Past FLJS events

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Past FLJS events

June
19
2020
Populism, Constitutionalism, and the Rule of Law
In this live webinar, political scientist and constitutional expert Professor Daniel Smilov explores the link between the rise of populism and the rule of law in liberal democracies, with a specific focus on the experience of countries from Eastern Europe.
June
12
2020
The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty
In this, our first live webinar, a panel of experts discuss The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty, a crucial new big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism in others, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail. 
March
3
2020
Law and Contemporary Issues: The International Order Under Scrutiny
A workshop to scrutinize in-depth the transformation of the contemporary international order, as outlined in Professor Sir Adam Roberts' lecture of the previous day. Participants include Oxford Professor of Socio-Legal Studies Denis Galligan, international lawyer Mary Bartkus, social scientist Prof Ralph Schroeder, and economist Prof David Vines.
March
2
2020
Liberal International Order in Trouble
Professor Sir Adam Roberts, Senior Research Fellow in International Relations, Oxford, will analyse the contemporary decline of the liberal order, and call for a rethinking of liberal ideas and practices. The Keynote Lecture will open a workshop the following day.
February
24
2020
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
This book colloquium will discuss Shoshana Zuboff's The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, her influential account of the challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, specifically, how the commodification of personal information threatens our core values of freedom, democracy, and privacy.
February
17
2020
FLJS Films: The Oath
The Oath tells the story of two men, whose loyalty to an ideal in a world of disintegrating legal and constitutional norms tests their beliefs and threatens their liberty. As fault lines reopen between the Muslim world and the West, The Oath exposes the contradictions of the war on terror with a devastating revelation behind the double meaning of the film’s title.
February
5
2020
Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics
***Please note: Due to popular demand, this event will now be held in the Auditorium at the new time of 6pm*** A panel discussion of Jonathan Sumption's provocative bestseller Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics, which expands on arguments first laid out in his 2019 Reith Lectures.
November
13
2019
Workshop: Adam Smith as Jurist
This workshop explores the themes raised in Professor Iain McLean's lecture of 12 November: Adam Smith as Jurist.
November
12
2019
Adam Smith as Jurist
Adam Smith is world-famous as a founding father of economics, yet his work as a jurist is much less well known. Professor Iain McLean will lay out the principles of Smith’s jurisprudence and try to show Smith’s half-submerged influence on the new republic of the United States, in whose revolution he took great interest.
November
4
2019
Chinese Criminal Entrepreneurs in Canada
In this book colloquium, a panel of speakers will discuss Alex Chung’s recent book: Chinese Criminal Entrepreneurs in Canada, and explore the elusive breed of criminal entrepreneurs from China known as the Big Circle Boys (BCB).
October
28
2019
Free Speech, Good Speech, and Social Media: Self-control or legal control?
In this lecture, Professor Sir Richard Sorabji considers free speech in the age of social media, and questions whether legal restrictions on certain speech acts or self-restraint would be the most effective and appropriate means to secure freedoms
October
21
2019
FLJS Films: Peterloo
FLJS Films opens its 2019-20 programme with acclaimed director Mike Leigh’s latest film Peterloo, which, by bringing to light a little-known atrocity in Manchester 200 years ago, makes a timely comment on the repercussions and resonances of public protest.
June
19
2019
Governance of Online Speech in the Age of Platforms
This workshop will analyse the role of platforms in the governance of online news and information, and their relations with the state. After opening with a close study of the situation in China, a roundtable of experts will consider the experience of western nations in relation to online hate speech, disinformation, and political or terrorism propaganda. 
June
12
2019
State Capture: What It Is and What It Means for the Constitutional Order
At this workshop, a roundtable of experts will examine the issue of state capture and the implications for the constitutional order.
June
11
2019
The Cost to Society of Pharmaceutical Mass Tort Litigation
In this lecture, lawyer Mary Bartkus shares her firsthand experience of the international litigation of multibillion dollar claims against Big Pharma when a medication taken by millions of users worldwide is withdrawn from the market.
May
16
2019
Ranking and Regulating: Markets and Hierarchies in the Governance of Higher Education Today
Professor Colin Scott, University College Dublin, will present his findings of a comparative study of the regulation of higher education conducted in the early noughties, in which he analysed the contrasting patterns of four modes of oversight based in oversight, competition, mutuality, and contrived randomness.
May
13
2019
Populism in the Age of Brexit
The conflictual politics of Brexit – characterized by entrenched divisions between Leavers and Remainers – can be traced back to long-standing and more recent features of the British constitution that encourage discord over dialogue; tribal loyalty rather than broad consensus.
May
7
2019
FLJS Films: The Third Murder
Following the Palm D'or winning success of his latest film Shoplifters, FLJS Films is pleased to present master director Hirokazu Kore-eda's previous film, The Third Murder, his elliptical reworking of Kurosawa's Rashomon for modern times. Sir Tim Hitchens will introduce a pre-screening talk by Signt&Sound's expert in East Asian cinema Tony Rayns.
March
13
2019
The Putney Debates 2019: The Courts — Friend or Foe?
As the UK approaches its most significant constitutional change for decades, the role of the Courts is the focus of unprecedented scrutiny and debate. The Oxford Foundation for Law, Justice and Society invites you to join us for the third re-staging of the Putney Debates, as we ask: What role do we want for our judges in the 21st Century?
March
5
2019
Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action
In 2009, Elinor Olstrom became – and remains – the only woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons. Ten years on, we revisit her groundbreaking book Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action.