Commonwealth Matters

The termly online newsletter for the Institute of Commonwealth Studies

commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/newsletter

Spring/Summer 2008

Contents

UN Experiences of a Human

Rights Officer – PAGE 2

Life as an Ambassador – PAGE 3

Looking ahead – PAGE 4

Tricks of the trade: what you need to know if you want to teach and

learn Human Rights – PAGE 5

Events – PAGE 7

5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum – PAGE 8

CPSU Annual Youth Summer

Conference – PAGE 9

Just for Fun! PAGE 10

Farwell to Staff – PAGE 11

New Staff – PAGE 13

Obituaries – PAGE 16

This issue of Commonwealth Matters, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies online newsletter, celebrates the multi-

disciplinary activities of its staff, students, fellows and graduates.

It features the activities of two of our alumni, details of the events that the Institute has seen over the past six months, fun facts, and

information about comings and goings of staff.

We hope you enjoy reading Commonwealth Matters. Please

forward any comments, suggestions or ideas for future articles to troy.rutt@sas.ac.uk marked ‘Newsletter’.

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My UN experience as a Human Rights Officer

Cristina Michels graduated from ICwS in 2002 with an MA in Understanding and Securing Human Rights. Since January 2006 Cristina has worked as an Officer for the Office of the

witzerland. December 2002, just a

High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, S

couple f months after graduating

y first field experience in the

s human rights violations committed by the national

fter nearly five years in the field, last summer I felt that I needed to take a break from

ofrom the MA in Human Rights at ICwS, I found myself sitting on a plane flying towards Kinshasa to take up my new assignment as Human Rights Officer with the peacekeeping mission MONUC, with lots of expectations and anxieties. For the next two years, I documented cases of human rights violations, interviewed survivors of massacres and victims of other heinous

crimes, met with scary local armed group commanders and other authorities to address human rights issues, follow-up cases with judicial authorities, and so on. My work also allowed me to work side by side with many motivated Congolese who, with very limited resources and a great amount of risk, made incredible efforts to help their compatriots. I recall for example Prof. Mavinga, who worked restlessly on the rehabilitation of child soldiers and providing psychological assistance to victims of sexual and gender-based violence. MDRC just amplified my desire to discover new places, meet new people and learn about new cultures, so I decided it was time to move on to another mission, this time my destination was what used to be called the Pearl of Antilles: Haiti. From my first day in Port-au-Prince, I was fascinated by the energy of the people and the fact that despite the extreme poverty and insecurity, Haitians are always ready to offer a smile. This time I worked in a joint team of Human Rights and UN Police officers, undertaking investigations into grospolice or gang members throughout the country. With my team, we worked closely to strengthen the capacity of national institutions, such as the police and the judiciary, while at the same time bringing to their attention cases of human rights violations. Being part of a peacekeeping mission also means that apart of the “usual” tasks, you have a chance to live through key moments – be they good or bad – that are marked in the history of the host country forever. For example, during the presidential and parliamentary elections of February 2006, we worked restlessly for their success. For days after the elections, we worked day and night day to collect and separate thousands of ballots before their official counting, until the last one was processed. Amission life and decided to move back to Europe. I joined the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, where I am now making use of my field

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experience to train staff in Geneva and elsewhere on monitoring and fact-finding skills and techniques. Sometimes I miss the field work and the contact with the local population, but I would not be surprised if sometimes in the future I would find myself on yet another plane, heading towards another unknown destination ready to take up a new challenge in the field! to be based in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, living and working in difficult and hazardous conditions, but finally fulfilling my aspiration and desire to help people in need. No day in my work was ever the same: my activities varied from visits to detainees in run-down and stinky prisons, to long hours travelling by road, foot, boat or helicopter to reach isolated villages and communities

Life as an Ambassador

ames Kember (PhD 1976) has been New Zealand’s Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of

have continued to maintain my academic contacts and interests. I have attended conferences

ithin the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as during my time at the University

JViet Nam since mid-2006. James’ Foreign Service career has included assignments in China (Beijing and Hong Kong), New York (United Nations) as well as in New Caledonia and the Cook Islands. From 2001-2004 he was the Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute at the University of Auckland before returning to the foreign ministry as Director of Public Affairs. I organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur and also gave a paper at a Waseda University, Tokyo, conference on the role of former New Zealand Prime Minister Walter Nash in the Institute of Pacific Relations. W

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of Auckland, I promoted a series of Track II dialogue processes with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The importance of Track II dialogues is highlighted in the New Zealand Government’s recent white paper, Our Future with Asia (http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Media-and-publications/Publications/Asia-White-Paper/index.php) .

