Conferences
Upcoming:
Donald Trump and Barack Obama - Identity and Power in 21st Century America
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When: Thursday 22nd June 2017, 11:25AM-16:10PM Where: Canterbury Christ Church University's Canterbury Campus, Powell Building, Room pf06 This round table discussion brings together some of the most influential and critically minded scholars on US power in the world today. The panel will evaluate both the domestic and foreign policy realms under Obama and Trump, analysing their agency within and outside of the United States as a result of their unique personality traits and backgrounds, as well as the structural constraints that shaped and are shaping their presidencies. Organised by: Dr M. Ledwidge Email: mark.ledwidge@canterbury.ac.uk |
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Speakers:
- Dr Mark Ledwidge
- Prof. Inderjeet Parmar
- Prof. Lee Marsden
- Prof. Steve Burman
- Dr Andrew Wore
The burning question underlined by the Obama and Trump presidencies given that Trump could be considered the antithesis to Obama is whether identity of the president is less important than the requirements of the American security apparatus and the bipartisan worldview of the foreign policy establishment. Bearing in mind the unique chaotic leadership style of the Trump administration and his interesting political appointments, our panellists will consider issues related to the aforementioned identity thesis (and beyond). In addition the panellists will postulate regarding what we can expect from the Trump administration in both domestic and foreign affairs and should we expect more of the same despite outward differences? Also the symposium will begin to question whether contemporary trends related to the Bush, Obama and Trump presidencies represent a deepening crisis in the American liberal order?
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Event Program and Schedule:
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Previous:
Donald Trump, Presidential Politics, and the Legacy of Obama
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When: Thursday 26 May 2016, 10AM-4PM
Where: Canterbury Christ Church University, Powell Lecture Theatre. Pf06 This symposium poses challenging questions regarding the current trajectory of American power, by addressing but also transcending the personality politics associated with the rise of Trump and Obama in order to evaluate the contemporary political values of the USA and to provide insight into the legacy of the Obama administration. Organised by: Dr M. Ledwidge Email: mark.ledwidge@canterbury.ac.uk |
A Deep and Engaging Discussion and Debate Will Take Place
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Speakers:
In 1963 Malcolm X was suspended from the Nation of Islam for referring to the assassination of JFK as a case of “chickens coming home to roost”. On closer inspection Malcolm argued that the racial violence and Cold War tactics instigated and tolerated by the American establishment at home and abroad had polluted the political bloodstream of America and endorsed a narrow and bigoted defence of the status quo. Similarly in 2016 at the end of the Obama presidency, the post 911 political consensus, racialised police brutality, anti-immigration and the spectre of Islamic extremism finds American society at a similar crossroads where social unrest, racial and religious tension, coincide with the global context American foreign policy has helped to create.
On the domestic front President Obama has argued that the intense vitriol of Republican opposition towards democrats and his presidency has fuelled an irrational and sensationalist brand of oppositional politics. Indeed the crass and blistering politics exemplified by the Republican candidacy of Donald Trump is symptomatic of this caustic re-alignment of American politics. It is also noteworthy that early in the Obama presidency Trump played a pivotal role in prompting the Tea Party and birther movement to embark on a neo-racial and coded assault on the Obama White House, that laid the basis for Trumps current ascendancy. While Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are locked in an (historic) and increasingly tight race for the Democratic nomination, it is Trump’s aggressive grassroots politics, the antithesis of Obama’s outwardly savvy and intellectual approach, that has provoked the ire of the Republican and Democratic political establishment.
In sum while America’s elite politicians fear the rise of a grassroots proletariat galvanised by an unpredictable outsider like Trump, the left is in disarray due to Obama’s failure to fulfil the prophetic vision of Dr King’s legacy and his administration’s failure to definitively depart from domestic and foreign policies akin to his Republican predecessor.
Tickets Limited! Register Today.
- Prof. Robert Beckford
- Prof. Philip Davies
- Prof. Inderjeet Parmar
- Prof. Lee Marsden
- Dr Gabriella Beckles-Raymond
- Dr Poonam Madar
- Dr Mark Ledwidge
In 1963 Malcolm X was suspended from the Nation of Islam for referring to the assassination of JFK as a case of “chickens coming home to roost”. On closer inspection Malcolm argued that the racial violence and Cold War tactics instigated and tolerated by the American establishment at home and abroad had polluted the political bloodstream of America and endorsed a narrow and bigoted defence of the status quo. Similarly in 2016 at the end of the Obama presidency, the post 911 political consensus, racialised police brutality, anti-immigration and the spectre of Islamic extremism finds American society at a similar crossroads where social unrest, racial and religious tension, coincide with the global context American foreign policy has helped to create.
On the domestic front President Obama has argued that the intense vitriol of Republican opposition towards democrats and his presidency has fuelled an irrational and sensationalist brand of oppositional politics. Indeed the crass and blistering politics exemplified by the Republican candidacy of Donald Trump is symptomatic of this caustic re-alignment of American politics. It is also noteworthy that early in the Obama presidency Trump played a pivotal role in prompting the Tea Party and birther movement to embark on a neo-racial and coded assault on the Obama White House, that laid the basis for Trumps current ascendancy. While Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are locked in an (historic) and increasingly tight race for the Democratic nomination, it is Trump’s aggressive grassroots politics, the antithesis of Obama’s outwardly savvy and intellectual approach, that has provoked the ire of the Republican and Democratic political establishment.
