Centre for Democratisation Studies
About us
The Centre for Democratisation Studies exists to bring together staff and students who have an interest in the ideals and practices of democracy in the contemporary world, and who wish to engage in debate and discussion about democratic theory and ways of realising democracy in a global context.
The main activity of the Centre consists of a series of seminars and lectures, which bring to Leeds prominent academics and democratic activists to give talks on contemporary political issues. These seminars are open to all students and staff, and offer an opportunity for open discussion after each lecture.
Most recently (2008/9) the Centre has run an extremely successful series of seminars on 'Democracy and Violence', the Security, Development and Democracy Seminar Series, which has discussed the ways in which violence and terrorism challenge democratic politics, and how democratic societies might respond to such challenges. The series included seminars on 'The War against Terror, Islam and Democracy', 'Nationalist Violence and Resistance in the Middle East' and on 'Gender, Violence and Democracy'.
These seminars are of particular interest to students on the MA in Democratic Studies, and provide an opportunity for students of this MA to meet leading scholars in the field of democratic studies, as well as practitioners and activists from civil society organisations.
Our aims
The Centre aims to foster collaborative research on various aspects of democracy, both theoretical and empirical, and to spread awareness of these issues through seminars and lectures open to all members of the university and the wider community.
Centre for Democratisation Studies Contact
Dr. John Schwarzmantel
Centre for Democratisation Studies
School of Politics and International Studies
Email John Schwarzmantel
Tel: 0113 343 4396
Listen again
The lectures from the Security, Development and Democracy Seminar Series 2008/9 are available to download in MP3 format. Follow the link below for information on the upcoming seminars and to download the seminars from Semester 1.