Contributor(s): Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Natalie Bennett, Camille Kumar, Finn Mackay, Pragna Patel, Professor Lynne Segal | With the arrival of The Women’s Library at LSE, the Gender Institute will be running a series of 'Conversations' for which audience participation is invited. Feminism is said to be both ‘over’ and a vibrant contemporary force; feminists from across generations discuss the meaning of feminism and hopes for its future. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (@y_alibhai) is a journalist and author. Natalie Bennett (@natalieben) is the leader of the Green Party. Camille Kumar is an activist on domestic violence faced by black and minority ethnic women. Finn Mackay (@Finn_Mackay) is honorary researcher with the Centre for Gender & Violence Research at the University of Bristol and an associate lecturer in sociology at the University of the West of England. Pragna Patel is the director of Southall Black Sisters. Lynne Segal (@lynne_segal) is Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at Birkbeck.

Contributor(s): Helen Clark | 2015 was the date set for achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals' targets. United Nations member states have agreed that there should be a post-2015 development agenda aimed at poverty eradication in the context of sustainable development. With negotiations on a new agenda set to begin in late 2014, Helen Clark will reflect on the inputs to the debate thus far and on how consensus can be reached on sustainable development goals. Helen Clark (@HelenClarkUNDP) became the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme in April 2009, and is the first woman to lead the organization. She is also the chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of all UN funds, programmes and departments working on development issues. Prior to her appointment with UNDP, Helen Clark served for nine years as prime minister of New Zealand, serving three successive terms from 1999 - 2008. Helen Clark came to the role of prime minister after an extensive parliamentary and ministerial career. First elected to Parliament in 1981, Helen Clark was re-elected to her multicultural Auckland constituency for the tenth time in November 2008. Earlier in her career, she chaired parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Between 1987 and 1990, she was a minister responsible for first, the portfolios of Conservation and Housing, and then Health and Labour. She was deputy prime minister between August 1989 and November 1990. From that date until December 1993 she served as deputy leader of the opposition, and then as leader of the opposition until winning the election in November 1999. Prior to entering the New Zealand Parliament, Helen Clark taught in the Political Studies Department of the University of Auckland. She graduated with a BA in 1971 and an MA with First Class Honours in 1974. She is married to Peter Davis, a professor at Auckland University.

Contributor(s): Dr Aitemad Muhanna-Matar | In this talk, Dr Aitemad Muhanna-Matar will discuss her new book, which is based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork among women and men in poor households in diverse locations in Gaza. The research was conducted in the period (2007-2008) when the prolonged closure of Gaza borders and the destruction of Gaza’s political economy caused a livelihood crisis, and the majority of Gazan households became reliant on humanitarian aid. The book explores how gender and gender relations of power in Gaza are renegotiated to develop material mechanisms of coping or resistance against the livelihood crisis, providing empirical evidence of Gazan women’s capacity to actively exercise their agency and to achieve material outcomes. Aitemad Muhanna-Matar joined the Middle East Centre in November 2012 as a visiting fellow to pursue her post-doctoral research on gender, religion and sustainable human development in the Gaza Strip. Since February 2013, Aitemad has been leading the centre’s research on ‘Women’s Political Participation across the Arab region’, funded by Oxfam GB.

Contributor(s): Professor Ed Glaeser | Ed Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard, where he also serves as director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He studies the economics of cities, and has written on a range of urban issues, including the growth of cities, segregation, crime, and housing markets. He has been particularly interested in the role that geographic proximity can play in creating knowledge and innovation. His 2011 book, Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier was shortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the year. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1992 and has been on the faculty at Harvard since then.

Contributor(s): Professor Ray Dolan, Dr Peter Hacker, Professor Nikolas Rose | What if anything, can neuroscience teach us about the mind? Does understanding the biology of the brain help illuminate human emotions, social relationships, decision making or personality? Ray Dolan is Mary Kinross Professor of Neuropsychiatry and director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL. Peter Hacker is emeritus research fellow of St John’s College at the University of Oxford. Nikolas Rose is professor of sociology at King’s College London.

Contributor(s): Daniel Alexander MP, Lord Bilimoria, Ranjan Mathai, Suhel Seth, NK Singh | During the 1990s, the state of Bihar in India failed to benefit from the acceleration in India’s economic growth and in fact, slowed compared to the 1980s, principally because of a steep decline in the already low standards of governance. Bihar governance and economic performance changed dramatically after November 2005, when the Nitish Kumar government came to power. Within a short time, major initiatives were launched in improving governance, infrastructure, education especially primary and for girl children, health and agriculture. Significant improvements in law and order presumably induced and allowed a resurgence of economic activity in construction, trade and hotels/restaurants, and this has boosted the prospects for growth and development in this state. In The New Bihar, N.K. Singh and Nicholas Stern have put together a collection of perspective essays by eminent scholars on the emerging Bihar model of development – its achievements, shortcomings and challenges. Eminent economists analyse the remarkable turnaround witnessed by Bihar – Amartya Sen provides a historical background of Bihar’s distinguished past, Kaushik Basu discusses the decline of Bihar in recent history and the turnaround since 2005. Meghnad Desai, Shankar Acharya and Arvind Virmani document how the state reversed its fortunes toward growth. Isher Judge Ahluwalia argues for a high rate of urbanisation to take the development story forward. The panel will discuss the economic developments in recent years and future prospects for growth in Bihar. Daniel Alexander is chief secretary to the Treasury and member of parliament for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey. Karan Bilimoria is a crossbench peer within the House of Lords and the founder and chairman of Cobra Beer. Ranjan Mathai is the high commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. Suhel Seth is the managing partner of Counselage India. NK Singh is a member of parliament, Rajya Sabha of the government of India.

Contributor(s): Various | First Annual CAF-LSE Conference. The Rise of the Global South: Towards an Agenda for a New Century Perhaps the most important development of the contemporary century is the emergence of the global South onto the stage of world politics. The first annual CAF-LSE conference will be held on Friday 17th January 2014 at the London School of Economics. This conference will contribute to understanding the rise of the global South by focusing on key international actors from the regions, their perspective on global issues, the role of South-South cooperation as a development paradigm, and their current impact on a changing global environment.

Contributor(s): Various | First Annual CAF-LSE Conference. The Rise of the Global South: Towards an Agenda for a New Century Perhaps the most important development of the contemporary century is the emergence of the global South onto the stage of world politics. The first annual CAF-LSE conference will be held on Friday 17th January 2014 at the London School of Economics. This conference will contribute to understanding the rise of the global South by focusing on key international actors from the regions, their perspective on global issues, the role of South-South cooperation as a development paradigm, and their current impact on a changing global environment.

Contributor(s): Various | First Annual CAF-LSE Conference. The Rise of the Global South: Towards an Agenda for a New Century Perhaps the most important development of the contemporary century is the emergence of the global South onto the stage of world politics. The first annual CAF-LSE conference will be held on Friday 17th January 2014 at the London School of Economics. This conference will contribute to understanding the rise of the global South by focusing on key international actors from the regions, their perspective on global issues, the role of South-South cooperation as a development paradigm, and their current impact on a changing global environment.

Contributor(s): Various | First Annual CAF-LSE Conference. The Rise of the Global South: Towards an Agenda for a New Century Perhaps the most important development of the contemporary century is the emergence of the global South onto the stage of world politics. The first annual CAF-LSE conference will be held on Friday 17th January 2014 at the London School of Economics. This conference will contribute to understanding the rise of the global South by focusing on key international actors from the regions, their perspective on global issues, the role of South-South cooperation as a development paradigm, and their current impact on a changing global environment.