In sum while America’s elite politicians fear the rise of a grassroots proletariat galvanised by an unpredictable outsider like Trump, the left is in disarray due to Obama’s failure to fulfil the prophetic vision of Dr King’s legacy and his administration’s failure to definitively depart from domestic and foreign policies akin to his Republican predecessor.
Tickets Limited! Register Today.
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For More Information About this Event Please Visit the Official Hosting Site Found Here
13th April 2016
Academic Disciplines and Power
City University London
Speaker: Deborah Cohn, Indiana University, Mark Ledwidge, Canterbury Christ Church University
CIPS (Centre for International Policy Studies) are pleased to host a Panel Discussion and Q&A session entitled “Academic Disciplines and Power”.
Panellists:
Deborah Cohn (Indiana University) will talk on “In the (Inter)National Interest: Conducting Cultural Diplomacy through American Studies during the Cold War”
Mark Ledwidge (Canterbury Christ Church University) will talk on “American Africans: The Socio-Politics of Knowledge and the Cold War Context”
Abstracts
Deborah Cohn: In a period of declining resources for the humanities, it is easy to forget that supporting the field of American studies was once viewed—and funded, quite generously, by public and private organizations alike—as directly serving the national interest. This paper examines the origins of the field, focusing on several of the many Cold War initiatives that fostered its growth abroad (e.g., the Fulbright program, the Ford Foundation’s multimillion dollar grant to the American Council of Learned Societies, the USIA-sponsored certificate in American studies that was offered by the University of Pennsylvania). American studies was far from the only field to be caught up in the interests of the Cold War State: given their focus on the (strategic) “Other,” area studies, modern languages, and anthropology were also well suited to this task, as were many of the other social science disciplines. Given that its subject involved defining and discussing the United States, though, American studies was uniquely positioned to assume an ambassadorial function abroad, promoting greater understanding of and respect for the U.S. among emerging leaders and opinion molders as the nation assumed its new role as a world power.
Mark Ledwidge: The Cold War ushered in a very important period in American history. Whilst the United States grappled with the strains of confronting the might of the Soviet Union, it was also going through deep-seated internal changes. An integral facet of the post 1945 context was the critical challenge posed by activists like Malcolm X, who constructed a counter cultural knowledge based socio-political critique that confounded, frustrated and ultimately provoked a strident backlash from the Euro-American establishment. This presentation will indicate Malcolm's seminal role in helping to redefine the intellectual terrain of US race relations, by his assertion of an alternate intellectual position predicated on a Knowledge of Self.
ChairProfessor Inderjeet Parmar (City University London)
Academic Disciplines and Power
City University London
Speaker: Deborah Cohn, Indiana University, Mark Ledwidge, Canterbury Christ Church University
CIPS (Centre for International Policy Studies) are pleased to host a Panel Discussion and Q&A session entitled “Academic Disciplines and Power”.
Panellists:
Deborah Cohn (Indiana University) will talk on “In the (Inter)National Interest: Conducting Cultural Diplomacy through American Studies during the Cold War”
Mark Ledwidge (Canterbury Christ Church University) will talk on “American Africans: The Socio-Politics of Knowledge and the Cold War Context”
Abstracts
Deborah Cohn: In a period of declining resources for the humanities, it is easy to forget that supporting the field of American studies was once viewed—and funded, quite generously, by public and private organizations alike—as directly serving the national interest. This paper examines the origins of the field, focusing on several of the many Cold War initiatives that fostered its growth abroad (e.g., the Fulbright program, the Ford Foundation’s multimillion dollar grant to the American Council of Learned Societies, the USIA-sponsored certificate in American studies that was offered by the University of Pennsylvania). American studies was far from the only field to be caught up in the interests of the Cold War State: given their focus on the (strategic) “Other,” area studies, modern languages, and anthropology were also well suited to this task, as were many of the other social science disciplines. Given that its subject involved defining and discussing the United States, though, American studies was uniquely positioned to assume an ambassadorial function abroad, promoting greater understanding of and respect for the U.S. among emerging leaders and opinion molders as the nation assumed its new role as a world power.
Mark Ledwidge: The Cold War ushered in a very important period in American history. Whilst the United States grappled with the strains of confronting the might of the Soviet Union, it was also going through deep-seated internal changes. An integral facet of the post 1945 context was the critical challenge posed by activists like Malcolm X, who constructed a counter cultural knowledge based socio-political critique that confounded, frustrated and ultimately provoked a strident backlash from the Euro-American establishment. This presentation will indicate Malcolm's seminal role in helping to redefine the intellectual terrain of US race relations, by his assertion of an alternate intellectual position predicated on a Knowledge of Self.
ChairProfessor Inderjeet Parmar (City University London)