Centre for Contemporary Political Theory

Four students sat on the grass by the Sign of Art statue, with University buildings in the background

Boost your career with a postgraduate degree 🎓

Explore postgraduate study at Leeds at our Virtual Open Day on 29 November!

Find out about funding, careers, accommodation, and what life’s really like as a postgrad student.

📅 Save the date and book your spot now!
🔗 https://bit.ly/4ntL8ry

#Fellowships: Academy in Exile invites 5 international scholars at risk for a 12-month fellowship. The fellowship opens up the opportunity to pursue a career in the humanities, social sciences, or law in a secure environment.
@mellon.org
📍KWI Essen/ TU Dortmund
⏱️15 Nov 25
🔗 tinyurl.com/mwv3amzb

“Earth’s destruction is becoming our single biggest achievement.  Beyond inventions, works of art, music, and even trips to the moon, it is the annihilation of climate and biosphere which will be our ultimate legacy as a species”

From my book IN THE GRIP OF NECROCAPITALISM

The Ru of Law: how legal systems, principles, and aesthetics are queered and ‘dragged up’ in RuPaul’s Drag Race This paper explores the jurisprudential concepts of the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race (RPDR): how legal norms and aesthetics are intrinsic to the show’s structure, and how in turn R...

Another episode of Drag Race UK tonight. And of course, there's more Dragula Titans this week too. I wonder if anyone has ever written about whether drag reality TV shows are miniature legal systems, and applied queer theory to RPDR? HMMMMM?!??

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Light Art of a lit-up peacock that celebrates Diwali near the Marjorie and Arnold Ziff Building, University of Leeds.

Colourful light Art projection on to Leeds Civic Hall in Millenium Square

Light art installation of an inflatable lit-up fox in front of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Leeds City Centre

Light art projection of cut up kashmiri textiles projected on to the Laidlaw Library, University of Leeds.

What a fantastic evening at @lightnightleeds.bsky.social yesterday — full of striking, creative, and fun installations 💡

If you missed it, there’s still time to catch it tonight from 6–10pm.

Check out some of the impressive light displays on campus and across the city 👇
www.lightnightleeds.co.uk

COP30 in Belém: Leadership between two worlds Professor Richard Beardsworth continues his analysis of expectations for COP30 in Belém, as he navigates leadership between two realms, one…

📖 Leeds Professor Richard Beardsworth states how #COP30 Brazil could help define the next decade of climate governance and argues Belém needs a disciplined package that turns headline ambition into executable policy.

👉 Read the full blog here: policyleeds.medium.com/cop30-in-bel...

There is still time to send your paper and panel proposals for the feminist theory section at the next ECPG in Newcastle. Have a look at the section description ⬇️

Image of person admiring art light installation of a lit up flower. Text on graphic says: Light Night Leeds at the University of Leeds 22-23 October Free Discover what's on - openup.leeds.ac.uk

Leeds’ annual arts and light festival @lightnightleeds.bsky.social will be taking place across Leeds City Centre on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 October!

Find out more ➡ www.lightnightleeds.co.uk

This year there will be 16 installations and activities held on campus, here's some more information 👇

📢We are delighted to announce that we have kicked off todays event with our Contemporary Research on International Political Theory Working Group !

👉We are joined by Prof Richard Jackson for a PG masterclass on Pacifism and critical international political theory in a time of genocide and war.

Leila Aboulela shares PEN Pinter Prize 2025 with Stella Gaitano - News & Events - English PEN Stella Gaitano is named Writer of Courage 2025 by Leila Aboulela, PEN Pinter Prize 2025 winner.

Congratulations to Leila Aboulela and Stella Gaitano, two writers honored with @englishpen.bsky.social's 2025 #PENPinterPrize. Aboulela named Gaitano as the 2025 Writer of Courage for Gaitano's active defense of freedom of expression. Read about their work: www.englishpen.org/posts/campai...

