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The Engagement of Theory

The theory of politics is sometimes seen as abstract, ivory-tower thinking, detached from reality. But the challenges that face Britain today—constitutional reform, possible secession by Scotland, our relation to the authorities in Brussels and in Strasbourg, and our views about immigration and financial equity—all involve fundamental concepts and values. And it is the mission of political theorists to think about how those values and concepts affect the issues that face our politicians and voters. So an Oxford based team has been assembled to present some of our latest thinking on these topics, to show how theory affects practice and how practice generates the problems that engage and fascinate our theorists. This podcast is a recording of a Department of Politics & International Relations Alumni event that took place in the Manor Road Building, University of Oxford, on Saturday 30 November 2013.

# Episode Title Description People Date
5 Creative Commons Making Sense on Immigration David Miller discusses the practical dilemmas of immigration policy. David Miller, Stephen Whitefield 04 Apr 2014
4 Creative Commons Reparations and the End of Empire Daniel Butt talks about the practicalities of the paying of reparations for acts committed in the decline of Empire Daniel Butt, Elizabeth Frazer 04 Apr 2014
3 Creative Commons The growing clamour for a codified constitution of the UK (or what is left after Scotland leaves) Iain McLean asks for a rethink of the structure of the law of the United Kingdom after A.V. Dicey Iain McLean, Scot Peterson 04 Apr 2014
2 Creative Commons Prisoners, Felons, and the Right to Vote Jeremy Waldron talks about what the right to vote is, and isn't, and how it applies to those in the penal system Jeremy Waldron, Elizabeth Frazer 04 Apr 2014
1 Creative Commons The eccentric genius of Lewis Carroll, the pioneer mathematician of voting Iain McLean talks about his early research into the pioneering work on the mathematics of voting undertaken by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll Iain McLean 04 Apr 2014