Loughborough International Relations, Politics and History

New from 'What Our Students Say': James, who graduated with a degree in History in 2025.

'I feel I’ve really grown as a person, thanks to my time at the University. ... If you’re considering Loughborough, my only advice is YES!'

lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/what-our-students-say/james-jessop

The BBC's First Homosexual | LU Arts Multi-award-winning writer Dr Stephen M Hornby's play based on the transcript of a banned BBC documentary on homosexuality in 1954.

Watched this brilliant play based on the research that our @elhistorioso.bsky.social carried out in the #BBC archives. It tells about #LGBTQ+ people in 1950s England and the bigotry that dominated British society www.lboro.ac.uk/arts/whats-o... @lborouniversity.bsky.social @irph.bsky.social

Children (and animals) in Nozick’s political philosophy According to Susan Moller Okin, Robert Nozick’s libertarianism leads to a matriarchal dystopia: mothers own their children and may dispose of them as they please. This challenge rests on the claim ...

New paper: 'Children (and animals) in Nozick's political philosophy', which I co-authored with Arabella Fisher, in @crispp.bsky.social.

It's part of a special issue marking (over) 50 years of Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia, edited by Fabian Wendt.

Available open access below.

📣 Next month, come along to Clair Quentin's (@clairq.bsky.social) book launch and learn the answer to the question: "Is Capital Alive?", with @joshmilburn.bsky.social and Chandni Dwarkasing

More details below 👇

This week, over 150 Part C students presented at the IRPH Dissertation Conference. Attached are just four title slides (from Mia Rose Tanswell, Niam Bhattacharya, Joshua Ryan, and Amelia Henley) giving a tiny sample of the range of topics we explored together.

Ontological (in)security after truth: Disinformation as affective technology - Ali Bilgic, 2026 The significance of this article lies in its reconceptualisation of disinformation as not only a challenge to truth but an affective force that can be examined ...

New from IRPH's Professor Ali Bilgic: 'Ontological (in)security after truth: Disinformation as affective technology', just published in Cooperation and Conflict.

Nice to see this article published in International Review of Social History @irsh-iisg.bsky.social. Written with my @irph.bsky.social colleague Rakesh Ankit. 'Anarchism and the "Fascination with Empire": George Woodcock in India, 1964-1985'.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Your Voice, Your Impact.

These are some of the major changes that we in IRPH have made this year in response to student feedback.

Publication alert!

Take a look at the newly published Oxford University Press book Why Political Theory Needs Social Science, edited by Alice Baderin and David Miller. Chapter 9, 'Using Interviews in the Political Philosophy of Resistance', is by IRPH's Dr Guy Aitchison.

New in Loughborough's 'What our students say' series: Andres Arcones, who graduated in 2025, tells us about his experiences studying for a BA in History at Loughborough.

'Learning with academic experts who have a real passion and curiosity for their subject was incredibly cool.'

What Thucydides Could Really Teach Trump The Trump administration’s embrace of coercion, transactional alliance politics and performative displays of strength is often defended as hard-headed realism in an unforgiving international system...

What Thucydides Could Really Teach Trump

“Athens did not fall because it lacked power; power changed Athens”

#realism #geopolitics #Thucydides #War #restraint #Pericles #power #strategy #alliances #Trump #narrative #nato #hubris #melos

I'll be presenting at this conference on animals and philosophy in Reading in May. You can register to attend for free at the link below!

May interest someone wanting to work with the Anarchism Research Group (@anarchismresgroup.bsky.social). IRPH is also the home of the journal Anarchist Studies. @anarchiststudies.bsky.social

The UK Ministry of Defence, “Low-Carbon Warfare,” and the struggle to construct novel sociotechnical imaginaries of future war Why do defence organizations take some imaginaries of future warfare more seriously than others? In this article, we use the concept of “sociotechnical imaginaries” to chart the struggle of a vangu...

IRPH's Dr Duncan Depledge, Dr Tamiris Santos (@tamispsantos.bsky.social), and Dr Tom Hobson have a paper in Contemporary Security Policy's latest issue. You can read 'The UK Ministry of Defence, “Low-Carbon Warfare,” and the struggle to construct novel sociotechnical imaginaries of future war' now.

💷👇Funding opportunity for doctoral research in my department. Get in touch if you're interested in submitting a proposal around #anarchism, #pacifism and/or #nonviolence.