Most recently I was a participant in the inaugural Track II dialogue between New Zealand and Viet Nam held in Hanoi. My paper, that covered New Zealand’s relations with Viet Nam, especially in the area of multilateral institutions, can be found on the website of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, which was the New Zealand co-organiser for the event (http://www.asianz.org.nz/research/track2research) . I am an occasional visitor at the Institute and hope to visit again in October this year.

Looking ahead

Marika Sherwood, Senior Research Fellow at ICwS, is working on a number of exciting projects and contributing to a number of insightful programmes, many of which can be seen on a TV screen near you!!

• Program on Malcolm X, Islam Channel TV, 23 November 2008

• Program on Walter Tull, BBC4 – date to be confirmed

• Program on Malcolm X, Islam Channel TV, 25 February 2009 Marika is also working on a book on Malcolm X’s travels in Africa and Europe, published by IB Tauris, which is due out early 2009. As well as all of these, we can look forward to an interesting seminar programme on Commonwealth Diasporas in the UK that is currently being put together by Marika which we anticipate starting in January 2009. October 2008 will see the publication of 'Freedoms at Midnight': The Iconography of Independence, edited by Robert Holland (ICwS), Susan Williams (ICwS) and Terry Barringer. This is a Special Issue of The Round Table, emerging from a very successful conference held at the ICWS in 2007. After a wide-ranging introduction by David Cannadine setting the theme in a broad cultural as well as political framework, the volume looks at Independence Day 'moments' in several British colonies - India, Pakistan, Ghana, Guyana and Zimbabwe; it also examines the role of the media, of the monarchy, and of independence anniversaries. This strikingly original focus is complemented by a comparative dimension, looking at how such junctures - amongst the most important in the twentieth century - were conducted in the French Empire. It is expected that the volume will appear in book form during 2009.

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The tricks of the trade: what you need to know if you want to teach and learn human rights

Teaching and learning human rights is a tricky business. I am not thinking about abstract political or ideological dilemmas. I am thinking about a concrete, basic, inherent fact: we cannot separate the human dimension of the subject of our lectures and studies from the human nature of the subjects who lecture and study. This alone would put many people off. Consider teaching and learning human rights practice, then. That is even trickier. Indeed, it is a paradox: too simple if we do it for personal interest and fulfilment, and too complex if we aim at changing personal attitudes and behaviours. But isn’t human rights work about change? Let’s see. Take my case, for example. I teach on the MA in Understanding and Securing Human Rights. Securing is the key word for me. While my colleagues’ courses transmit the theoretical and legal underpinnings of human rights, my unit provides the skills and broader context necessary to translate theories and legal instruments into practice. Whether this is done by guest lecturers sharing their expertise, or through skills training on fundraising, or thanks to my UN personal experience, or during a voluntary placement, it is all about applying and using human rights to make change happen. Well, that is easier said than done. It is easy because the subject is enticing and students love it. I can hear them: it is so refreshing and exciting to listen to experts, read NGO reports, create slogans for human rights campaigns, watch UN meetings or even role-play negotiations. I do not need to possess the skills of a trader who is able to sell freezers in Iceland to convince them that those exercises are useful. Students know that eventually they will be required to do something similar in their careers, no matter if they will lobby in the corridors of power or work in the field. It is easy also because it is a personal passion. For me, teaching human rights practice is just as engaging and exciting. It gives me the chance to be creative, to impress students with personal anecdotes, to put them in touch with the real world. It all goes both ways. Is writing a funding proposal or a human rights statement a revelation for my students? So is marking those pieces of coursework for me. The lectures in my course are conversations. My speakers and I rarely sit at the desk. Instead, we consume the teaching room’s floor by walking back and forth; we show that video or tell that story; ask questions and share doubts; invite students to ask their questions and tell their stories. In all fairness, my two colleagues have the same approach and dynamism. It must be in the genes of the team: three academICwS with the heart of practitioners. Indeed, it is a personal inclination, but the rewards go beyond self-contentment. Because in so doing, we encourage our students to know themselves better so that they can become more conversant but also more self-confident and assertive in their work. But here comes the difficult bit: the fact that we teach human rights theories and legal frameworks and make our students practice the skills that they will need out there in the big world does not necessarily mean that they will internalise techniques and strategies to the point of changing their behaviour or that of others. This is a more complex process that requires time and a greater deal of practice. Outside the warm cocoon of the classroom, challenges and unexpected events can jeopardise any planned and rehearsed preparation. It is easy to get a case study or a set of instructions or even a real life testimony and discuss them with like-minded fellow students. Far more difficult is to face a sudden political crisis, a natural disaster, or just an irreconcilable colleague. This is not to exaggerate or discourage anyone. It is to alert us to the fact that human factors are always there to caution us against easy excitement or oversimplification. It also indicates that perhaps flexibility to adapt to change is more important and useful than the desire to change. I do not want to give the impression that the latter is a hopeless endeavour, though. Despite challenges and conundrums, or excitement and fun, there is a more powerful and gripping aspect in teaching and learning human rights (both in practical and more general terms): at the end of the course we realise that human rights are something that we make happen and

