Loughborough Institute of Advanced Studies Podcast

Enemy Feminisms: Sophie Lewis in conversation with Victoria Browne and Jilly Boyce Kay

Sophie Lewis, author of the forthcoming book Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen, and Girlbosses Against Liberation, is in conversation with Victoria Browne and Jilly Boyce Kay. The book presents a left, transfeminist takedown of the notion that feminism is an inherent political good. It identifies a wide range of feminisms – from 19th century imperialist feminism to contemporary anti-abortion and TERF feminisms - that must be understood as enemies of liberatory feminism, and fought against as such. The respondents will offer reflections on the significance of the book for contemporary left feminism, as well as for their own work on reproductive politics (Browne) and micro-fascism and 'dark feminine' dating influencers (Kay).
Sophie Lewis is a writer living in Philadelphia, who regularly writes essays for magazines including n+1, Harper’s, The Nation and The London Review of Books on subjects ranging from Marilyn Monroe to tradwives. In 2019, their op-ed explaining “How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans” appeared in The New York Times. In their capacity as a faculty member of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, Sophie teaches online courses, open to all, on feminist history, trans feminism, The Dialectic of Sex, femonationalism and more. Their most recent book is Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation (2022); Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against Family, was first published by Verso Books in 2019. Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen, and Girlbosses Against Liberation will be out in 2025 with Haymarket Books. 
Victoria Browne is Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at Loughborough, specialising in feminist philosophy and reproductive politics.  Her books include Pregnancy Without Birth: A Feminist Philosophy of Miscarriage (Bloomsbury, 2022), Vulnerability and the Politics of Care: Transdisciplinary Dialogues (Oxford University Press, 2021), and Feminism, Time and Nonlinear History (Palgrave 2014). She has published widely in journals such as Hypatia and Signs, and has been on the editorial collective for the journal Radical Philosophy since 2012. 
Jilly Boyce Kay is Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media at Loughborough University, whose research and teaching specialisms are in feminist media and cultural studies. Her first monograph Gender, Media and Voice: Communicative Injustice and Public Speech was published in 2020. Jilly's current research focuses on the rise of reactionary feminisms within popular and political culture, including 'post-liberal' feminist ideological influencers, 'dark feminine' dating influencers, and femcel communities. She is co-editor of the European Journal of Cultural Studies. 

Dr Marina Cino Pagliarello - Universities as informal diplomatic actors?

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Marina Cino Pagliarello delivers a seminar on their research - 
In today's world, 'knowledge' is key to providing the foundation for informed decision-making and creative solutions to global challenges. As universities extend their impact beyond traditional academic roles, they emerge as informal diplomatic actors, wielding their knowledge-driven initiatives to contribute to global cooperation and address shared challenges, including public health crises, climate change, and geopolitical tensions. However, very little is known about how universities achieve their diplomatic aims beyond conventional diplomacy approaches and engage in informal diplomacy through teaching and learning, research, student initiatives, and civic engagement. Within these new trends, the talk has two main aims. First, it seeks to develop a new conceptual approach to understand how higher education institutions collaborate to share and shape expert "knowledge" as informal diplomatic actors to tackle global challenges. Second, the talk will offer some empirical examples reflecting on the evolving role of universities as actors of diplomacy, considering the tensions and political challenges inherent in the current geopolitical landscape.

Dr Adam Heathcote - From diatoms to DNA: lakes as sentinels of global change

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Adam Heathcote delivers a seminar on their research - 
Although lakes make up a relatively small proportion of the Earth' surface, they are optimally situated in the landscape to serve as sentinels of natural and human-induced global change.  Lakes sit at the base of terrestrial catchments and integrate information which flows into them through stream networks or is deposited from the atmosphere. Using a variety of biological and geochemical proxies, we can use lakes to reconstruct everything from the historic and ongoing impacts of anthropogenic eutrophication to the effects of an increasingly warm planet.  I will share a few examples of classical (i.e., geochemistry, diatoms, algal pigments) and new (sediment DNA) techniques of using lake sediment archives to reconstruct environmental history and predict how these ecosystems may respond in the future.

