childbirth. This new conceptualisation not only allows for a deeper examination of persistent patriarchal constraints as they evolve and accumulate across life-course points, but also exposes niche spaces where some women negotiate and potentially subvert these constraints to accumulate wealth. Therefore, this study advances research on gender and wealth by illuminating the complex interplay of familial relationships, resources, and roles across the sequential life course.
Date and time: 17th September 2025, 15:15 -17:00
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Film Screening: My Five-Year Plan
Film Screening
This film follows three young, unmarried women between 2016-2023, Amber, Jingya and Tingting who in different ways struggle to follow their dreams, their loves, their ambitions. The Chinese state today displays increasing worries about falling nativity at the same time that traditional Chinese family values challenges and constrains many young women in China. During the course of the filming, both Amber and Jingya end up in Europe, looking for different lives. But can life in Europe really fulfill their dreams?
Karin Wegsjö the film director is the author of many short and documentary films. Her films have won prizes both in Sweden and abroad (Guldbagge, Golden Spire Award, Karlov Vary etc). Last year her film “If Everyone Just Leaves” won the Angelos Prize at GIFF and Tempo Documentary Award. My Five Year Plan premiered at the Gothenburg film festival this year and will be screened at Swedish movie theatres in the fall.
After the screening there will be a Q&A with the film director.
Limited seating available. Reserve a seat and contact Marina Svensson by 15th September.
Date and time: 17 September 2025, 17:15-19:00
Location: Asia Library, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Development Lunch Seminar: “Women Entrepreneurship, Social Enterprises and Women Empowerment”
Seminar
The Development Research Lunch is a bi-weekly research seminar for all scholars interested in development research, broadly defined. The series is a collaboration between the Development Group at the Department of Economic History at Lund University, and the Development Research School, in turn a collaboration between the Universities of Lund, Gothenburg and Uppsala, and the University of Ghana.
This week’s seminar “Women Entrepreneurship, Social Enterprises and Women Empowerment” is presented by Abigail Zaato (SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Ghana).
Date and Time: 18 September 2025 12:00 – 13:00
Location: Online
For more information, visit this page
Come by with your text! (drop-in)
Student Support
Are you writing a thesis or an essay or something else? Are you unsure of how to quote that chapter or refer to that YouTube video, or what a Works Cited list is supposed to look like? Do you want some tips on how to make your text more academic? Do you have problems finding previous research or using it in your text? Do you have writer’s block? Or do you have any other questions about academic writing, reading, or searching for literature? Come to our drop-in workshop and get help from an academic writing expert and a librarian! You can find us in the computer room SOL:B210 on the second floor of the SOL Library, every Thursday 15–16.
Date and Time: 18 September 2025 (Thursdays) 15:00–16:00
Location: Sol B210, Helgonabacken 12, 223 62 Lund
For more information, visit this page
Morning café conversation on sustainability, music, and climate action with Sam Goldscheider
Seminar
Sam Goldscheider, founder of the non-profit organisation Harmonic Progression visits Malmö Academy of Music for an open conversation about the potential role of music in the green transition.
In collaboration with the Malmö Academy of Music’s Environmental Board (miljönämnden), Sam Goldsheider will share inspiration, ideas, and foster dialogue on this highly relevant theme.
Date and Time: 22 September 2025, 10.00 – 12.00 (Drop in)
Location: Malmö Academy of Music, Ystadvägen 25, 214 45 Malmö
For more information, visit this page
EUGLOH Sustainable Development Weeks
Webinar Series
The EUGLOH Sustainable Development Weeks is a collaborative campaign that unites the 9 universities of the EUGLOH Alliance. Its goal is to raise awareness and promote action toward a sustainable future, in line with the European Sustainable Development Week.
From 24 September to 15 October 2025, join us for 4 e-conferences that will focus on key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These e-conferences will be held every Wednesday from 13:00 to 14:30 (CET) via Zoom webinars. They are open to the public and will feature experts, academics, and student associations from all 9 partner universities.
Conference Schedule:
Wed 15 Oct: SDG 13 – Climate Action
“Act on Climate” – Urgent action to combat climate change and protect our planet.
Wed 24 Sept: SDG 6 – Clean Water & Sanitation
“Water for All” – Ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for everyone.
Wed 1 Oct: SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities & Communities
“Resilient Urbanism” – Building inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities for all.
Wed 8 Oct: SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption & Production
“Responsible Consumption” – Promoting responsible consumption to reduce waste.
Deadline to register: 23 September 2025
Date and time: 24 September 2025 – 15 October 2025 (weekly every Wednesday 13:00 -14:30)
Location: Online
For more information, visit this page
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