Event

Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
9:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Online
For More Information:
bcwp@umd.edu
http://www.bahaichair.umd.edu/node/218

Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence
October 12, 2021
9am - 2.30pm 
Virtual Event

Register at: https://umd.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UFpztSTxTsOYyzI-CHBSbQ

The realities of the Pandemic in 2020 have highlighted the underlying structural causes of inequality in the United States, and across the globe. The clear differences between those who can stay at home and stay safe, and those who cannot, highlights the corrosive effects of inequalities. Throughout 2020 we have also witnessed an increase in political instability with growing polarization over social issues and public health protection measures. This civil unrest highlights the fragility of our current social systems, and demonstrates the consequences of growing economic inequality. 

At the same time the November elections in the United States involved the largest numbers of voter participation recorded since 1900, perhaps a hopeful sign of increased political engagement. The question remains, now that the impact and consequences of these inequalities have been exposed, will the pandemic be a catalyst for change? This symposium will explore the underlying inequalities in our social systems, discuss potential solutions, and examine the extent to which these structural faults could lead to a growth in political violence and disorder. 

Speakers: 

Professor Anke Hoeffler, Professor of Development Research, Department of Politics & Public Administration, University of Konstanz

Anke Hoeffler’s research is in the areas of development and security. She is a widely cited social scientists and received an Alexander von Humboldt professorship, Germany’s highest award for international research. In February 2019 she left the University of Oxford and moved to the University of Konstanz in Germany where she has a chair in development policy in the Department of Politics and Public Administration. Prof. Hoeffler holds a DPhil in economics from the University of Oxford, an MSc in economics from Birkbeck College, University of London and a Diplom in Volkswirschaftslehre from the University of Würzburg. Her research interests are wide ranging and interdisciplinary. Broadly, she is interested in the social causes of excess morbidity and mortality and uses mainly quantitative methods in her academic quest. Current research projects focus on: (1) the impact of interpersonal violence on development, in particular violence against children and women (2) the relationship between interpersonal & political violence (3) costs of violence.

 Professor Kate Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology, University of York 

Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology, Deputy Director of the Centre for Future Health, and Associate Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, all at the University of York. She is co-author, with Richard Wilkinson, of The Spirit Level (2009) and The Inner Level (2018). Kate is a Trustee of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, and patron of The Equality Trust and recently chaired the Greater Manchester Independent Inequalities Commission. Follow her at @ProfKEPickett.

Professor Geoff K. Ward, Professor of African and African-American Studies Faculty Affiliate in Sociology and American Culture Studies, Washington University in St. Louis

Geoff K. Ward is Professor of African and African American Studies, Sociology and American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. His scholarship is broadly concerned with racial politics of social control and the pursuit of racial justice, historically and today. Current projects examine histories of racial violence, their legacies, and implications for redress, and combine scholarship with creative projects to support research and teaching, engage broader audiences, and facilitate the visibility, use and impact of this work. The author of the award-winning book, The Black Child Savers: Racial Democracy and Juvenile Justice, and numerous research articles and essays, he most recently co-edited “Legacies of Racial Violence: Clarifying and Addressing the Presence of the Past,” a special issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He also pursues these interests as a member of the community-based Reparative Justice Coalition of St. Louis, through service on the Clayton (MO) Mayor’s Commemorative Landscape Taskforce, and as director of WashU & Slavery, an initiative of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Equity (CRE2) aligned with the global consortium of Universities Studying Slavery.