By Saira Afzal
On 14 October, LSE’s President and Vice-Chancellor Larry Kramer delivered his inaugural lecture, addressing students, staff, and the public in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre. The event was chaired by Professor Conor Gearty of LSE Law School. During the lecture, Professor Kramer outlined five challenges that the social sciences face in today’s world, and proposed ways to address them.
The five challenges Professor Kramer highlighted were “the challenges of popular government, of political economy, of sustainability, of inequality, and of new technologies”. Professor Kramer emphasised that his goal was not to offer solutions to these problems, but to lay out his understanding of the challenges academic institutions ought to tackle in the 21st century.
Regarding popular government, Professor Kramer explained that democracy’s main challenge lies in the loss of popular government, one which is governed by the will of the people and can be improved within the mechanisms of the system. He argued that declining faith in democracy is the result of a collapse of shared political identity; ideological polarisation, inequality, lack of education, and disenfranchisement are but a few of the causes for declining trust in governments.
On inequality, Professor Kramer likened the problem to cancer, in that it consists of many different problems that all require separate solutions. He suggested reframing inequality as “an essential aspect of other problems”, emphasising the need to address it within the context of broader issues we attempt to solve. Professor Kramer’s suggestion to reframe inequality as divisible problems was the overarching theme throughout his inaugural lecture.
On the topic of AI, Professor Kramer argued AI will be a foundational skill for students and staff alike, urging faculty to guide its appropriate use in the classroom Addressing teaching staff in the room, Professor Kramer said “we should affirmatively want students to use AI”, and figure out “how our classes will look and change” using new technologies. Employers, he noted, are looking for graduates with AI experience in their education.
Professor Kramer concluded his speech by praising LSE’s “intellectual decentralisation”, and its strength as a university inviting “different disciplines, asking different questions, using different methodologies, reaching different conclusions”.
After his speech, Professor Kramer took questions from the audience. The chair, Professor Conor Gearty, asked a question about the handling of the LSE encampment in May 2024, and the encampment’s calls for divestment from arms manufacturing and fossil fuel investments. Professor Kramer stated that the encampment raised an important question about the “kinds of protests that are okay”, claiming the encampment itself was not an issue until it required the Marshall Building to be shut down. Regarding LSE’s investments, Professor Kramer clarified that investments are LSE Council decisions, which doesn’t make investment decisions if the “primary purpose [of divestment] is to make a political statement”. He highlighted the formation of an ESG Policy Group and Consultative Group, but added that the Council will not always follow through on what people want due to their fiduciary duties.
