[EVENT | October 5–6] The Crisis of Democracy
[EVENT | October 5–6] The Crisis of Democracy
Join the Albert Shanker Institute, Dissent, and many more for a two-day conference on the Crisis of Democracy, October 5–6 in Washington, D.C.
We are proud to co-sponsor the following conference, featuring Dissent editors and contributors Michael Walzer, Sarah Leonard, Sheri Berman, and more. The conference will also form the basis for our Winter 2018 issue. If you can’t attend, subscribe now to read the highlights in print.
You are invited to a two-day conference on:
THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY
Thursday, Oct. 5, 3:00 p.m. to Friday, Oct. 6, 5:00 p.m.
Washington Court Hotel, Atrium Ballroom
525 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001
The conference is free, registration is required.
REGISTER HERE
Organized by the Albert Shanker Institute
Co-Sponsors: the American Federation of Teachers | American Prospect Magazine | Center for Innovation in Worker Organization, Rutgers University | Democratic Socialists of America | Dissent Magazine | Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University | New Labor Forum | United Association for Labor Education
We are experiencing an organic crisis of democracy that is international in scope. In response, a conference is being convened that draws together intellectuals and activists from across the globe to examine and explore different dimensions of that crisis. The speakers will venture into a deeper analysis of the political forces and dynamics at work, with an eye to identifying opportunities to strengthen democratic institutions and democratic practices. Speakers will explore such themes as the:- Nature of the populist challenge;
- Relationship between growing economic inequality and the loss of political trust in the capacity and purpose of government;
- Intersections of race, class, religion, ethnicity and immigration in Trumpism, Brexit and other populist movements of the right;
- Decay of political parties (especially of the left and center-left) and civil society (declines in organized religion, organized labor, and community and neighborhood associations), on the one hand, and the rise of authoritarianism, on the other;
- Relationship between protest movements, political action and power in the resistance to authoritarianism of the right;
- Ways in which a number of reactionary and racist initiatives, from voter suppression initiatives to attacks on immigration and immigrants, are centered on redefining citizenship in exclusionary and restrictive ways; and
- Most effective ways for citizen activists to organize and respond, both in the United States and abroad.
The Crisis of Democracy: Global Perspectives
Han Dongfang, independent union leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, China Labour Bulletin
Mac Maharaj, former cellmate of Nelson Mandela, African National Congress of South Africa
Education, Civil Society and the Defense of Democracy
FRIDAY, October 6:Shuli Dichter, Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel
Rob Goodman, Columbia University
A Conversation on American Unions and the Crisis of Democracy
Mary Kay Henry, Service Employees International Union
Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers
The Populist Challenge in the Crisis of Democracy: Class, Race, Gender
John Judis, Talking Points Memo
Bob Kuttner, American Prospect
Sarah Leonard, The Nation
Carla Murphy, writer
Phil Thompson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Maurice Weeks, Action Center on Race and the Economy
The Political Dynamics of the Crisis of Democracy I
Sheri Berman, Columbia University
Colin Crouch, University of Warwick, Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung
Barnabas Kadar, Momentum Mozagalom, Hungary
Joseph Schwartz, Temple University
The Political Dynamics of the Crisis of Democracy II
Jazz Hooks, Democratic Socialists of America
Anton Shekhovstov, “Explorations of the Far Right” book series; Institute for Human Sciences, Austria
Ken Surin, Duke University
Fred Van Leeuwen, Education International
