糖心TV

PAIS Teaching Fellow has had an article published in Critical Studies on Terrorism. The paper is co-authored with Raquel da Silva, a colleague from the University of Birmingham, and it contributes to current debates about everyday narratives of security.

Specifically, the article explores how members of the public answer the question ‘Why do British citizens join the conflict in Syria’ on social media sites and in response to online news articles. The authors argue that online comments are important in producing the discursive environment for making sense of British foreign fighters and what should be done in response to them.

One of the major findings is that there is a tendency to view British foreign fighters as being purely motivated by religion, and there is also a belief that British foreign fighters should be responded to through exceptional measures.

The paper discusses the implications of such perceptions, and the authors highlight how problematic misconceptions about Islam and Muslims are not just disseminated through elite and media discourse, but through everyday narratives published by members of the public online.

The article can be viewed at

 Annie Machon

“MI5: Spies, Lies and Whistle-blowers"

Thursday 3rd November

5.15 in OC1.05 – Oculus - New Teaching Building

As a former intelligence officer with MI5, Annie Machon has a rare perspective on the inner workings of governments, intelligence agencies and the media, as well as the wider implications of calls for increased openness and accountability in public and private sectors. In her lecture, Annie will consider the place of Whistle-blowers and explore the tensions between democracy, security and intelligence.

, Associate Professor in PAIS, recently gave evidence to the parliament of the Spanish region of Extremadura based on his research on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - published most recently as a book with and an article in .

Speaking via videolink to the special committee investigating the effects of TTIP for the region of Extremadura, he stressed that the economic benefits of the agreement were overblown, that the agreement was unlikely to lead to the protection of the region's denominations of origin in the US and that its likely effects were predominantly to encourage subtle deregulation.

To see a video of the session (with Gabriel's intervention starting around 2:05:33), follow this link: (in Spanish)

PAIS PhD candidate, Alexandra Dobra, has been selected as a finalist to present her innovative idea at the “Falling Walls Lab Finale” in Berlin - "The brightest minds on the planet” BBC - presided by the Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Foundation.

Alexandra’s innovative idea, the "High-Performance Corporate DNA Transformation Model” aims to break the walls of unethical corporate behaviour. Following 2007, investment banks have been under the spotlight for unethical corporate behaviour. They responded by implementing new core control systems, organisational structures and (formal) corporate cultures. Nine years later, these investment banks continue to incur damages due to unethical corporate behaviour and to drive down social value. So how can this be fixed? The "High-Performance Corporate DNA Transformation Model”, that Alexandra has developed as part of her PhD thesis, answers how this can be fixed. The "High-Performance Corporate DNA Transformation Model” shall be commercialised by Swiss Economics, a leading independent consulting company with proven experience in supporting companies, associations and public authorities in regulated industries.

Falling Walls is a unique international annual gathering of leaders from science, business, government, and the arts. Inspired by the peaceful fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, the question of every Falling Walls meeting is: Which are the next walls to fall - in science and society? The meetings are acclaimed for the high-level speakers, the brevity of presentations, the diversity of issues and the amicable open atmosphere. The Falling Walls Foundation, a charity, is generously supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Association, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Berlin Senate, and numerous other acclaimed academic institutions, foundations, companies, non–governmental institutions and individuals.

Many congratulations, Alexandra!

Dr. has been awarded a grant from the RCUK Global Challenges Research Fund (AHRC-ESRC-NERC) for a project on 'Why We Disagree About Resilience'.

The project will involve working on urban resilience with partners across several disciplines in Cape Town, Nairobi and Manilla. The funding will further strengthen PAIS's work on .