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not something that happens to us. Lecturers and students alike are strengthened in their conviction that one needs to be proactive rather than simply reactive. And even if change will be slow, we are aware that possibilities are out there and that it is up to us to seize them. My mentor, the late Katarina Tomaševski (a lecturer herself, and a great one at that), used to say that “the essential prerequisites for human rights work are incurable optimism, patience and persistence and a long attention span”. This is very true. It was true when I was working at the UN and it is true now that I am teaching. What is true is that no matter what I do, or my colleagues do, or our students do; no matter where we are: in a classroom, in a glamorous office in New York or in a small village in Afghanistan. No matter what, human rights need all our optimism, patience, persistence and attention if we want change. It will take time. Katarina used to say it is a case of “chipping away”. All human rights work is. But if my colleagues and I are teaching human rights, it is because we want to contribute to that chipping away and inspire many generations of students to learn and do the same. by Angela Melchiorre

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Events

The Institute saw another packed calendar of events during the first half of this year. Regular seminars from CIHR, the Caribbean and Canadian Seminar Series were supplemented by insightful and diverse one-off events. The Centre for International Human Rights at the Institute hosted a large and successful programme of events in the second term beginning with Albie Sachs “Light On A Hill - Forging freedom and building the Constitutional Court in South Africa” Albie Sachs has been a Justice of South Africa’s Constitutional Court since 1994. His books include The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs, which covers his time in solitary confinement as a lawyer and anti-apartheid activist, and The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter, which recounts the loss of his right arm in a car bomb in Maputo. In his most recent book, Free Diary of Albie Sachs, he talks about the challenge of writing about happiness instead of pain and suffering. In recent years he has been passionate about the building of the Constitutional Court, which incorporates the old Johannesburg fort, where Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and thousands of political prisoners were detained. Well over 50 people attended this event which was followed by a reception, and people still tell me how much they enjoyed the seminar. Other CIHR seminars included:

• The Complexities of Complex Emergencies • Justice Radio: Debating Justice, Reconciliation, and the International Criminal

Court in South Africa • Dilemmas and Difficulties in the work of Israeli Human Rights NGOs • Stopping Genocide: The will to intervene and the role of Canada • Face/Off: Hong Kong’s Autonomy and Universal Suffrage • Le Château – the lives of prisoners in Rwanda

We also had a range of talks from the Caribbean seminar series (led by Mary Turner and Kate Quinn (ISA)):

• Reflecting on the Jamaica 2007 Elections • Race, morality and rebellion: counter-colonial politICwS in post-emancipation

Jamaica • Myth, History and the Collapse of the Haitian/Dominican Border: Chiqui Vicioso's

Eva/sión/es 2007 • Discovering the Territory: nature and globalisation in the Mexican Caribbean • The Revolution at 50: Cuban revolutionaries reflect • A Message Delayed: the USA, Jamaica and Cuba (1898/1949)

At the same time the Canadian seminar series (led by Phil Buckner) continued to go from strength to strength:

• Robber Baron: the Criminal Trial of the Last Canadian Press Lord, Conrad Black • Sweaty and Uncombed: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian

Feminists, 1967-1977 • Stopping Genocide: The Will to Intervene and the Role of Canada • What History for what future of Quebec? • Privacy and the Public Man: The Strange Story of the Mackenzie King Diaries

Other notable events have included:

• DynamICwS of African Migration across the Atlantic and Indian Ocean – a special workshop organized by one of our research fellows, Shihan de Silva.

