LSE IQ Episode 20 | Can activism really change the world?

Contributor(s): Ayça Çubukçu, Armine Ishkanian, Chris Rossdale | Welcome to LSE IQ, the monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. In 1832, Mary Smith presented the first women’s suffrage petition to Parliament. 86 years later, after a long and often violent campaign, the Representation of the People Act granted some women the vote. But although today the suffragettes are generally seen to have won their fight, the journey was far from smooth, and while all women in the UK may now have the vote, gender equality, political and otherwise, is still very far from achieved. As the suffragette story reveals, identifying an issue is the easy part. The journey to bring about the change you want, may be far harder. So can activism really change the world? This episode features Dr Ayça Çubukçu, Associate Professor in Human Rights in LSE’s Department of Sociology, Dr Armine Ishkanian is Associate Professor in LSE’s Department of Social Policy and Dr Chris Rossdale is both a Fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE. For further information about the podcast visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.