Knowledge Centre

Global Labour Governance: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Concerns over globalisation have acquired fresh prominence in the UK and elsewhere over recent months. One focal point is big, multi-national businesses and their tax arrangements but globalisation has consequences beyond how much money Starbucks, Google and Amazon pay into the Exchequer. Another, highlighted by the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, is the conditions under which inexpensive consumer goods are manufactured. Professor Paul Marginson explains why we need to explore globalisation’s wider impact on the workforce and the responses of trade unions, governments, NGOs, international organisations and civil society.

Transgender Studies And
The ‘C’ Word

The enthusiasm that has fuelled the making of transgender studies has been confined mainly to North American and European academic circles.

Dr Howard Chiang discusses his work on Chinese transgender studies: emerging critical studies and thought on gender and sexuality in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.

We Have The Means To Change The World For The Better

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
[Part of the Global University Summit series].

Do Digital Resources Allow Us To Ask New Questions About The Past?

As much as historians will always seek out an artefact and archaeologists will, probably, always need plumb bobs there’s no denying the impact that technologies like tomography have had in helping us all to better understand the past. Dr Clare Rowan, Professor Beat Kümin and David Beck explain how digital resources have helped them explore, understand and tell new stories about our past.

Sound Knowledge: Professor
Jan Aart Scholte

Working in the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation at the University of Warwick, Professor Jan Aart Scholte focusses his work on democratic participation, democratic accountability and the impact globalisation may be having on both. He discusses his passions, concerns and his role as the academic lead for Warwick’s cross-departmental research on global governance.

The Rules That Govern The World (And Why They Don't Look Like They Used To)

In 2006, Leonardo DiCaprio starred in Blood Diamond. The film ends referencing the Kimberley Process - a non-traditional agreement designed to solve the problem of conflict, or 'blood', diamonds. The process is among a growing number of forms of non-traditional global governance.

Dr James Harrison is exploring this emerging new world order.

Women, Girls and the Arab Spring

Are Arab women “the victims of eternal Arab-Islamic patriarchy?” and, despite their heavy involvement in the 'Arab Spring', are they facing a “rollback [of] their rights and under-representation in emerging political institutions?”

Dr Nicola Pratt, joint editor of Women and War in the Middle East, looks at the West’s portrayal of the Arab Spring, and its consequences, with a focus on the women involved in, and affected by, the uprisings.

Recommended Reading
	Justice For Kenya’s Colonial Torture Victims It has been fifty years since the British left Kenya, in December 1963. It has taken all of that time for us to come to terms with our dark colonial past in what was once thought of as the ‘White Man’s Country’ in East Africa. The British government has today agreed to pay compensation to more than 5,000 Kenyans who were tortured and abused during the Mau Mau rebellion. David M Anderson, Professor of African History, writes.
	Rome Comes Back To The Provinces More than 250 items are being exhibited in The Life and Death of Pompeii and Herculaneum at The British Museum, with Romanophiles of all ages having the chance to explore a wealth of material from the two Roman towns. Dr Alison Cooley explains why the exhibition is a great opportunity for students, families and academics to immerse themselves in the daily life of the Roman world.
	Who’s In Charge? Global Leadership In Times of Crises The global community will be looking to the G8 Summit at Lough Erne for leadership. But are these the right people to seek leadership from? What can they do? And who is really in charge during a time of global crisis? Research by Dr Alexandra Homolar and members of the CLiGG project, has begun to explore the idea of leadership in times of crises.
	The Road From Damascus Syria’s capital and second largest city, Damascus, is amongst the oldest cities on Earth and lays claim to being the oldest, continually inhabited city in the world. As world leaders engage with the future of Syria and Damascus, Professor Kevin Butcher takes a look at the city’s past – from ancient history through to its time under Roman occupation.