• Amina – a Human Rights story from Yemen

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The 5th Pan-C0mmonwealth Forum, July 2008 Distance learning is an inspirational tool helping to improve people’s lives, health and social justice across the 53 member nations of the Commonwealth and elsewhere. It was, therefore, fitting that, on the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the world’s first distance learning degrees, the University of London was to host a major international conference on the subject, the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF5), organised by the Commonwealth of Learning and the University of London. The theme for the 2008 conference was ‘Access to Learning for Development’. It had a focus on the part that innovative approaches to education can play in achieving international development goals. This theme was broken down into four main areas: children and young people; health; livelihoods; and governance, conflict and social justice. More than 300 papers were submitted to the Forum. Panel presentations and discussions dealt with a wide array of topICwS including: helping those afflicted by conflict in Northern Uganda, providing access to agricultural information for women farmers, raising HIV Aids awareness in Papua New Guinea, training paramedical technicians in India and the role of distance education for prisoners in Europe and Africa. Keynote speakers at the four-day event included: The Rt Hon Professor Apolo Nsibambi, Prime Minister of Uganda; Mr Nicholas Burnett, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO; Mr Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General; and Mr Zamal Uddin Biswas, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh. As part of the Pan-Commonwealth Forum (5), the School of Advanced Study held two breakfast seminars highlighting the work of some of the Institutes, including the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Contributions came from the Institute for the Study of the Americas and the Institute of English Studies as well as ICwS. Professor Richard Crook, Dr Shihan de Silva and Dr Susan Williams spoke about their current areas of research; ‘The role of non-governmental public actors in the North-South policy processes’, ‘Forced African migration and European commerce in Sumatra: evidence from East India Company Records’ and ‘Jazz, photographs and YouTube: using modern media to enrich a historical study of Sir Seretse Khama, the founding President of Botswana’ respectively. These breakfasts were attended by a diverse range of Commonwealth delegates including; the University of Zambia, the University of Technology (Papua New Guinea), the University of Worcester, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), the Commonwealth of Learning (Canada), West Virginia University (USA), the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning, the Ministry of Education (Sierra Leone), the Horniman Museum, SOAS and more.

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Matching Rhetoric with Action: Defining a Youth Perspective on the Commonwealth in the 21st Century

ANNUAL CPSU SUMMER YOUTH CONFERENCE 2008

The Annual Summer Youth Conference has been hosted by the CPSU since 2005 with the aim of engaging young people on contemporary political themes such as good governance, sustainability and development. The CPSU, a think-tank for the Commonwealth conducts a wide range of policy studies aimed at raising the quality of policy making by government, inter-governmental organisations, business, civil society and most importantly local communities. This year’s conference was funded by the Political Affairs Department (PAD) Communications and Public Affairs Division (CPAD) Commonwealth Secretariat. From 23rd-25th June 2008, eighteen young bright things met at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies to immerse themselves in three days of discussion about what the Commonwealth is, what it does and how it carries out its work. The conference, organised and hosted by the CPSU, Homera Cheema and Anand Roopsind, offered a chance for students of international studies to get an alternative flavour of policy making. The conference also sought to equip young people with the necessary skills of networking, negotiating, and partaking in formal meetings-in an environment that was less class-room like and more policy-orientated. This years’ theme ‘Defining a Youth Perspective of the Commonwealth in the 21st Century’, is drawn from the 2008 7th Commonwealth Youth Minister’s Meeting (7CYMM) held in Sri Lanka, April 2008. In his opening speech the Secretary-General, His Excellency Kamalesh Sharma, committed himself to improving the lives of young people based on his conviction that ‘youth encapsulates our collective hope and is the primary national global resource to safe guard our future’. The design of the overall programme aimed to strike a balance between engaging newcomers to the Commonwealth and providing opportunity for critical debate and discussion. The three days were divided to represent different salient themes:

• Evolution of the modern Commonwealth-past, present and future • Identities, culture and education for youth development • Commonwealth responses to global challenges

An interactive approach provided ample opportunity to absorb, discuss and evaluate information given by presenters. Thematically, the first day of the conference was a deconstructive exercise for participants who may have had an opaque or a distorted perception of the Commonwealth. Under the theme past, present and future of the Commonwealth, the speakers focused on providing a historical understanding of the Commonwealth as well as its current relevance to the international fora. This was supplemented by speakers addressing issues of media and communication, business and civil society engagement. The second day’s theme revolved around Identities and PolitICwS in the Commonwealth and kicked off with an introduction of the Respect and Understanding Report which was the focal point of the morning’s session. The theme continued throughout the day and looked at a youth perspective on identity as well as a critical analysis of cultural identity by Dr. Leon Wainwright from Manchester Metropolitan University. The final day of the conference focused on global challenges and the response of the Commonwealth to these emerging issues. It was also the most dynamic day which saw speakers ranging from parliamentarians, NGOs/aid agencies, the Commonwealth Secretariat and academICwS that led to some engaging and stirring debates. The highlight of the morning was the speech given by Andrew Mitchell (shadow Secretary of State for the

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Department for International Development) who spoke on the effectiveness of AID policies and pathways for lifting the poor out of poverty. The reception was the highlight of the three-day conference for the participants as the CPSU arranged a speech by the Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma followed by traditional music from Zimbabwe, South India and Australia. The attendance of the Secretary-General depicts not just the Commonwealth’s commitment to youth issues but the new Secretary-General’s personal support for youth initiatives. By Homera Cheema CPSU

Just for fun

As the Head of the Commonwealth, the Queen is an internationally recognised figure. Here

are ten facts that you might not know about her (information courtesy of

www.royal.gov.uk).

