Department of International Relations 75th Anniversary Public Lecture Series

We are living in an age of global crisis. Notions of crisis – from the crisis of the liberal international to the crisis of climate to more recently the idea of polycrisis. But what kind of crisis is this? How is it related to the process of capitalist transformation in the Global South? In this lecture, Professor Kanishka Jayasuriya will argue that what is distinctive about the crisis of the twenty-first century is that it is characterised by the ongoing crises of global capitalist social reproduction that is the production of life. To understand the nature of this crisis, we need an understanding of the broken politics of capitalist time that shaped much of the organisation of political conflict in the twentieth century. The lecture will conclude by examining the rise of the new authoritarianism as well as the new forms of political conflict that are emerging around capitalist social reproduction. This should be a central focus of our research agendas.

About the Speaker
Kanishka Jayasuriya is Professor of Politics and International Studies in the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Murdoch University. He has worked extensively on issues of regulation, rule of law and regional governance with reference to Asia. His research agenda is focused on the relationship between globalisation and the transformation of state structures including in the areas of social policy and investments. He has held teaching and research appointments in several Australian and overseas universities including ANU, the University of Sydney, National University of Singapore, and City University of Hong Kong.

About the Chair
David Envall is a Fellow / Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, at The Australian National University, as well as an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University. His research interests include Japanese political leadership, Japan’s security politics, and security in the Asia-Pacific.

This event is held as part of a series celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Department of International Relations, located within the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at The Australian National University. You can find more information about the Department’s history and the other activities being held to mark the anniversary throughout 2024 here.

Image credit: Crisis, 2020, Markus Winkler via Unsplash.