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Politics, Re-Imagined is a series by OxPol, the official blog of the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) at the University of Oxford. It explores tangible and sustainable solutions to the most pressing challenges facing humanity today.
How can we ensure that displaced people live in safety and dignity and create a policy that is sustainable at the same time? In this episode, we speak to Dr. Alexander Betts, the Leopold Muller Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the Refugee Studies Centre, and the Director of the Refugee Economies Programme, both at the University of Oxford. Alexander has written extensively on the political economy of refugee protection — highlighting how displaced people can access and contribute to economies worldwide.
As we witness a rise in radical right politics in Europe and beyond, OxPol’s host Cassandra van Douveren speaks to Dr. Vicente Valentim, a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. Vicente’s work focusses on the role of social norms in normalising the expression of views and behaviours associated with authoritarianism. Join us as we discuss his upcoming book, The Normalisation of the Radical Right: A Norms Theory of Political Supply and Demand (forthcoming: September 2024), pathways to restore democratic norms and Vicente’s hopes for the future.
How can media organisations reach those who feel the news is not for them? And is our current age of fake news fundamentally different from the past? Tune in as OxPol’s host Cassandra van Douveren speaks to Dr. Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, the Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and a Professor of Political Communication at the University of Oxford to discuss these questions.
Rasmus’ work focusses on the changing role of the news and media in our societies. His recent book, Avoiding the News: Reluctant Audiences for Journalism (2023), written with Benjamin Toff and Ruth Palmer, explores why particular audiences are reluctant to follow the news and how this can be addressed. He has also written award-winning books on the growing influence of technology platforms over the media (The Power of Platforms), and on the significance of personalised political communication in American elections (Ground Wars), as well as the annual Reuters Institute Digital News Report.