1. Queen Elizabeth II is the fortieth monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England.

2. Since 1952, The Queen has conferred over 387,700 honours and awards.

3. The Queen has visited Australia 15 times, Canada 23 times, Jamaica six times and New Zealand 10 times.

4. During her reign, The Queen has received many unusual gifts including a variety of live animals. The more unusual animals have been placed in the care of the London zoo, among them jaguars and sloths from Brazil, and two black beavers from Canada.

5. Princess Elizabeth travelled on the London Underground for the first time in May 1939 with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret.

6. The first football match The Queen attended was the 1953 FA Cup Final.

7. The Queen's first Commonwealth tour began on 24 November 1953, and included visits to Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, the Cocos Islands, Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Libya, Malta and Gibraltar. The total distance covered was 43,618 miles.

8. The Queen sent a message of congratulations to Apollo 11 astronauts for the first moon landing on the 21st July, 1969. The message was micro-filmed and deposited on the moon in a metal container.

9. The Queen sent her first email in 1976 from an Army base.

10. The Queen is the first member of the Royal Family to be awarded a gold disc from the recording industry. 100,000 copies of the CD of the 'Party at the Palace', produced by EMI, were sold within the first week of release.

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Au Revoir! Bon Chance!

The Institute lost two of its academic staff in July –August 2008: Dr Bill Vlcek and Dr Peris Jones, and a member of the library staff, Yvette Bailey Peris Jones took up his post as Lecturer in Human Rights in September 2007, and taught the MA in Human Rights Unit 1 course which focuses on the political and social issues surrounding the practice of human rights. Peris, who is an expert on the problems of access to health treatment by HIV/AIDS sufferers in South Africa, came to us from the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, and is returning to Norway with his family. During his short time in London he made a much appreciated contribution to the work of the Institute and the Human Rights programme and we wish him well in his future career. We shall greatly miss not having a Liverpool FC supporter to taunt! Bill Vlcek joined the Institute as Lecturer in International PolitICwS in September 2006 and has taught the MSc in Globalization and Development Unit 2 on ‘Policy Issues in Human Security’ for the past two years as well as acting as Convenor in 2006-7. As a recent PhD from the LSE International Relations stable Bill brought a rigorous international relations perspective to the MSc course. Whilst being a highly organised teacher, students greatly enjoyed Bill’s friendly and relaxed style and we shall all miss his dry sense of humour and his ability to reflect on his previous career experiences outside the academic world, not least in the United States Air Force.

He also made an important contribution in convening and teaching on the new Social Sciences Research Methodology (Area and Development Studies) course which was launched by the Institute as a School-wide programme for Masters and first year doctoral students in 07-08. On the research side, Bill brought a rare expertise in the international political economy of the Caribbean off-shore financial sector and the Institute’s profile will benefit greatly from the publication of his first book, Offshore Finance and Small States: Sovereignty, Size and Money, in the Palgrave Macmillan International Political Economy series, as well as his numerous articles in refereed journals. His final months were crowned with the award of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship, which enabled him to pursue his new project on the role of Caribbean island economies in investment into

China. Sadly, Bill’s contract was only for two years and the Institute regrets very much that the financial situation prevents his re-employment. The MSc degree will have to be suspended for the coming year pending a rethink of its focus and our teaching capacity.

Yvette Bailey, who has worked tirelessly for the Institute for the past six years, is unfortunately leaving us, to take up the post of Procurement and Accounts Officer at Senate House Library, Bibliographic Services. Julie McCafferey had these words to say about Yvette: “At the start of August, the Library said farewell to Yvette Bailey, Acquisitions Officer for the past six years. Yvette’s contribution to the development of the Library’s book and monograph collections has been enormous. The Library focuses on material published within non-UK Commonwealth countries, which

means that obtaining materials can often be challenging. Yvette overcame all difficulties,

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through her resourcefulness, organization and ability to foster good relations with our network of suppliers from around the world, many of whom have expressed their sorrow at the news of her departure. She was expert at sourcing obscure or out-of-print titles, and successfully introduced the Library’s online order transmission system which has streamlined and hastened the order process, to the great benefit of the Library and its readers. Yvette was always quick to spot possible improvements to the Library’s Reading Room services and procedures. At the Service Desk, she was unfailingly calm, professional, friendly and knowledgeable. These qualities were also essential to Yvette’s role as the building’s First Aider, where she was often called upon to assist both staff and students. She would go out of her way to help people, as on the two separate occasions when she accompanied to hospital an international student and a member of staff who had been taken ill, offering kindness and support when it was most needed. Yvette will be greatly missed, not just by her Library colleagues but also by staff throughout the Institute. Fortunately for us, she is not moving far, as she is taking on the new role of University of London Research Library Services Procurement and Accounts Officer within Senate House Library. She will be managing the processing of ULRLS invoices and banking within the University’s brand new finance system, UniFi21, so her flair for implementing robust and efficient procedures will be put to good use. We wish her all success and look forward to working with her in this exciting new post.”

