Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence
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.
Professor Anke Hoeffler, Professor of Development Research, Department of Politics & Public Administration @ University of Konstanz
Professor of Development Research at the Department of Politics & Public Administration at the University of Konstanz. In June 2018 Professor Hoeffler was offered an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, Germany’s most valuable international research award. Before coming to Konstanz she was a research officer at the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at the University of Oxford. She holds a Diplom in Volkswirschaftslehre from the University of Würzburg and an MSc in economics from Birkbeck College, University of London. She received her DPhil in economics from the University of Oxford in 1999.
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.
Register at: tinyurl.com/bahai-symposium