‘New reality’ as world reaches first climate tipping point Researchers in Leeds have joined experts from across the world in warning that Earth is reaching the first of many climate tipping points that will cause catastrophic harm without urgent action.

📢 OUT NOW: Global Tipping Points Report 2025 📢
💡 Researchers in Leeds - inc @viktoriaspaiser.bsky.social - have joined experts across the world warning Earth is reaching the first of many climate #TippingPoints that will cause catastrophic harm without urgent action www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article...

‘I deserve to heal’: freed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah on his prison ordeal and next steps The campaigner, who spent more than a decade in an Egyptian ‘vortex of incarceration’, wants to join his son in the UK while he reflects on the fight for freedom

"Asked what freedom felt like, [Alaa] said: “It is overwhelming. It is also comfortable and natural, and I am immediately fitting in with them, including witnessing three family fights in two days. The usual stuff."

Don't miss this Guardian interview: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Our wonderful seminar series starts today at SOAS with Esmat Elhalaby, also Mai Taha & Nivi Manchanda as discussants 🫶

Students studying

🎓 Apply now for ESRC White Rose DTP PhD studentships commencing Oct 26 @universityofleeds.bsky.social

Application deadline: 21 Jan 2026
Open to UK & international applicants.
Funding includes fees + stipend.
Specialist awards available.
👉 Further info: bit.ly/471gXBM

#Funding #PhD #Studentships

We are delighted to launch this year’s Pre-Doctoral Mentoring Scheme: ccpt.leeds.ac.uk/we-are-delig... The scheme aims to support candidates in pursuit of scholarship funding for doctoral study. Please share widely

We are delighted to launch this year’s Pre-Doctoral Mentoring Scheme: ccpt.leeds.ac.uk/we-are-delig... The scheme aims to support candidates in pursuit of scholarship funding for doctoral study. Please share widely

Kimberly Hutchings headshot

Announcing our #BISA2026 conference keynote as leading scholar Professor Kimberly Hutchings @qmpoliticsir.bsky.social 🎉

The title will be 'Violence and the Meaning of Peace’ and we are very excited! 🌟

Find out more 👉 buff.ly/c46i8zp

@simonrushton.bsky.social @visitbrighton.bsky.social

Person looking at a computer screen

🚨 New MSc: AI Ethics & Society

🤖💻AI is reshaping our world - but who decides how it's used?

📲Tackle real-world challenges & develop expertise in ethical, responsible AI. Designed for thinkers, changemakers & tech-aware professionals.

Apply now for Oct 2026 start👉 bit.ly/3VTE8J5
#ethicalAI #MSc

A crowd of people at a demonstration, a child on someone's shoulders is holding up a display board with scribbles on - text says University of Leeds and Leeds Institute for Societal Futures

💥 Today is the day 💥

🎉 Join us at our Leeds Institute for Societal Futures launch event - we want to know what YOU think are the biggest challenges to address in our 4 challenge areas.

🕒 3–5pm | 📍Great Hall, University of Leeds

🎫 Register bit.ly/46dcU54

@universityofleeds.bsky.social

1-3 July 2026. 13th European Workshops in International Studies. Izmir University of Economics, Turkey.

EWIS 2026 local hosts. 1-3 July 2026. 13th European Workshops in International Studies. Izmir University of Economics, Turkey. Serhun Al. Izmir University of Economics. Local Organizer. Umut Can Adisönmez. Izmir University of Economics. Programme Co-Chair.

📣 The call for workshop proposals for #EWIS2026 in Izmir is now open!

🗓️ Deadline: 24 November 2025

🔗 More info here: buff.ly/HG9Jyqu

What Could Mamdani’s New York Look Like? Can New Yorkers have nice things? With a Mamdani mayoralty almost in reach, it seems tantalizingly possible—but what kinds of nice things should we have? On Tuesday, October 14, join n+1 and the Cente...