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New Additions With the departure of Dr Peris Jones the Institute is pleased to welcome Dr Damien Short who will be teaching on the MA Understand and Securing Human Rights. Damien writes “From September the 1st I will be joining the Institute of Commonwealth Studies as a Senior Lecturer in Human Rights and the Convenor of the MA Understanding and Securing Human Rights. I have been teaching and researching in the field of human rights for over nine years and have always had my eye on a position with the ICwS due to its strong reputation in the field of human rights teaching and research. I can trace my interest in human rights back to the third year of my undergraduate studies in law, when I was fortunate enough to be a student in a Civil Liberties seminar taken by a very famous guest: Professor Noam Chomsky. To say it was the best seminar I attended during my undergraduate studies in Cardiff University is a huge understatement! In the years that followed I worked and travelled in a number of countries; one of which was Australia. During a period in the Northern Territory I witnessed appalling treatment of Aboriginal people at the hands of the Police, local authorities and in some cases the local community. My time in Australia fuelled a growing desire to work in the field of human rights and so in 1999 I enrolled on the University of Essex’s interdisciplinary MA Theory and Practice of Human Rights. On completion of my MA dissertation on indigenous rights in Australia I realised I was far from finished with the topic and was also becoming increasingly drawn to academic ‘activist’ research. Consequently, I applied for entry onto the doctoral programme in the Department of Sociology and was lucky enough to secure E.S.R.C funding for the work, which eventually turned out to be a critical socio-legal examination of indigenous rights during Australia’s national reconciliation process. During the doctoral research I conducted fieldwork at the United Nations in Geneva and New York; investigating the construction of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which I later compared with Australia’s indigenous rights regime. Following the completion of the PhD, I spent another year at Essex as an E.S.R.C postdoctoral research fellow. The last two years at Essex were particularly satisfying as I had come full circle to teach on the MA that started my academic journey. Since September 2005 I have been directing the Human Rights programme at Roehampton University. Through my research and teaching at Roehampton I developed strong links with human rights advocacy networks and NGOs working as a consultant for War on Want, the International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), the European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights (ENIAR) and the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC). Following many research papers, which grew out of my doctoral research, a book entitled Reconciliation and Colonial Power: Indigenous Rights in Australia, was published by Ashgate in March this year. I am very excited about working on new projects at the ICwS particularly as my research interests have now moved into Genocide studies and indigenous rights in Commonwealth Africa. I am currently working on a second book for Zed books which will be called ‘Genocides?’ and grew out of a course on genocide I taught for three years at Roehampton and I am therefore particularly keen to be working closely on the MA with the Institute’s resident Rwanda expert, Lars Waldorf.”

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Welcome to the Admin Office The Administrative Office has seen a number of changes over the past twelve months – let the new team introduce themselves to you! Marcus Erridge - Student Officer.

My responsibilities include providing student information, dealing with and supporting students with any queries they may have on a daily basis, clerical support to the Institute’s research and taught Master’s degrees and processing all new Masters/PhD student enquiries. My star sign is Libra. Having worked to support Modern Languages degrees at Roehampton University and Civil, Environmental and Development Engineering Master’s at the University of Southampton in similar roles, I joined the Institute in February 2008, Previously I’ve worked in administrative roles for British Gas and Barcardi and have also worked as a barman, a silver service waiter, a bouncy castle operative and a salesman of horse de-wormer to farmers.