Professor Jane Chin Davidson - Environmental Performance: Art, Science, and Trans Terminology for Ecological Justice in the Global Context

IAS Residential Fellow Professor Jane Chin Davidson delivers a seminar on their research -
Artists since the 1960s-70s have used performance to restore environmentally fragile sites and to stage activist events in locations impacted by anthropogenic climate and species devastation. An archival effort to document these works, this project seeks to develop trans-disciplinary methodologies for studying environmental art;  including the past and present activism of artists, such as for the Fruit Routes project here at the Loughborough campus, revealing the ways in which art and science can be used to engage communities at the grassroots level.
In the global context of environmental humanities, performance becomes a means to explore trans-national, trans-corporeal, and trans-human identities in the Anthropocene. A review of the 1990s work of contemporary artists in China recognizes the use of Chinese performance traditions for addressing the oncoming capitalist industrialization of the country’s landscapes. The eco-feminist discourse in China contributes to the global acknowledgment of the patriarchal regimes that have authorized extractive modes of capitalist domination over all of planetary life. 

Dr Ben Robinson - Engaging the Entire Humanitarian Clean Cooking System: Unlocking Institutional Scale

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Ben Robinson delivers a seminar on their research - 
The vast majority of the 110 million forcibly displaced people on our planet do not have access to modern, reliable, and sustainable energy systems and services. Currently, access energy across the humanitarian system relies on diesel powered generators – yet, this is not sufficient. People are forced to take matters into their own hands relying on polluting, often unsustainably sourced, and unhealthy fuels for their heating, lighting, and cooking needs. Despite the cost of renewable energy technologies falling, the uptake of these “cleaner” solutions has been low across the humanitarian system, especially when considering clean cooking technologies at the institutional scale. This seminar will explore the state of the humanitarian energy sector, the role of clean cooking, and how the institutional scale may unlock more efficient and effective pathways to the completion of UN SDG7 – sustainable energy for all.

Dr Yoel Asseraf and Professor Kalanit Efrat - Manifesting Chutzpah in business: How Chutzpadik behaviour affects advertising effectiveness and export performance

IAS Visiting Fellows Dr Yoel Asseraf and Professor Kalanit Efrat deliver a seminar on their research - 
Chutzpah helps you stand out. This is particularly evident in advertising (through differentiation), and exporting (increasingly predicated on entrepreneurship). Yet, knowledge of Chutzpadik behavior in business in general, and advertising and exporting in particular, is fragmented. We present the results of studies that a) define and delineate Chutzpadik behaviour in business, and b) examine its consequences for advertising effectiveness and export performance. Three sets of in-depth interviews with advertising executives, general public, and export managers reveal three Chutzpadik dimensions: norm violation, novelty, and audacity. A dyadic survey of advertising executives and general audience confirms the existence of the three dimensions of Chutzpadik behaviour in advertising, and reveals that these differentially affect advertising effectiveness. A second survey with export managers reveals that Chutzpadik behaviour plays a crucial role in market-driven firms facing high levels of competitive dynamism. A third survey with export managers uncovers that Chutzpah is less important for market-driving firms. 

Dr Jonny Hansen - Electric Vehicle (EV) Tribology & Technology

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Jonny Hansen delivers a seminar on their research - 
This talk explores the key role of tribology in advancing electric vehicle (EV) mobility. Emphasizing the intricate connection between the electrical and lubrication regimes in EV bearing contacts, the presentation highlights the challenges posed by electrified conditions to the traditionally considered relative safety of the elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) regime.
Accurate assessments of the EHL to mixed lubrication (ML) transition are urgently needed. However, conventional methods like Tallian’s lambda ratio prove inadequate, potentially leading to false indications of ML and the absence of electric arcing caused by 'bearing currents.'
To address these issues, Dr Hansen introduces Λ*, a novel film parameter designed for a more precise assessment of the lubrication regimes. This parameter aids in evaluating under which conditions electric arcing may occur and when the lubricant film is sufficiently thick for electrical insulation.
The presentation then extends its focus to cover EV drivetrain technology in the context of the proposed film parameter and concludes by highlighting current design mitigation strategies for EVs, along with prospects for further research.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Dr Daniel Boateng - Being active in Ghana: A CLiMB Ghana study

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Daniel Boateng delivers a seminar on their research - 
The Centre for Lifestyle Medicine and Behaviour (CLiMB) is collaborating with colleagues from institutions in Ghana (CLiMB-Ghana), to conduct a descriptive cross-sectional study in six regions of Ghana, with two regions each selected from the southern, middle, and northern parts of Ghana. In 2022, 19% and 25% of the adult male and female populations respectively, in Ghana were physically inactive. However, efforts to address physical inactivity in the population lags behind other health priorities. Using a survey, the study aims to assess a range of feasible physical activities available to Ghanaians and evaluate adults understanding, attitudes, and behavioural patterns towards physical activity. Using a multistage sampling design ~1000 adults residing in selected study sites in Ghana will be invited to participate.  Findings will provide important information  for the implementation of future physical activity interventions in Ghana, as well as for other African countries.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias