from Haverford

2015 Mellon Symposium
Organized by Andrew Cornell
Friday, March 27, 2015

Anarchism has inspired global social movements for more than two decades, yet remains peripheral to academic debate. Scholars have developed sophisticated conceptions of radical democracy, but these have been slow to inform on-the-ground organizing. Both frameworks critique the imperial foundations and racial exclusions of liberal theory and institutions, as do a growing contingent of scholars and activists who demand a thoroughgoing decolonization of our social, political, and intellectual lives.

This symposium explores what common ground and what tensions exist between these critical perspectives by providing a unique forum for conversation amongst an international ensemble of respected organizers and scholars.

Schedule

Friday March 27

All events in Stokes 102. View Campus Map

9:00 p.m.

Welcome and Introductory Comments by Andy Cornell, Symposium Organizer

9:15–10:15 a.m.

Group Discussion – “What We Mean When We Say … Anarchism, Decolonization, Radical Democracy”

10:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

First Panel: Limits of Liberal Democracy

“Slavery and the Anarchist Rejection of Democracy”
Ruth Kinna, University of Loughborough, UK

“From Anarchism to Ranciére: Radical Democracy as Active Democracy”
Todd May, Clemson University

12:15–1:15 p.m.

Lunch
Center for Peace and Global Citizenship Café, Stokes 104

1:15–3:00 p.m.

Second Panel: Self-determination without a State?

“Nothing Common about ‘the Commons’: Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Difference”
J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Wesleyan University

“Liberating Democracy from the Premises of the Dominant Global Order: The Rojava Revolution”
Dilar Dirik, University of Cambridge and Kurdish Women’s Movement

3:15–5:00 p.m.

Third Panel: Putting Principles Into Practice

“‘Making power’: Another Politics, Democracy, and Radical Movements”
Chris Dixon, Anarchist social justice organizer

“Decolonizing Borders and Undoing Border Imperialism”
Harsha Walia, co-founder No One Is Illegal Network

5:00–5:00 p.m.

Closing Comments by Andy Cornell