The Institute’s staff are a small friendly team, who work together to support a diverse range of students and academICwS. I find everyone one here personable and approachable. Working in Bloomsbury really is a plus; it is a beautiful part of London with great access to the city. Jasvinder Kaur-Hunjan – Finance and Resources Officer

My role is to assist with financial procedures which include - project budgetary analysis, income and expenditure regulation and all finance enquires that relate to the Institute. I also deal with queries relating to the building and am responsible for overseeing Health & Safety at ICwS. I joined the Institute in November 2007 and soon found it an exciting place to work, where staff development is very much encouraged. The staff here are friendly and everyone contributes to make a positive working environment. I have been in London for over a year now, so am getting used to the fast pace of London life. My previous work experience includes

working for the Birmingham City University and Advantage West Midlands. Troy Rutt - Events and Publicity Officer

I am responsible for the Institute's seminar series and conferences. I co-ordinate and publicises the Institute's events as well as maintaining the Institute's room hire facilities and updating relevant sections of the Institute's web pages. I assist in the promotion of the Institute and dissemination of publicity and informational material, strengthening our links with other organisations and individuals, including the alumni, friendship and membership networks maintained by the institute. I also manage the marketing of the postgraduate programmes. I edit the Institute newsletter, Commonwealth Matters, which comes out termly, and the Annual Report. I have always worked within the Higher Education sector (University

of Leicester, Birkbeck College and City University), which I find rewarding and I enjoy the interaction between staff and students. Previous exciting roles which I undertook during my

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University holidays were making conveyor belts, putting food colouring into buckets and servicing the jewellery needs of Kettering town at the local Goldsmiths. I completed my BA (Hons) in History from the University of Leicester in 2002 and recently completed my MA in Comparative History of Early Modern European Societies at Birkbeck College in 2007. I enjoy travelling; this year I have had the good fortune of visiting Belgium, France, New York, Toronto and Israel and am already planning my next trip – Budapest in March! Alison Stewart – Administrative Manager

My role includes responsibility for all the day to day operations of the Institute, including its financial, personnel and administrative functions. As a result, my work can vary widely in the space of a day. It can range from preparing and monitoring the Institute’s budget, to advertising a vacant position, through to trying to keep the admin team in line (see above!). I arrived in London in late September last year from Australia and started working at the Institute in December. I have worked within Higher Education since 2001 at The University of Melbourne and previous to that I did a BA (Hons) in ClassICwS and Archaeology. I’m keen to do a lot of travel around Europe while I’m here and have an extremely long list of must see places – including a lot of ruins!

Everyone within the Institute has been very welcoming and supportive of the new admin team. We really appreciate it – thanks!

Library Staff With the departure of Yvette Bailey for a new job at Senate House and of Beth Sockett (this year’s Graduate Trainee, who will soon be starting her MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL) we also welcome two new staff: Rodney Bill and Sheena Ginnings. Rodney comes to us on secondment from Senate House Library, as Acquisitions Officer. He has been at Senate House Library since 1986, mostly as Accounts Officer, and also worked for shorter periods at Trinity College Dublin, Shoe Lane Library in the City, and the Royal College of Nursing. Rodney is currently studying Italian at the Modern Language Centre at King's College London and is looking forward to working at the Institute and renewing his acquaintance with the subject of Commonwealth History, which he studied at Birkbeck, completing an MA in 1990. Outside of work Rodney acts as a Marriage Registrar. Sheena Ginnings is this year’s Graduate Trainee. Born in Zimbabwe, Sheena studied law at the University of Zimbabwe, and then worked for a year in the University library before going on to qualify as a lawyer. She later lived and worked as a lawyer in Malawi and Kenya as well as England, and recently received an MA in Garden History from Birkbeck. “I am planning to qualify as a librarian, so working at the Institute is a great opportunity for me to experience a specialist library in a subject area that I am really interested in. I am looking forward to discovering more about this unique collection and to helping visitors to the library to do so too.”

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Obituary It is my sad duty to inform our readers of the passing of Margaret Beard, a key member of the administrative team at ICwS between 1964 and 1988. Peter Lyon and Shula Marks share their memories of Margaret; Margaret Beard (1936-2008), a long-serving member of the administrative staff of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS), died in mid July after long illness borne bravely. A distinctive personality with strong opinions and a wry sense of humour Margaret was to many a loyal friend. She was very close to her family, her brother Paul’s children especially. She never married. Because of illness Margaret took slightly early retirement in 1988, but continued her interest in the ICwS and her charitable work. Born and brought up in Walsall, Staffs, Margaret went to St Paul’s Grammar School and then to the London School of EconomICwS where she graduated in EconomICwS. She joined the staff of the ICwS in 1964 first as secretary to the then Director (Professor W.H. Morris-Jones ) then as Assistant Secretary (from 1969 working alongside Peter Lyon; then until her retirement in 1988, she was Administrative Secretary for the ICwS responsible for liaising with Senate House departments and attending to a wide miscellany of other, including financial tasks. One of her special skills was as a proof and copy writer. Many academICwS attested to her accuracy, professionalism and generous help. For her first five years on the Institute’s staff as the Director’s secretary, she had an office next to the Director in Woburn Square about 100 yards from the main ICWS rooms, and Margaret was an important link between the two premises of the ICWS as well as with SOAS and the Senate House. In the early 1980s the Institute was expanded from 27 Russell Square to include the rest of number 28 so as to accommodate an Australian Studies Centre, principally funded from Australian sources. This expansion also provided for a major reallocation of premises including the centralisation of the library, the location of the Director’s office in Russell Square and the provision of two “showcase” rooms for the conduct of meetings and functions. No.s 27 and 28 Russell Square, parts of which had been in poor condition, were entirely redecorated and upgraded. Margaret played a central role in all this re-organization and upgrading of the Institute. The Institute’s Annual Report for 1988, the year of Margaret’s retirement claimed that this marked the end of an era. “For over 24 years of un-stinted effort she had been with us for more than half of our total existence and embodied many of its finest traditions”. In retirement Margaret settled in the attractive little village of Brailes, about 10 miles due west of Banbury, and soon became a familiar and friendly neighbour and intermittent church goer in the Catholic Parish of Our Lady and the Apostles, Brailes, Shipston-on-Stour and Ilmington. A requiem mass for Margaret was held on 31 July at St. George’s Church Lower Brailes. Eloquent tributes were spoken by Richendra Wallace and David Diggins in the presence of friends, family and neighbours. Handel’s “I know that my Redeemer Liveth” was sung at the end of the Mass by Patricia Larby, Margaret’s friend and former colleague as librarian of the ICwS. by Peter Lyon