Another great entry in the 'What Our Students Say' series. Josh McWilliams graduated with a degree in History and Politics in 2025.

'I knew it right away that Loughborough was featuring in my university applications.'

PhD proposals wanted for the annual scholarship competition at @lborouniversity.bsky.social School of Social Sciences and Humanities! Looking forward to receiving proposals on #peace and #security, internal #conflicts, #PVE, particularly but not exclusively with a focus on #WestAfrica.

Interested in doing a PhD? See below for an upcoming opportunity in my department!

I'd be happy to support potential applicants working in my research areas, including (but not limited to) animals in moral and political philosophy.

Applications are open for PhD studentships in the School of Social Sciences and the Humanities, of which IRPH is a part. Deadline: 12 March.

Open call: www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgr...

Call for UK applicants from a Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic background: www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgr...

What Thucydides Could Really Teach Trump The Trump administration’s embrace of coercion, transactional alliance politics and performative displays of strength is often defended as hard-headed realism in an unforgiving international system...

Trump and his aides invoke frequently Thucydides when they discuss American foreign policy, but misunderstand or misrepresent his words. In a new paper, IRPH's Dr Tom Waldman (Senior Lecturer in Security Studies) asks what Thucydides could REALLY teach Trump.

Loughborough marks Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 On Tuesday 27 January, Loughborough University is hosting two events for staff and students who wish to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. These events aim to educate, raise awareness, and allow time to ref...

Last week, Loughborough University marked Holocaust Memorial Day. This included IRPH's Dr Paul Maddrell delivering a lecture called 'The Preventability of the Holocaust'.

You can read more about Holocaust Memorial Day at Loughborough below.

Pragya's research was supervised by IRPH's Professor Catherine Armstrong, IRPH's Dr Christina Oelgemoller, and, in the early stages of the project, by our former IRPH colleague Dr Hannah Partis-Jennings.

Huge congratulations to IRPH's Pragya Rai, who passed her doctoral viva with modest corrections. Congratulations Dr Rai!

Pragya's thesis, The Role of Misogyny in Far-Right Violent Extremist Discourse, was examined by Professor Caron Gentry (Lancaster) and Dr Victoria Browne (IRPH).

I’m thrilled to announce that I have been awarded a Research Project Grant by the Leverhulme Trust for the project, ‘The Right to Liveability: An Ethical Assessment'. The £222,648 project will beg... I’m thrilled to announce that I have been awarded a Research Project Grant by the Leverhulme Trust for the project, ‘The Right to Liveability: An Ethical Assessment'. The £222,648 project will begin o...

We're very happy to share that IRPH's Dr Guy Aitchison has been awarded a grant by the Leverhulme Trust for ‘The Right to Liveability: An Ethical Assessment'. The three-year, £222,648 project begins on 1 July 2026.

He will be recruiting a Research Assistant to work on the project soon!

Moral people should support ‘lab-grown’ meat, even if they reject conventional meat – new ethics research suggests People who care deeply about animals, the environment and human wellbeing may have good moral reasons to support cultivated meat, according to new research.

New from @lboropr.bsky.social: 'Moral people should support "lab-grown" meat, even if they reject conventional meat – new ethics research suggests', covering my recent work on cultivated meat and virtue ethics!

www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre...

IRPH's Prakash Rote recently co-convened a panel at NorDev25 in Oslo, Norway, called Problematising Solidarity, Social Justice and Sustainability.

Prakash's paper was 'A vernacular understanding of terrorism from the global south'. A journal special issue is underway; watch this space!

YouTube video by Loughborough University Why study International Security at Loughborough University?

Why study International Security at Loughborough?

A new informational video (featuring @alexchristoy.bsky.social, @giuliapiccolino.bsky.social, and others!) is now live on @lborouniversity.bsky.social's YouTube channel.

Is Capital alive? Panel discussion and book launch featuring Clair Quentin, Chandni Dwarkasing and Josh Milburn

In March, I'm going to be visiting the London campus of Loughborough University to speak at an event called 'Is Capital Alive?' to mark the release of a new book from my law colleague Clair Quentin.

If you'd like to join us, the details are below!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/is-capital...

I'm pleased to share that I've won a pump-priming grant from CARMA - Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub. I'll be working with Jack Waverley and Victoria Stephens (both of the University of Manchester) to explore prospects for cellular agriculture in the UK fashion industry.