Our events in March:
1. ‘Rethinking Internationalism’ in person conference, 19th – 20th March.
This conference showcases scholarship that critically examines ideas of hegemony and takes seriously different, at times clashing, visions and practices of internationalism and internationalist thought. The conference foregrounds research that recovers multiple strands, interpretations, and contexts of internationalism existing in tandem, at times directly competing against or forming alliances with each other.
Please book a ticket via the Birkbeck system.
2. Raphael Samuel Memorial Lecture 2026, 19th March.
Sandrine Kott (University of Geneva) delivers the Raphael Samuel Memorial Lecture 2026
In this talk, Professor Sandrine Kott shifts the focus away from the usual emphasis on the confrontation between the superpowers to look at the work of a group of international civil servants and experts. These actors, often social democrats shaped by the anti-fascism of the interwar and the war period, continued to exert significant influence in international forums well after 1945 and contributed greatly to developing spaces for dialogue between the East, the West, and the Third World.
Drawing on discussions within the United Nations Secretariat and key specialized agencies, she highlights how these actors promoted Keynesian economic thinking, national and international social justice, and international development planning as part of a broader project to secure peace through greater equality.
The passing of this generation was accompanied by the gradual abandonment of regulatory ideals aimed at greater national and global equality, paving the way for the world in which we live today.
This event will be held in room G13, Malet Street.
3. Workshop on publishing and postgraduate advice, 18th March.
‘Rethinking Internationalism’ publishing workshop for early-career researchers
Birkbeck College (Malet Street Building, B18)
Wednesday 18 March, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
This workshop is designed for early career researchers (PhD students and postdocs) who are working on any aspect of global, European and international history and related fields. How do you navigate the myriad publication possibilities and outlets? How do you decide where to position yourself, which bodies of scholarship to engage with, and how to build your identity as a scholar? Our session will feature Matthew Hilton (QMUL), Elisabeth Leake (Tufts), Stephen Legg (Nottingham) and Erez Manela (Harvard). Based on their experience as
editors of academic journals and/or book series and as academic authors, they will offer practical advice and guidance to the participants. The workshop forms part of an AHRC-funded project, ‘Rethinking Internationalism’, that runs a mentoring scheme, and we anticipate that the conversations launched at this session can be extended via mentoring arrangements.
Please register by emailing Katy Pettit (k.pettit@bbk.ac.uk) and by indicating in one or two sentences which questions or issues you would like the workshop to address.