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When Margaret took early retirement from the ICwS in 1988, in the year of the Institute’s fortieth anniversary; she had served it for more than half of those years, and it is no exaggeration to say that when I became its Director in 1982 she was largely responsible for the ethos of the ICwS, its institutional memory and the way it was run. Indeed we owed much of the refurbishment in the newly acquired number 28 Russell Square – including the gorgeous Georgian pink on Georgian staircase – to her elegance and flair. A perfectionist by nature, Margaret monitored every detail of the Institute’s activities, from its décor to its staffing, record-keeping, finances and routine administration. Although she did not participate in the Institute’s many seminars and conferences, her professionalism was reflected in the organisation of all our academic activities and publications. If at times we were daunted by her high standards, they also kept the rest of us up to the mark Fortunately she – and I – were also supported by a number of highly dedicated and able staff like Yvonne Crawford, my Secretary and Pat Larby and David Blake as Chief and Deputy Chief Librarian. And when Margaret left the Institute in 1988, she took great care to ensure that the ICwS’s administrative memory which she embodied was not lost. As a new and inexperienced Director in the 1980s, I found Margaret a tower of strength, if also (for me) a slightly intimidating presence. I must admit that at the outset I was greatly encouraged by my predecessor Professor Morris Jones’s acknowledgement at his retirement party that he had always been afraid Margaret would discover how poorly he understood the ICwS's finances! If he could get away with it for 18 years, I thought, perhaps so could I! And for all our financial straits during those years (and there were times when I did not know from Senate House what the ICwS budget was going to be in March for the coming financial year) we somehow always managed to stay afloat largely thanks to her diligence. I could always rely on her to spot the hidden threat to our existence in the fine print of the voluminous documents which arrived from Senate House and HEFCE during late July and August when no-one else was around. This was particularly important at a time when we had no representation in the central committees of the university, were not recognised by HEFCE as deserving of special factor funding (largely I suspect because our budget was too small to warrant our being put on the HEFCE financial agenda) and the University of London seemed more intent on tearing itself apart than looking after the intellectual assets represented by its smaller post-graduate research institutes. Through all of this, we used to meet on a weekly basis (and more often when necessary) and Margaret was almost invariably a source of wise and careful advice. I say ‘almost’ because I think she was always suspicious of my desire to see the Institute move more quickly into the electronic era. Margaret Beard was always a very private person, but one felt her deep sense of social commitment not least through her long association with the Noel Buxton Trust which was established in 1919 to achieve social and economic progress in Britain and throughout the world and which continues to address social issues largely but not only in this country. She also had an abiding love of classical music and her 70th birthday celebrations included an evening listening to a string quartet at a concert venue in Leamington Spa. It was fitting that her close friend, Pat Larby, whose glorious rendering of carols graced many an Institute Christmas party, was able to sing ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’ after the mass at her funeral. I spoke to Margaret a couple of weeks before she died. Though not in pain, she was breathless, barely audible and extremely weak. She was clearly slipping away from us. Yet she faced her end calmly and with extraordinary courage. She had clearly put all her affairs in order, planned her funeral and disposed of her possessions – including her two cats - efficient to the end. When I think of Margaret, I think of her wonderful dignity and quiet efficiency. I always thought she managed the Institute with far greater aplomb than any of its Directors! by Shula Marks

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