Jeffrey Alexander Participates in Zoom Webinar: Race, Resistance & Civil Repair: BLM & Beyond

Resistance Study Event

On July 25, 2020 CCS Director Jeffrey Alexander participated in the Zoom webinar, “Race, Resistance & Civil Repair: BLM & Beyond,” hosted by the Resistance Studies Initiative at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 

Amidst the massive Black Lives Matter protests and political organizing, the U.S. has been experiencing struggles for dignity and justice at the convergence of a deadly global pandemic. This uprising has not only challenged institutions with calls to defund the police, but also it has changed the future course of politics by demanding democratic community control. From taking down statues to the renaming of spaces and institutions, we are witnessing a historical moment. The global outreach of these protests led to the formation of networks of their allied movements for social justice. In India, Dalit Lives Matter activists are seizing the moment to resist the casteist forces. What are the lessons that the anti-caste movement can learn from the U.S. experience?” (RSI)

Along with Jeff Alexander, featured speakers were Her Majesty the Queen Mother Dowoti Désir, Hounon Houna II Guely, Benin Republic, West Africa, Professor Kevin D. Brown, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, and Mark Rudd, Writer, Activist and Organizer (Student Leader, 1968 Free Speech Movement, Columbia University).

Discussants were Professor Vivek Kumar, Sociologist, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Dr. Lalit Khandare, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Pacific University, Oregon. The webinar was moderated by Dr. Gaurav J. Pathania, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University, Washington DC.