Can New Yorkers have nice things? On October 14, join n+1 and the Center for Architecture for a conversation about the architecture and built environment of 21st-century urban social democracy.
www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

A thoughtful review of The Spectre of Capitalism in the journal Capital and Class
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

University of Leeds Centre for Contemporary Political Theory (CCPT) Research Events 2025/26 Semester 1 Monday, 27th October Research Seminar Justifying Human Rights as the Rights of Humans Dr Jesse Tomalty (Bergen) and Dr Kerri Woods (Leeds) 4–5.30pm, Fine Art Building, Seminar Room 2.09 Monday, 17th November Research Seminar Solidarity, Migration and Imagining Otherwise at Europe’s Borders Dr Gemma Bird (Liverpool) 4–5.30pm, Fine Art Building, Seminar Room 2.09 Monday 1st December Research Seminar From Boundary-Making to Domination: Integrating Wittgenstein and Bourdieu to Explain International Hierarchy Hengfeng Zhao (Leeds) 4–5.30pm, Fine Art Building, Seminar Room 2.09 Please contact James Souter with any queries (J.Souter@leeds.ac.uk)

CCPT's programme of events for the coming term is now out! We're looking forward to the discussions at our upcoming research seminars.

A crowd of people at a demonstration, a child on someone's shoulders is holding up a display board with scribbles on - text says University of Leeds and Leeds Institute for Societal Futures

Join us - launch event of Leeds Institute for Societal Futures. Bringing key stakeholders together to find solutions to some of society's most urgent challenges.

🗓️29/9/25, 3-5pm
📍University of Leeds
🔗Register bit.ly/46dcU54

#Leeds #InstituteForSocietalFutures #LISF

societal.leeds.ac.uk

We are sailing to Gaza. Here’s why | David Adler Governments have failed the people of Gaza. Now, ordinary people are taking humanitarian matters into their own hands – and putting their lives on the line

From David Adler aboard the Sumud Flotilla on why he and others are sailing to Gaza:

UN "member-states continue to arm, aid, and abet the state of Israel in its expanding campaign of destruction, eviction, and annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Sign up below for tickets to Professor Viktoria Spaiser's inaugural lecture!

"Facing Accelerating Climate Change Threat: Exploring Future Trajectories, Surveying the Past and the Present"

🗓️ Wed 15 Oct | 🕓 16:00–17:00
📍 Liberty Building, University of Leeds

www.tickettailor.com/events/fssev...

Conference social media card with the BISA logo, #BISA2026, Brighton, UK, 3-5 June, submission deadline: 3 November, conference.bisa.ac.uk

🎉 We are OPEN now for abstract, roundtable and panel submissions for #BISA2026 🎉

'Is International Studies ready for what comes next? New thinking, new directions' 🌎

Submit here! 👉 buff.ly/kK9oIlM

@visitbrighton.bsky.social @simonrushton.bsky.social @julietdryden.bsky.social

Join us for the inaugural lecture of Professor @viktoriaspaiser.bsky.social
Facing Accelerating Climate Change Threat
🗓️ 16:00–17:00, Wed 15 Oct
📍 Liberty Building, Uni of Leeds
Explore climate tipping points & the power of collective action. All welcome!
www.tickettailor.com/events/fssev...

Coming soon!

Ioannis Ktistakis, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights, will speak at our famous annual Liberty Lecture, on the subject of climate change and human rights School of Law!

⏰ 5-6:30pm
🗓️ 1st October
📍 School of Law, Leeds

For tickets and more 👇
tinyurl.com/3cjdvcrh

Feminist Theory: Between Hope and Disappointment European Conference on Politics and Gender, 15 – 17 June 2026, Newcastle University

🌸 #ECPG26 @ecprgender.bsky.social Section seeking Papers ⤵️
🌦️ Feminist Theory: Between Hope and Disappointment
🪑 @corinnepainter.bsky.social @mmrovlje.bsky.social @deryaozkaya.bsky.social
⌛👇 7 Nov buff.ly/3C2Xwn2

#Gender #Governance #PoliticalTheory #Sociology #Feminism