Pandemics do not have any timetable of action or any national, cultural or religious sensitivity. In fact, they make no distinction for anyone. In this scenario, responses to the COVID-19 are linked to the political and institutional character of the state. A number of public health interventions have been carried out by states across the world but there is considerable diversity in success rates, and the extent and mechanisms deployed to protect vulnerable populations.
June 8, 2020
Time:
4.00 pm
Facebook Live
Why are governmental interventions important to save lives? How do they impact democracy? To what extent does a nationwide network of surveillance affect freedom of movement? How is inequality amplified in the current times?
To get to know the answers to these questions, join us for the eighteenth session of LUMS Live: Democracy and the Pandemic. Moderated by Dr. Umair Javed, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, this session has been planned jointly with the Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre at LUMS. Our distinguished panelists include Dr. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar - Associate Professor, Quaid-i-Azam University, Dr. Shandana Khan Mohmand - Social Scientist and Development Researcher, Dr. Sameen Mohsin Ali - Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS, and Mr. Ammar Rashid - Researcher and Political Worker.
Date: Monday, June 8, 2020
Time: 4 pm (PKT)
The session will be broadcast live via the LUMS Facebook page.
During the session, please use the live stream's comments bar to ask questions or email them at ask@lums.edu.pk
After the session, kindly share your feedback and suggest future topics for discussion/guests here.
Join us for this exciting conversation!
Profiles of Panelists
Dr. Umair Javed - Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS
Dr. Javed received a PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics, where his research focused on state regulation, capital accumulation, and labour relations in Pakistan’s informal economy. His ongoing research engagements include studying the development of welfare interventions under democratic and authoritarian regimes in Pakistan, and a comparative study of the politics of taxation, zakat, and charitable giving in Pakistan, Egypt, and Morocco.
Dr. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar - Associate Professor, Quaid-i-Azam University
Dr. Akhtar is Associate Professor of Political Economy at the National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University. Akhtar received his BA in Economics from Northwestern University, his Master's in Economics from Yale University, and his PhD from SOAS, University of London. He works on diverse subjects such as state theory, informality, colonial history, and social movements. He is the author of three books, most recently The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan (Cambridge, 2018) and writes a syndicated column for Pakistan's newspaper-of-record, DAWN. Alongside his academic pursuits, Dr. Akhtar has also been closely affiliated with political and social movements in Pakistan for more than two decades.
Dr. Shandana Khan Mohmand - Social Scientist and Development Researcher
Dr. Mohmand is a Fellow and lead of the Governance Team at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), Pakistan and has a PhD in Development Studies. Her main area of research is democratisation, political participation, inequality, and the political economy of public policy and service delivery. She has contributed to both policy and social science research, using varied methodological strategies to investigate these issues in South Asia, the Western Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Mohammad is the author of Crafty Oligarchs, Savvy Voters: Democracy Under Inequality in Rural Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
Dr. Sameen Mohsin Ali - Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS
Dr. Ali completed her PhD in Politics from SOAS University of London in 2018. Her teaching and research interests include comparative politics, bureaucratic and party politics, and public health governance, with a particular focus on immunization.
Mr. Ammar Rashid - Researcher and Political Worker
Mr. Rashid is a development professional, researcher and academic by profession, who has been a leading member of the Awami Workers Party since its founding in 2012. He is currently a senior researcher at the public health think tank Heartfile. He has a BSc in Economics from LUMS and a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University. As a professional, Rashid has been involved in research and teaching work on themes ranging from public education and health reform, the political economy of public policy, sub-national governance, gender and development and tax reform. He has previously taught at the Gender studies department at Quaid-e-Azam University and at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
